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Hi, Kerry, thank you very much for your
update – you must been so busy with getting ready for your trip and
getting everything ready and taken care of for Flavia – all I can say is
that you are the best mom that Flavia (or any kitty for that matter) can have –
I am very proud of you, Kerry – I am sorry, I don’t know anything about
Procrit – but whatever you chose, please find out all the side effects
which can be caused by either so that you are given all the information of pros
and cons of both of them so that you can make the best decision for Flavia
(sometimes, they might not be so open to tell possible side effects unless you
really ask for it) – Kerry, I just was thinking that do you already
give V-B 12 shots to Flavia – if not, it might be a good thing to give –
I give both Ginger and George – 0.1 ml under skin – and I know it will
be helpful for anemia - Also, I know that you would like to give
everything you can give to Flavia before you leave, but please try not to
overwhelm her body with lots of new unfamiliar drugs – her little body
might not want to take it – I was not sure if steroid is necessary? –
Steroid does cause serious side effects, too. Again, I am sorry, I am not
probably understanding everything , but I just have to share what I know from
my experience – more drugs may not be necessary a good thing for a little
body whose immune system is already compromised – so whatever you do,
please start a little by little, and one thing at a time, and slowly, especially,
she is doing so good right now - but I trust that you will make a right
decision – Kerry, don’t feel rush to start everything on Flavia
before you leave for the trip, you are just a phone call away, you can always start
give something if something happens to Flavia, as you seem to have a good
relationship with your doctors (which is a blessing!!) – that’s the
only advise I have – I have lost a precious life once by giving too agressive
with lots of drugs Is there anyway that you can get on line
while you are gone so that we know what’s going on with Flavia, Kerry? Kerry, please know that you and Flavia are
always in my thought and I and all my 60 cats are going to pray for you both –
Love and hugs, Hideyo PS we will miss you so much!! From:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Kerry MacKenzie Hi everyone I'm sorry I've been out of touch---I've been going kinda crazy over
Flavia's current illness and the logistics of her being cared for
medically while I'm gone. Hideyo, I hope George and Angel are doing better? I'm sending lots of
healthy and positive visualization for them. Also, hope Bramble is doing ok.
And Nina's Grace, and all the other sick or anxiety-causing kitties. I send all
my best wishes for their recovery. I've been dumbstruck by the incredible work done by Jenn, Tad
and all the other rescuers who moved so swiftly to rescue the Angel Wings cats.
You guys are amazing. And thanks to all those who are offering to adopt.
If I've missed anything and any sick kitty out--I think I've missed a digest along
the way in the last 24 hours--I apologize, and send my best wishes. Wanted to let you all know we went to the vet again today for Flavia's
PCV, and the count is now "between 16 and 17" --it was
previously 17--so I was very relieved, since it could have been so much worse.
(Everything is relative, right?) She did lose another ounce and a half :>(
--she's gone from 8lb 15 to 8lb 10 oz since she had her crisis and transfusion
2 weeks ago. So, no transfusion to consider right now :>). She's doing pretty
well in herself--eating, drinking, playing, snuggling and going inside the
box. She was so good today, too--I caught her within a minute; and when we got
to the vet she had to have blood taken TWICE because the vial or tube or
whatever broke. And she hasn't gone to the bathroom in the carrier since the
first vet visit. Backing up~~~I ordered ImmunoregulinEqstim this morning to be shipped
overnight to Dr Dodin who was Flavia's vet and who is going to let me know
tonight if she'll be able to do 4 housecalls to administer it while I'm
gone--the total was around $50 inc shipping so i felt it was worth taking the chance that
she will be able to do the calls. I've also spoken to yet another vet at Higgins, Dr Teuber, the one who
saw Flavia today, about Immunoregulin (I emailed her the articles and Kyle's
emails before the weekend). I liked her. She said she spent an hour on the
web--including this website--at the weekend researching it. IF Dr Dodin can't
do the housecalls, I'm going to speak to the petsitter first thing tomorrow
about taking Flavia to the clinic to be treated with the IR by Dr
Teuber. I realize it will be added stress, but I don't feel she can
go unseen by a vet for 2 1/2 weeks.... I'd order more IR and have it
sent to Dr T. And I'd be calling Dr T right after that to set up a treatment
schedule. But.....I've also just been reading some archive material sent by Nina,
and now I'm wondering about Procrit (see below--Belinda's email, I think?). Does anyone have any ideas on which might be better--Procrit
or Immunoregulin? (I don't know how Flavia's anemia is caused--we haven't done
a bone marrow test.) I only have until tomorrow to decide on which treatment--it's going to
be difficult to communicate with vets etc once I leave tomorrow night. Dr T
also said she could give another steroid shot (I've forgotten which one). It's been a harrowing few days...now I feel a little better because as
well as her count being not too bad, I think it's almost certain I'll be able
to have Flavia checked up while I'm gone. One good thing....4-5 vets in Till later, love and hugs to you all Kerry I just wanted to remind everyone a little bit about the facts on
Procrit. A lot of vets give people the impression that Procrit (and
Epogen) are more risky for cats than the anemia that may be killing them.
Thankfully, my specialist vet knew more about it and wasn't afraid to use it
when it was needed. Cats do not "quickly develop antibodies" against it.
Vets don't prescribe it until it is a last resort because there is a risk of
developing antibodies, so they want to exhaust other means first. If they
can keep the cat going for longer with B supplements and iron, or additional
liver which contains a lot of iron, they will do that for as long as
possible. However, when the cat is not longer making retics, and new red
blood cells can't be made, Procrit is the only thing that can help them.
They haven't developed one made out of cat blood, even though they started
testing one, so, yes, there is a risk of antibodies being developed because it is
made from human blood. However, even in the testing, the antibodies only
developed in 30% of the cases. That means 70% of the cats never developed
antibodies. And when they do develop antibodies, it usually is not for
about four months. What happens is the Procrit quits working, so the cats HCT
or PCV starts to drop again. So that means that if the cat does develop
antibodies, he will at least have four or five months of good quality life that
he wouldn't have had otherwise. Jean-Luc would have died last December
without it. He has been on it for over a year, and it keeps him
going. When we had a vial that lasted almost six months, I found out that
the tiny amount he still gets is very necessary. The vial lost its
potency and his HCT started dropping. Some vets might have automatically
assumed antibodies and taken him off of it. My vet increased the dosage
and we got a new vial. He recovered quickly, and we lowered the dosage
again to the usual once a week subq shot. (I just need to make sure I pay
attention to when the vial is four months old and throw it out then.) If the anemia is not below 18%, usually Procrit is not needed yet.
Jean-Luc's HCT was actually down to 13% before he was put on Procrit.
They do a blood test after it gets below 20%, and that tells them if the anemia
is regenerative or non-regenerative. If it is still regenerative, meaning
they are making red blood cells, then Procrit would not help. If it is
non-regenerative, then Procrit (or Epogen) is needed, because without replacing
that building block, the cat will die in very short order. I don't want people whose cats need it to be afraid to give
Procrit. I learned some of this from my specialist vet, who does a good
job of explaining things, and some from the Feline anemia list, where there is
a lot of great information." PS. I asked my vet about this too and she said she didn't know of
any positive cats that had tried it, she didn't know if it would work or not,
but said if Bailey ever came down with anemia that wasn't due to hemobartenella
she would certainly give it a try if I wanted to and I most certainly
would. When cats get non-regenerative anemia they are going to die it is
only a matter if time, and I wouldn't hesitate to try something that may
possibly save Bailey since the only other option is certain death. |
- RE: July 5 update on Flavia Hideyo Yamamoto
- Re: July 5 update on Flavia Lernermichelle
- RE: July 5 update on Flavia Hideyo Yamamoto
- Re: July 5 update on Flavia Nina
- Re: July 5 update on Flavia catatonya
- Re: July 5 update on Flavia Lernermichelle
- Re: July 5 update on Flavia Belinda Sauro
- Re: July 5 update on Flavia/for Belinda Kerry MacKenzie
