Sounds like you caught this in time, so hopefully Mama Kitty will pull through this rough spot. It's too bad our kitties don't show signs of being sick until they are really sick.
It sounds like Mama Kitty is in good hands, i'm sending prayers your way. Cassandra ----- Original Message ----- From: elizabeth trent To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Tuesday, March 20, 2007 6:39 PM Subject: Mama Kitty Update We are back from the vet's office. I am very glad we went. Last year, when I first took Mama Kitty in and found out that she was FeVL+, she weighed about 7lbs. She was so anemic that they didn't want to take her blood. She had no fever and so they thought this was a very grave situation because her body wasn't even fighting and they recommended that we say goodbye. After steroids, antibiotics, vitamin B12 and Acemannan, she was like a new kitty...even playing with her toys and chasing the laser. Mama Kitty has had a bit of a crash today, however. She didn't even protest when I put her in the pet taxi - so I know she did not feel well. She had a temperature of 104. Weighed 9lbs. She was dehydrated. They did a full blood panel on her - she is very anemic. When they picked her up to weigh her, she 'leaked' some very concentrated urine and so they aspirated her bladder and did a urinalysis too. Her liver enzymes are slighly elevated but they didn't seem to think that was serious. They gave her fluids, a Vitamin B12, a Benz-Dex shot, and an antibiotic shot (all in one so she only got stuck once) and then they called the compounding pharmacy and got them to make a transdermal gel of doxycycline and prednison. They ordered the Acemannan while I was there and it should be here in a couple of days. I have some conflicting stats here -- the vet told me that her hematacrit(sp) was about 17 and a half - but this printout I have says HTC is 10.6%. I sure hope this print-out is wrong. I know they ran the test more than once. They also tested again for FeVL+ has she has a faint positive. Her RBC is 2.35LR1 (normal is 5-11)...Hb is 4.6L (normal is 8-15). Her white blood cell counts are moderately low. It isn't what you want to hear but I do think we are far better off than we were when I took her in last summer. The fluids made her feel a little better and she ate a few bites of chicken hearts and liver. The vet recommended that I try to encourage her to eat. He wanted to give her Pet Tinnic but there is just no way that Mama Kitty will tolerate that. I am very glad that my vet is willing to help in any way he can. He's come a long way from recommending that Mama be PTS last summer. She's had a wonderful quality of life since the Acemannan and I am hoping we can help her through this rough spot. She's resting comfortably now and is perkier than when I took her in this afternoon. She's getting love of love. Thank you for your kind thoughts and prayers. elizabeth and Mama Kitty ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.446 / Virus Database: 268.18.15/728 - Release Date: 3/20/2007 8:07 AM