Hey Caroline, I'm glad to hear that your vet is using Epogen. That's probably one of the most, if not the most, effective drugs in treating anemia. I am surprised that she didn't just remove the leg itself instead of just the tumor (I know that sounds callous, but considering the alternative, I'd vote to remove the leg). I don't know what the stats are on tumors coming back after surgery in felines, but I am guessing it's fairly high. The yahoo lymphoma group might have a better knowledge of this, and actual scenarios similar to Monkee's if you want to check them out. Does your vet say what type of cancer Monkee had, based on a biopsy after the surgery? That's important to know also. In fact, that probably should have been known before the chemo was given, because the type of chemo is based on the type of cancer, but I'm not sure how I know that, so it might not be right. Also, we don't see a lot of cancer in the limbs from FeLV, at least not here. It's more in the lungs, and stomach, so I was surprised when you mentioned Monkee's leg. It makes me wonder if Monkee didn't have Injection Site Sarcoma or Vaccine Associated Sarcoma (VAS). Has Monkee received vaccines where the cancer was located? Sarcoma (fibrosarcoma) is a different form of cancer from lymphoma, if I'm not mistaken.
If your vet feels there is time for the Epogen to work, then the HCT count is probably not too low. That's a good thing. It's when the HCT is around 7-9 or lower when we see a lot of our furbabies often lose their battles to the anemia. And if Monkee is FeLV+, then it's entirely possible that the cancer is unrelated based on where it was, and that the stress of the surgery is what is causing the FeLV to kick in, surpressing the immune system, thus the anemia. The two most important things in caring for FeLV+ furbabies are a good diet with supplements, and a stress free environment. You might consider starting Monkee on lysine, which is an immune system supplement. If you do, post here so you can get the specifics, because there are just a few guidelines to follow. There are other supplements too. You are right about the veterinary world not knowing much about FeLV. It's kind of like AIDS in that it's a fairly 'new' disease, or newly diagnosed. There are still so many, too many, unanswered questions about FeLV. The scary thing is I feel strongly that WE here are figuring out some things through trial and error before the veterinary community is!!! Or at least making it known. For instance, a lot of vets have no idea what ImmunoRegulin (IR) is, but a lot of people use it to combat feline fevers and to fight FeLV. Even the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary gives sub-M injections of the IR once a month to their furbabies in Casa de Calmar, the FeLV sanctuary. It's really scary how little the general veterinary population knows about new developments. Which makes me wonder about human doctors! lol. My own vet was overdosing my hyperthyroid cat, even after I told him the information I had learned from the hyperT group, which was to start at a certain dose, but he insisted that this other dose was the standard. And guess what, my cat had really bad side effects. When we restarted her on the meds at the lower dose, lo and behold, she fared just fine on the meds, even with an increase at a later date. I even wrote a letter to one of the professors at Texas A&M University about the Tapazole overdosing world wide (learned from all the members who've experienced it on the hyper T site). He called me and assured me that they do teach the lower dosing. So I think in general there is a lack of communication between the universities (those that do the research) and the vets who are already practicing. That is why one of the most important thing anyone can do for their pets is to do their own research in a very discerning way, and see what options they have, rather than lean only on the knowledge their vet has, which can never be omniscient. I'm glad you are doing that for Monkee. Sadly, so many do not. I will say we probably are the best source of info. on FeLV you will find. A lot of people here have already done a lot of research on the net and brought it here and it's archived if you ever want to go through the archives and search using various keywords. Here is the link to the most recent posts: http://www.mail-archive.com/felvtalk%40felineleukemia.org/. You will muddle through a lot of posts, but will find valuable info. I have a sick kitty manual that I've been working on also that I have not updated in a year, and I need to update that and get it out to the members soon. I may work on that today and get it out to you asap. Please post after you've visited your vet. I hope the Epogen is working. Anemia can be horrible (I lost my Cricket to it), but it's wonderful when it's reversed, which we have seen happen here!!! Best wishes for a lucrative vet visit today! :) Wendy "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world - indeed it is the only thing that ever has!" ~~~ Margaret Meade ~~~ ____________________________________________________________________________________Ready for the edge of your seat? Check out tonight's top picks on Yahoo! TV. http://tv.yahoo.com/
