I know Sue. I find myself thinking about him far too much, at work, at home,
anywhere. I keep reading and reading looking for some kind of miracle cure
which I know isn't there. My husband and I have always been very attached to
our pets, even the flippin fish in the pond. This cat is different though. He
was destined to be ours. Like I've said before, he came to our house every day
last summer, early in the morning and stayed all day near the trailer in our
driveway. When the weather started getting nasty, I would bring him in and
then he'd go home at dark. It would break my heart to see him leave every
night. We were basically blackmailed into paying 300 bucks for him when the
asking price was 150 but they knew how much we loved him and would do anything
to have him. Now that we finally get our wish, we find out he may not be
around all that long. Last night he came down stairs for a walk through the
house and this morning before I left for work he came down again into the
kitchen. These are real steps forward for him. He just wants to hang around
upstairs on our bed and mostly sleep. He's a real talker though when we go up
to see him which is about every 10 minutes. He ate today, quite a lot
actually. I think we've bought every kind of cat food on the market and at
this point, I don't even care if it is the best for him. I just want him to
eat. This stuff is fancy feast salmon feast. It has salmon as it's main
ingredient and salmon broth. Also has a lot of other crap in it too but until
I can find something that is really good for him and he'll eat it, this will
have to do. He is kind of chubby anyway so I guess that's an ok thing. We
tried giving him lean beef, cooked kind of rare yesterday and he ate a couple
bites of that too.
The Buzzes, Charlies and BooBoos of this world certainly are a challenge but I
have to believe in the long run it is all very worth it and may even make us
better people.
Lynne
----- Original Message -----
From: Sue & Frank Koren
To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
Sent: Monday, February 11, 2008 7:36 PM
Subject: ]RE: Immuno-Regullin and exercise
Lynn - You said it so well when you say it is a drain on one. I keep
watching Buzz and wondering if what he is doing is OK. There are so many
things that I would not have thought twice about if the other cats were doing
them, but I am worrying about every little thing that Buzz does that seems
unusual.
Charlie, one of my other cats has asthma. He stretches his neck out close
to the floor and makes coughing sounds like he is going to bring up a hair ball
but nothing ever happens. He is on prednisone (not sure if that is spelled
right) and it seems to help him.
BooBoo is a lucky little cat to have finally found a place with people who
love him.
Sue
----- Original Message -----
From: Lynne
To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
Sent: Sunday, February 10, 2008 1:36 PM
Subject: [PHISH]Re: [PHISH]RE: Immuno-Regullin and exercise
Sue, I so know how you feel. I just posted about our little guy coughing.
I didn't believe the positive test at first and asked for more blood work and
it's worse than I thought. Now every little thing I think is unusual I panic
about, like this coughing. I just don't know how none of this concerned the
previous owners. He's also becoming a ridiculously fussy eater. I've tried
many different can foods and some hard foods and he just sticks his nose up.
Fortunately our 19 year old pig-cat likes it all so it isn't totally wasted.
It is all just such a drain on one.
Lynne
----- Original Message -----
From: Sue & Frank Koren
To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
Sent: Sunday, February 10, 2008 1:23 PM
Subject: Re: [PHISH]RE: Immuno-Regullin and exercise
Thank you for your advise. Yes, he love to run around and play like a
maniac - after all he is only 8 - 10 months old and really still a kitten. He
seems to get out of breath and his breathing is a little raspy when he has been
playing hard, but maybe that is something that is normal for any cat. Because
of the FeLV I am just noticing things differently with him. Right now I have
to decide what will help him most and what I can afford. I have already
switched him to an all canned Wellness diet. The Immuno-Regulin sounds pretty
expensive. I also have two boys in college that I have to think of also.
Do you know how many cats actually ever end up eventually testing
negative with this? I guess there is a part of me that is still in denial. He
tested negative when my brother first rescued him, then he tested positive when
he had the in-office test at the vet when I got him. They then gave him the
blood test which was also positive. I think April is when I will test him
again. Meanwhile I will spoil him as much as I possibly can when he has to be
stuck in one room. It's so nasty and snowy today that there isn't even a good
view out the window from his chair.
Sue
----- Original Message -----
From: Caroline Kaufmann
To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
Sent: Friday, February 08, 2008 9:56 PM
Subject: [PHISH]RE: Immuno-Regullin and exercise
I don't know about the IR, but as far as the vaccs- it sounds like he
handled them fine, so there's no need to stress yourself out about it now. Now
you know better tho and can better protect him in the future by being better
educated.
And you are very to lucky to have found this site so early on. I only
got to it when Monkee was in the throws of the illness and most hope was lost.
And I felt horrible when I realized all the knowledge and information that was
out there on the internet that I didn't think to take advantage of. I just
took Monkee's incredible health for granted and thought if I kept him happy and
not stressed, his beefy body would beat the odds. When I realized I could have
been more proactive with things- like no vaccs, better diet, supplements, even
meds to ward off the disease, I felt horrible, but I didn't have time or energy
to cry over spilled milk at the time b/c I was so desperate for immediate help
with Monkee's sick condition. It's since his passing that I realized the depth
of what I allowed myself to miss out on. Could any of those things have made a
difference in Monkee's individual case? I don't know? I never will. But if I
can help someone else get to resources and better information SOONER than I
did, then my guilt is lessened.
You should feel really happy that you are taking full advantage of what
is out there now- early- while Buzz is healthy. You have the chance to do all
you can for him early on.
Don't worry about him playing- if he's happy and healthy for now and he
wants to run around like a maniac and play toys, by all means, let him do it.
It's important to not treat him like an invalid, especially if he does not feel
like one/doesn't know he is one b/c he will pick up on that. For most of
Monkee's illness my mom kept telling me to stop crying around him and treating
him like an invalid because at that point (until the last 2 wks), he didn't
know he was sick- even when he was getting chemo. She didn't want Monkee to
pick up on my cues and then in turn, get depressed and get further stressed.
Asymptomatic Felv cats don't know they are sick, so allowing him to play and
act like a normal boy is all part of providing him a stress-free environment
which is really key for Felv+ cats.
caroline
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
Subject: Immuno-Regullin and exercise
Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2008 21:32:52 -0500
When is the best time to start Immuno-Regulin? When they still have
no symptoms? I can still hardly believe Buzz has this horrible disease. He
seems so healthy and loves to play and has a great appetite. How often do the
success stories like Minstrels come along? These postings have so much new
information and the internet sights have so much conflicting information that
it is hard to know what to think. I just know the little guy cleaning himself
in my lap right now deserves all I can do for him.
Does anyone know if a lot of playing exercise is good for a FeLV +
cat? He chases his toys so hard that he gets out of breath sometimes.
Buzz had some vaccinations about a month ago, is he still in danger?
I have always had cats but this is so new and I feel so ignorant. I
am so glad for this site, I have already learned more real information that
seems like it will actually help Buzz then from all the reading I've done for
the last several weeks since I learned he was FeLV positive.
Thank you everybody for all your advise.
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