Emily, Thanks for posting this. Stevie Ray is a tuxedo and recently his black has taken on a rust tinge but not in the normal sun-kissed way that black cats will turn red. Otherwise he has been healthy. I will definitely get him to the vet for tests. I wouldn't have known that this might be a problem without you sharing your knowledge. Please don't feel guilty about what you fed Denzel. We can only do the best we can with the knowledge we have at the time (and it sounds like what you fed wasn't the culprit anyway). Denzel was loved and everything you did was based on that fact. Amy --- On Sat, 5/23/09, Emily Hunter <emilyofw...@aol.com> wrote:
From: Emily Hunter <emilyofw...@aol.com> Subject: [Felvtalk] Zinc and anemia To: "Felv Talk List" <felvtalk@felineleukemia.org> Date: Saturday, May 23, 2009, 3:40 AM Since anemia can be a persistent and deadly problem for felv+ cats, the recent recall of some of the Nutro foods is disturbing to me. The reason given for the recall is a problem with the amounts of zinc and potassium. Apparently too much zinc leads to copper deficiency and anemia, although this is not particularly common in cats. I started reading about this condition literally a few hours before Denzel died, because one of the symptoms of copper deficiency in black cats (he originally was solid black) is that their fur turns rust colored - by that time Denzel was almost looking like a tortie! I didn't follow up with the vet about what I'd been reading because all the docs who were treating Denzel were pretty sure his anemia had to be from hemobart. (Nothing was detected under the microscope, but I understand that's fairly common.) I'm definitely feeling guilty because I actually got him some of the Nutro soft food when he started to get sick that last time, because I liked the ingredient list. Logically I know that a couple of pouches wouldn't cause the whole problem, but now I wonder if some of his other food may have had a similar problem, or if he got ahold of one of the zinc pills my mom and I were both taking for cold season. Anyway, my reason for posting this is to let others fighting the dreaded anemia know that this is something to check with your vets about; maybe copper supplementation can help prolong some kitties' lives. (But do not supplement without a vet's guidance! Cats only need a trace amount of copper!) -Emily (I know, I read too much for my own good!) Sent from my iPhone _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
