Hello Crystal, I love the people in this group. They are compassionate and knowledgable.
Here are my suggestions. 1. The upper respiratory infection - common in felv kittens. I have fought this battle. As far as an effective antibiotic - Azithromycin works wonders. It is not currently approved for veterinary medicine, but I got it from the vet school in Madison, wi. It is amazing. Call you vet and ask if they would be willing to get it for your somehow. The pet apothecary, etc. The additional items are also helpful lysine for viral infection, vitamin c for antioxidant and improved immune response. 2. GI problems - oral antibiotics can often cause gi problems because it truely does kill off the normal flora of the system and allows for infectious bacteria to invade and actually viruses as well (including feline coronavirs, partial cause of FIP). Here is my biggest concern from what I am hearing. FIP is seen in association with felv especially in younger multicat households. The big symptoms are diarrhea, vomitting, high fever, anemia, loss of muscle mass and anorexia. Another woman in this group is battling that right now. It is thought by many vets to be nearly 100% fatal. No good conventional treatment options exist for them and decline is usually days to weeks. You can see neurologic symtpoms - unsteady gait, seizures etc. Or you can see fluid accumulate in the abdomen and chest so they get sort of a barrel shaped abdomen that bulges out. I can't say for sure this is going on but it would be my biggest concern. Things to look for are high fever (~103F), anemia, loss of appetite, loss of muscle mass, any bumpy or enlarged lymph nodes or new skin lesions, diarrhea and vomitting, and the presence of eye changes - you see their third eyelid (it is located on the side of the eye towards the nose) or clouding of their eyes. The other woman in this group is currently using high dose iv vitamin C and I believe successfully. It is, however, a day by day process. 3. Felv+ - Almost every vet I have ever spoken with believes this is a death sentence. It isn't always, but there's no way to tell now who will do well and who won't. So here's the deal. If you have any chance of these kitties turning negative or least living longer lives, it is to treat them all now. If you wait until they are sick you are almost always fighting a losing battle. Things to do - diet - high protein diet (Evo or Nature's Variety-instinct, there are others) or raw diet (frozen Nature's variety of stella and chewy's), I recommend raw, but some will disagree. Treatment - LTCI , a monthly injection to stimulate the immune system cost about $70 per injection, requires prescription, made by Imulan, they will send your vet the meds or find a vet that has them they have names of vets near you; Acemannan or Ambrotose - either intraperitoneal injection or oral supplement - oral about $40 per bottle, no prescription for oral, made by Mannatech I believe. Interferon - oral medication, very cheap, need prescription most vets can get. You can use them separately or together. Sometimes you can reverse the viral status if you start early enough. I really fear you have an FIP situation on your hands. I would start aggressive treatment with him now if that is the case. I would stay away from Prednisone (most vets recommend it)it will only symptomatically help and the disease will progress. I pray the high dose vitamin C will work for this other woman and I would probably take that route with your little guy. This is what I would consider - Azithromycin for the URI, high dose(by this I mean on the order of grams per day - for the exact regimen I wouldl have to speak with the other woman in the group) vitamin C for possible FIP (this will be a daily IV drip - labor intensive), Imulan injections and continued oral supplements. You are not going to win with conventional treatment - I believe that with all my heart. You have to look beyond what the vets out there are telling you. There are two other routes I am aware of for FIP, if you are interested I can give you more info. Good luck and God bless you. Jenny _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
