[Felvtalk] Thank you

2019-02-22 Thread Lorraine Johnston
Thank you so much to everyone who has replied regarding handling Baby. The
viewpoints are so useful to me and will be to my cousin as well.

 

Thank you,

 

- Lorraine

 

"Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of who do the things
no one can imagine."  - Alan Turing

 

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Re: [Felvtalk] Cleaning? Retesting?

2019-02-22 Thread Lorraine Johnston
Thank you, Christine.  So far Baby has been only in the studio, completely 
isolated, when she visits us. It never occurred to me to do otherwise, not only 
because of felv but to avoid other contagious illnesses as well.

 

It typically takes us months to merge new cats into our setting. We go very 
slowly to avoid stress-related illnesses and spraying. So merging Baby in with 
ours for just a stay of a week or two would not be worth the tumult in the 
whole household.

 

It’s a luxury to be able to keep her separate and I’m grateful that I can. If I 
used the studio (which I don’t do when she’s here) I’d have to move her to 
another room because the equipment in the studio is dangerous for cats.

 

And I agree with your approach to the kitten. Sometimes circumstances are such 
that they are better off together. If I had two who were very attached to each 
other, and one turned up positive, I would not separate them.

 

I have a similar dilemma with our FIV kitty Cyril. He has a buddy, Micky, who 
is totally in love with Cyril. But Cyril had several birth defects (*) in 
addition to FIV, and has only one eye left. Micky plays very roughly, and I’m 
afraid Cyril will lose that eye to an injury. So I only allow them together 
when I can supervise them, and not because of the FIV. I make sure Micky gets 
plenty of other exercise first. I expect Micky will outgrow the roughness; he’s 
only 3.5 years old.

 

* A constellation of 7 birth defects can occur together in cats, including eye 
defects, multiple cardio problems, undescended testes, kinked tail, and some 
limb abnormalities.  Cyril got the eyes and the testes. But golly, he sure is 
cute!

 

 

- Lorraine

 

"Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of who do the things no 
one can imagine."  - Alan Turing 

 

From: Felvtalk [mailto:felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org] On Behalf Of 
Christine Dundas
Sent: Friday, February 22, 2019 3:11 PM
To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] Cleaning? Retesting?

 

My advice would be to keep FeLv and non-FeLv cats separated.  If you choose not 
to, you have to understand there is a chance the non-FeLv cats could get 
infected.  

 

Having said that, when my husband brought home a kitten that tested positive 
for FeLV, I had to make that choice.  We live in a small condo with two other 
cats.  We decided to keep her as long as she could be with us.  I had my two 
other cats vaccinated for FeLV.  They were adult cats, healthy in every way.   
There was no way I could keep everything and everyone separated.  Our little 
Ruthie passed away after almost two years.  My two adult cats tested negative 
afterwards, a few times.  And are still healthy and happy.  That was about four 
years ago.  

 

Christine

 

On Fri, Feb 22, 2019 at 2:46 PM Amani Oakley  wrote:

I had my Zander for seven years, mixed with a dozen other cats. I never took 
any precautions at all. It was too late by the time we figured out he had FeLV. 
No other cat ever got the infection.

 

Amani

 

From: Felvtalk [mailto:felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org] On Behalf Of 
Lorraine Johnston
Sent: February-22-19 2:04 PM
To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] Cleaning? Retesting?

 

Thank you. I guess I should have phrased my question to indicate that I was 
concerned about spreading FeLV to my non-FeLV cats. If I understand correctly, 
your cats are, or were, all FeLV-positive, so there would not have been any 
non-FeLV cats to spread it to? 

 

I told my cousin back in December that I would also keep Baby in April when he 
goes way again. So now I’m trying to determine if that’s safe to do, and what 
additional precautions (if any) I should take while she’s here to avoid spread, 
now that we know she’s FeLV-positive.

 

Thank you,

 

- Lorraine

 

"Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of who do the things no 
one can imagine."  - Alan Turing 

 

From: FeLVtalk [mailto:felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org] On Behalf Of 
dlg...@windstream.net

I have only had FELV  cats but never washed my hands after handling them.  I 
treated all the same and have had no experience of the disease spreading to 
others.  I have had up to 10 at a time as all who came to my house became part 
of my "pride".  As they came to me, I took them to the vet for a checkup, spay 
or neuter and they became mine.

 

- Original Message -

Hello again,

For those of you who have both FELV+ and - cats, how strenuous are your 
cleaning efforts? For instance, do you wash hands after just petting? Do you 
have your negative cats retested every year?

Thank you,

- Lorraine

"Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of who do the things no 
one can imagine."  - Alan Turing

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Fe

Re: [Felvtalk] Cleaning? Retesting?

2019-02-22 Thread Christine Dundas
My advice would be to keep FeLv and non-FeLv cats separated.  If you choose
not to, you have to understand there is a chance the non-FeLv cats could
get infected.

Having said that, when my husband brought home a kitten that tested
positive for FeLV, I had to make that choice.  We live in a small condo
with two other cats.  We decided to keep her as long as she could be with
us.  I had my two other cats vaccinated for FeLV.  They were adult cats,
healthy in every way.   There was no way I could keep everything and
everyone separated.  Our little Ruthie passed away after almost two years.
My two adult cats tested negative afterwards, a few times.  And are still
healthy and happy.  That was about four years ago.

Christine

On Fri, Feb 22, 2019 at 2:46 PM Amani Oakley 
wrote:

> I had my Zander for seven years, mixed with a dozen other cats. I never
> took any precautions at all. It was too late by the time we figured out he
> had FeLV. No other cat ever got the infection.
>
>
>
> Amani
>
>
>
> *From:* Felvtalk [mailto:felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org] *On Behalf
> Of *Lorraine Johnston
> *Sent:* February-22-19 2:04 PM
> *To:* felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
> *Subject:* Re: [Felvtalk] Cleaning? Retesting?
>
>
>
> Thank you. I guess I should have phrased my question to indicate that I
> was concerned about spreading FeLV to my non-FeLV cats. If I understand
> correctly, your cats are, or were, all FeLV-positive, so there would not
> have been any non-FeLV cats to spread it to?
>
>
>
> I told my cousin back in December that I would also keep Baby in April
> when he goes way again. So now I’m trying to determine if that’s safe to
> do, and what additional precautions (if any) I should take while she’s here
> to avoid spread, now that we know she’s FeLV-positive.
>
>
>
> Thank you,
>
>
>
> - Lorraine
>
>
>
> "Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of who do the
> things no one can imagine."  - Alan Turing
>
>
>
> *From:* FeLVtalk [mailto:felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org] *On Behalf
> Of *dlg...@windstream.net
>
> I have only had FELV  cats but never washed my hands after handling them.
> I treated all the same and have had no experience of the disease spreading
> to others.  I have had up to 10 at a time as all who came to my house
> became part of my "pride".  As they came to me, I took them to the vet for
> a checkup, spay or neuter and they became mine.
>
>
>
> - Original Message -
>
> Hello again,
>
> For those of you who have both FELV+ and - cats, how strenuous are your
> cleaning efforts? For instance, do you wash hands after just petting? Do
> you have your negative cats retested every year?
>
> Thank you,
>
> - Lorraine
>
> "Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of who do the
> things no one can imagine."  - Alan Turing
> ___
> Felvtalk mailing list
> Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
> http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
>
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Re: [Felvtalk] Cleaning? Retesting?

2019-02-22 Thread Lorraine Johnston
Hello, Maribel,

 

Thank you for this very specific information. It’s quite helpful, and just what 
I needed to know.

 

Baby, when she stays here, is in my studio, which has a heavy sliding-glass 
door between Felix and Cuddles who are both vaccinated against FeLV. The other 
four cats are much farther away, with no doors in common with Baby. Of those 
four, three are also vaccinated against FeLV, except for Cyril, who is 
FIV-positive.  

 

We might vaccinate Cyril with the Merck killed vaccine this March if his blood 
antibody titers indicate that’s he doesn’t need any of the core vaccinations 
boosted, and if his other health parameters indicate that he could mount an 
immune response to the vaccine. 

 

I won’t vaccinate Cyril with the more common recombinant canarypox 
live/attenuated FeLV vaccines because he had a horrible reaction to the 
live/attenuated Chlamydia component in the FVRCPC vaccine. Never again! Going 
forward we will check antibody titers first, and skip specific vaccinations if 
their  titers are adequate.

 

We have three cat-fenced pens (PurrFect Fence). Baby has controlled access to 
one, but so far is only lukewarm re going outside. If I let her out, I plan to 
leave an hour or so afterward before letting Cyril into the same pen -- or 
better yet, while she’s staying here, he can use one of the other two. Baby is 
only here with us 1x or 2x per year.

 

 

Thank you,

 

- Lorraine

 

"Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of who do the things no 
one can imagine."  - Alan Turing 

 

From: Felvtalk [mailto:felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org] On Behalf Of 
Maribel Piloto
Sent: Friday, February 22, 2019 2:32 PM
To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] Cleaning? Retesting?

 

Keep the Leuk+ guys in a separate room with their own litter box and their own 
scooper.  Do not mix food or water and put any towels, beds, toys they use 
through the washing machine before using it for other cats.   Washing hands all 
the time is not something that I normally do EXCEPT be careful about not 
getting any of their fluids on you (blood, urine, saliva, poop, eye/nose 
discharge) and then potentially getting that on your non-Leuk guys.

 

Also - if you're keeping your Leuk guys in a separate room, make sure to block 
the bottom of the door so the cats can't put their paws through or smell one 
another and possibly sneeze on each other.   You can get a piece of wood the 
length of the door and about 2 ft high and prop it up there with something 
heavy like one of those big litter pales or better yet - install some screws or 
other hardware on the wood around the door so you can just slide the wood in or 
out as you need to.  Whatever you use make sure the cats can't move it because 
cats are very curious and they will try to move it or get through in order to 
see what's going on on the other side.

 

If you regularly are going to have Leuk guys in your home either by pet sitting 
or rescuing them, I would get your non-Leuk guys vaccinated just as extra 
protection.   

 

Maribel

 

- Original Message -
From: Lorraine Johnston 
To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
Sent: Fri, 22 Feb 2019 10:10:16 -0500 (EST)
Subject: [Felvtalk] Cleaning? Retesting?

 

Hello again,

 

For those of you who have both FELV+ and - cats, how strenuous are your 
cleaning efforts? For instance, do you wash hands after just petting? Do you 
have your negative cats retested every year?

 

Thank you,

 

- Lorraine

 

"Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of who do the things no 
one can imagine."  - Alan Turing 

 

 

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Re: [Felvtalk] Cleaning? Retesting?

2019-02-22 Thread Amani Oakley
I had my Zander for seven years, mixed with a dozen other cats. I never took 
any precautions at all. It was too late by the time we figured out he had FeLV. 
No other cat ever got the infection.

Amani

From: Felvtalk [mailto:felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org] On Behalf Of 
Lorraine Johnston
Sent: February-22-19 2:04 PM
To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] Cleaning? Retesting?

Thank you. I guess I should have phrased my question to indicate that I was 
concerned about spreading FeLV to my non-FeLV cats. If I understand correctly, 
your cats are, or were, all FeLV-positive, so there would not have been any 
non-FeLV cats to spread it to?

I told my cousin back in December that I would also keep Baby in April when he 
goes way again. So now I’m trying to determine if that’s safe to do, and what 
additional precautions (if any) I should take while she’s here to avoid spread, 
now that we know she’s FeLV-positive.

Thank you,

- Lorraine

"Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of who do the things no 
one can imagine."  - Alan Turing

From: FeLVtalk [mailto:felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org] On Behalf Of 
dlg...@windstream.net
I have only had FELV  cats but never washed my hands after handling them.  I 
treated all the same and have had no experience of the disease spreading to 
others.  I have had up to 10 at a time as all who came to my house became part 
of my "pride".  As they came to me, I took them to the vet for a checkup, spay 
or neuter and they became mine.

- Original Message -
Hello again,
For those of you who have both FELV+ and - cats, how strenuous are your 
cleaning efforts? For instance, do you wash hands after just petting? Do you 
have your negative cats retested every year?
Thank you,
- Lorraine
"Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of who do the things no 
one can imagine."  - Alan Turing
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Re: [Felvtalk] Cleaning? Retesting?

2019-02-22 Thread Maribel Piloto
Keep the Leuk+ guys in a separate room with their own litter box and their own 
scooper.  Do not mix food or water and put any towels, beds, toys they use 
through the washing machine before using it for other cats.   Washing hands all 
the time is not something that I normally do EXCEPT be careful about not 
getting any of their fluids on you (blood, urine, saliva, poop, eye/nose 
discharge) and then potentially getting that on your non-Leuk guys.
Also - if you're keeping your Leuk guys in a separate room, make sure to block 
the bottom of the door so the cats can't put their paws through or smell one 
another and possibly sneeze on each other.   You can get a piece of wood the 
length of the door and about 2 ft high and prop it up there with something 
heavy like one of those big litter pales or better yet - install some screws or 
other hardware on the wood around the door so you can just slide the wood in or 
out as you need to.  Whatever you use make sure the cats can't move it because 
cats are very curious and they will try to move it or get through in order to 
see what's going on on the other side.
If you regularly are going to have Leuk guys in your home either by pet sitting 
or rescuing them, I would get your non-Leuk guys vaccinated just as extra 
protection.   
Maribel
- Original Message -
From: Lorraine Johnston 
To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
Sent: Fri, 22 Feb 2019 10:10:16 -0500 (EST)
Subject: [Felvtalk] Cleaning? Retesting?


Hello again,

 

For those of you who have both FELV+ and - cats, how strenuous are your 
cleaning efforts? For instance, do you wash hands after just petting? Do you 
have your negative cats retested every year?

 

Thank you,

 

- Lorraine

 

"Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of who do the things no 
one can imagine."  - Alan Turing 

 

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Re: [Felvtalk] Cleaning? Retesting?

2019-02-22 Thread Lorraine Johnston
Thank you. I guess I should have phrased my question to indicate that I was 
concerned about spreading FeLV to my non-FeLV cats. If I understand correctly, 
your cats are, or were, all FeLV-positive, so there would not have been any 
non-FeLV cats to spread it to? 

 

I told my cousin back in December that I would also keep Baby in April when he 
goes way again. So now I’m trying to determine if that’s safe to do, and what 
additional precautions (if any) I should take while she’s here to avoid spread, 
now that we know she’s FeLV-positive.

 

Thank you,

 

- Lorraine

 

"Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of who do the things no 
one can imagine."  - Alan Turing 

 

From: FeLVtalk [mailto:felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org] On Behalf Of 
dlg...@windstream.net



I have only had FELV  cats but never washed my hands after handling them.  I 
treated all the same and have had no experience of the disease spreading to 
others.  I have had up to 10 at a time as all who came to my house became part 
of my "pride".  As they came to me, I took them to the vet for a checkup, spay 
or neuter and they became mine.

 

- Original Message -

Hello again,

For those of you who have both FELV+ and - cats, how strenuous are your 
cleaning efforts? For instance, do you wash hands after just petting? Do you 
have your negative cats retested every year?

Thank you,

- Lorraine

"Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of who do the things no 
one can imagine."  - Alan Turing

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Re: [Felvtalk] Cleaning? Retesting?

2019-02-22 Thread dlg...@windstream.net
I have only had FELV  cats but never washed my hands after handling them.  I 
treated all the same and have had no experience of the disease spreading to 
others.  I have had up to 10 at a time as all who came to my house became part 
of my "pride".  As they came to me, I took them to the vet for a checkup, spay 
or neuter and they became mine.
- Original Message -
From: Lorraine Johnston 
To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
Sent: Fri, 22 Feb 2019 10:10:16 -0500 (EST)
Subject: [Felvtalk] Cleaning? Retesting?

Hello again, For those of you who have both FELV+ and - cats, how strenuous 
are your cleaning efforts? For instance, do you wash hands after just petting? 
Do you have your negative cats retested every year? Thank you, - Lorraine 
"Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of who do the things no 
one can imagine."  - Alan Turing  
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[Felvtalk] Cleaning? Retesting?

2019-02-22 Thread Lorraine Johnston
Hello again,

 

For those of you who have both FELV+ and - cats, how strenuous are your
cleaning efforts? For instance, do you wash hands after just petting? Do you
have your negative cats retested every year?

 

Thank you,

 

- Lorraine

 

"Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of who do the things
no one can imagine."  - Alan Turing 

 

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Re: [Felvtalk] Baby's intro

2019-02-22 Thread Lorraine Johnston
Thank you, Sandra. I’ve shared your info with my cousin.

 

- Lorraine

 

"Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of who do the things no 
one can imagine."  - Alan Turing 

 

From: Felvtalk [mailto:felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org] On Behalf Of Sandra 
Wachtstetter
Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2019 9:54 PM
To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] Baby's intro

 

Lorraine - I am part of the group and have the following into - from Amani - so 
you can see a bit more

From: Amani Oakley 
Sent: June-10-18 3:22 PM
To: 'felvtalk@felineleukemia.org'
Subject: RE: [Felvtalk] Felvtalk Digest, Vol 47, Issue 6

What a very sad story about your blind cat. I understand your heart break. I 
too have placed cats into what I thought were excellent homes, only to have a 
sad, and an unnecessarily tragic outcome. I have probably adopted out close to 
400 cats in the time my husband and I have been rescuing cats. Thankfully, most 
of the time, people are just really happy to return a cat to me if things 
aren’t working out, but I know only too well that once out of my hands, you’re 
at the mercy of what someone else thinks is the right thing to do.

Your email to FeLV talk goes out to everyone on the list at the same time. I 
will often answer regarding FeLV because I was lucky enough to have stumbled on 
a medication protocol (which I was calling Zander’s protocol) which treated my 
Zander’s FeLV when EVERYTHING else had failed. I used to be a medical lab 
technologist, so lab results are key to me. When trying Zander on the various 
medications that were suggested as assisting with FeLV, I got weekly bloodwork 
done and would study the results to see which direction his bloodwork was 
going. Nothing worked at all (Interferon, LTCI, combo of prednisone/Doxy) and I 
kept him alive with several blood transfusions. When that was no longer an 
option because he had had a reaction during his last blood transfusion and the 
next one would kill him, I rummaged around in my drawer of cat meds, and had 
nothing else at all to try but figured what the hell and tried him on Winstrol 
(Stanazalol) which I thought might at least keep him eating and maybe keep him 
alive a bit longer. To my complete and utter amazement and disbelief, after 
just a few days on Winstrol, his ivory white gums and inner ears (signs of his 
profound anemia) started showing a slight pinkish blush. The next blood work (a 
few days later) showed the first uptick in hematocrit that I had seen with him 
since the FeLV crisis had begun, which was not brought on by the artificial 
increase in red cells from his transfusions.

I kept him on the combination of prednisone/doxycycline/winstrol for more than 
a year, while his hematocrit climbed from 10 and back into the normal reference 
range of 25 to 45. Every time I tried to stop or reduce the dosage of winstrol, 
his blood results would show an immediate drop in red cells and hematocrit, so 
even though his liver enzymes went way up (the reason Winstrol had fallen out 
of favour with the vets), I really had no choice but to continue since the vets 
had nothing else to offer me and the alternative was he was going to die from 
the FeLV infection. He recovered fully, looked marvelous and amazing, ate well, 
and his liver enzymes went right back to normal once I discontinued the 
Winstrol – something like 10 months later.

No one seemed to know this combination, and the vets I spoke with seemed wary 
or suspicious that this combination would indeed be helpful in FeLV (except 
mine – who had of course seen the weekly blood work showing a slow and steady 
rise in red cells and ultimately, in white cells and platelets, until his 
entire hematological profile looked perfectly fine). At the time, I was 
understandably extremely excited by the effects of the Winstrol and I believe 
that the Winstrol was able to cause the production of new bone marrow cells 
(something it has been found to do in osteoporotic women) and thus, new cells 
which could produce the red cells. However, I now also think that the 
combination worked because the Doxycycline was able to retard or slow down the 
viral replication, to allow the red cell production to move ahead with less 
risk that the FeLV would attack the new bone marrow cells. I have been told 
that the prednisone helps protect the liver from the Winstrol, but I also think 
that it’s anti-inflammatory properties helped in areas like intestinal 
inflammation (Zander had lots of trouble eating and keeping the food down). So, 
I think maybe I by accident stumbled on this combination but was able to 
understand what might be happening and why it might have worked, because of my 
scientific/medical training.

Zander lived another 7 years and died from a heart condition which I wondered 
at the time if it was related, and it might have been, but it probably was that 
the virus had done a fair amount of damage to certain organs before I was able 
to get i

Re: [Felvtalk] Baby's intro

2019-02-22 Thread Lorraine Johnston
Thank you. I’ve shared your info with my cousin.

 

- Lorraine

 

"Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of who do the things no 
one can imagine."  - Alan Turing 

 

From: Felvtalk [mailto:felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org] On Behalf Of Amani 
Oakley
Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2019 10:18 PM
To: Sandra Wachtstetter; felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] Baby's intro

 

Boy I t blab a lot, don’t I?

 

Amani

 

From: Felvtalk  On Behalf Of Sandra 
Wachtstetter
Sent: February 21, 2019 9:54 PM
To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] Baby's intro

 

Lorraine - I am part of the group and have the following into - from Amani - so 
you can see a bit more

From: Amani Oakley 
Sent: June-10-18 3:22 PM
To: 'felvtalk@felineleukemia.org'
Subject: RE: [Felvtalk] Felvtalk Digest, Vol 47, Issue 6

What a very sad story about your blind cat. I understand your heart break. I 
too have placed cats into what I thought were excellent homes, only to have a 
sad, and an unnecessarily tragic outcome. I have probably adopted out close to 
400 cats in the time my husband and I have been rescuing cats. Thankfully, most 
of the time, people are just really happy to return a cat to me if things 
aren’t working out, but I know only too well that once out of my hands, you’re 
at the mercy of what someone else thinks is the right thing to do.

Your email to FeLV talk goes out to everyone on the list at the same time. I 
will often answer regarding FeLV because I was lucky enough to have stumbled on 
a medication protocol (which I was calling Zander’s protocol) which treated my 
Zander’s FeLV when EVERYTHING else had failed. I used to be a medical lab 
technologist, so lab results are key to me. When trying Zander on the various 
medications that were suggested as assisting with FeLV, I got weekly bloodwork 
done and would study the results to see which direction his bloodwork was 
going. Nothing worked at all (Interferon, LTCI, combo of prednisone/Doxy) and I 
kept him alive with several blood transfusions. When that was no longer an 
option because he had had a reaction during his last blood transfusion and the 
next one would kill him, I rummaged around in my drawer of cat meds, and had 
nothing else at all to try but figured what the hell and tried him on Winstrol 
(Stanazalol) which I thought might at least keep him eating and maybe keep him 
alive a bit longer. To my complete and utter amazement and disbelief, after 
just a few days on Winstrol, his ivory white gums and inner ears (signs of his 
profound anemia) started showing a slight pinkish blush. The next blood work (a 
few days later) showed the first uptick in hematocrit that I had seen with him 
since the FeLV crisis had begun, which was not brought on by the artificial 
increase in red cells from his transfusions.

I kept him on the combination of prednisone/doxycycline/winstrol for more than 
a year, while his hematocrit climbed from 10 and back into the normal reference 
range of 25 to 45. Every time I tried to stop or reduce the dosage of winstrol, 
his blood results would show an immediate drop in red cells and hematocrit, so 
even though his liver enzymes went way up (the reason Winstrol had fallen out 
of favour with the vets), I really had no choice but to continue since the vets 
had nothing else to offer me and the alternative was he was going to die from 
the FeLV infection. He recovered fully, looked marvelous and amazing, ate well, 
and his liver enzymes went right back to normal once I discontinued the 
Winstrol – something like 10 months later.

No one seemed to know this combination, and the vets I spoke with seemed wary 
or suspicious that this combination would indeed be helpful in FeLV (except 
mine – who had of course seen the weekly blood work showing a slow and steady 
rise in red cells and ultimately, in white cells and platelets, until his 
entire hematological profile looked perfectly fine). At the time, I was 
understandably extremely excited by the effects of the Winstrol and I believe 
that the Winstrol was able to cause the production of new bone marrow cells 
(something it has been found to do in osteoporotic women) and thus, new cells 
which could produce the red cells. However, I now also think that the 
combination worked because the Doxycycline was able to retard or slow down the 
viral replication, to allow the red cell production to move ahead with less 
risk that the FeLV would attack the new bone marrow cells. I have been told 
that the prednisone helps protect the liver from the Winstrol, but I also think 
that it’s anti-inflammatory properties helped in areas like intestinal 
inflammation (Zander had lots of trouble eating and keeping the food down). So, 
I think maybe I by accident stumbled on this combination but was able to 
understand what might be happening and why it might have worked, because of my 
scientific/medical training.

Zander lived another 7 years and died from