Re: Anyone know how immuno regulin is administered?
Kerry, I know that you do not like the house call vets you have used thus far, but would you trust them just for the purpose of administering the I-R while you are gone if they would be willing to do that? For a vet, giving an IV shot is incredibly easy and takes a minute. It is not something you should have to trust their judgment or demeanor much about (famous last words I guess) and it would be much less stressful for Flavia and for your petsitter. I have never used a house call vet myself and so am not recommending this because I have a preference for them or because I think you should start using them. Just in this instance, with her being feral and you going away and your petsitter being stretched, it seems like it might make sense. You could schedule the visits ahead of time for every 3 days for the first 4 treatments (if you want to follow that schedule) and then do the next one after you get back. As far as the side effects go, when Ginger got hers there were posts on this group recommending doing a lower dose with her next time. Apparently if they get side effects the protocol is to knock the dosage in half the next time and go from there. It is very rare though (the shelter uses it a lot and has not noticed anyone have the effects Ginger had, although they also do not scrutinize the cats like I do due to sheer numbers and since the effects only last an hour or so and are not necessarily very apparent I would not guarantee none of the cats has actually gotten them). And please stop thanking me! Almost everything I have learned I have learned from this group and am just spitting back out what I have learned and what I have used. And I do not know that any of it will work. Some things have helped with my cats, but I also feel like I have done things that have not helped and things that have made matters worse. I hope that my suggestions help you and Flavia, but there is also every chance that they will make things worse. I know that I use a very authoritative tone sometimes because I have strong opinions about things I think are more likely than others to work, and because I am used to writing in that way from being a lawyer, but that does not mean that my opinions are actually authoritative. Good luck, Kerry. I think about you and Flavia often. Every time this happens to one of the cats I hope and pray that this time we will figure something out collectively that will help long-term, or that whatever is wrong is different from all the other times and will actually resolve long-term. Michelle In a message dated 7/2/05 7:32:10 PM Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Once again Michelle, I'm so very grateful to you. I sent the text of your and Kyle's emails to the vet, and I checked they got there before she left for the holiday weekend. (She said she had never used immunoregulin, so now she has something to read over the weekend!) Flavia's PCV count was maintained at 17 today. Of course,I was relieved. We go back on Tuesday.I'm still trying to figure out how to make the IR (if I go ahead) worklogistically while I'm gone. (I leave on Wed evening.) Flavia is feral, so it's not an easy matter to put her in a carrier, and I'm not sure any of my friends are up to doing that. (The petsitter is going to be stretched to her limit with all her clients because her helper just left.) I'll have to put some thought into this... One step at a time many thanks again Michelle. love and hugs, Kerry
Re: Anyone know how immuno regulin is administered?
Once again Michelle, I'm so very grateful to you. I sent the text of your and Kyle's emails to the vet, and I checked they got there before she left for the holiday weekend. (She said she had never used immunoregulin, so now she has something to read over the weekend!) Flavia's PCV count was maintained at 17 today. Of course,I was relieved. We go back on Tuesday.I'm still trying to figure out how to make the IR (if I go ahead) worklogistically while I'm gone. (I leave on Wed evening.) Flavia is feral, so it's not an easy matter to put her in a carrier, and I'm not sure any of my friends are up to doing that. (The petsitter is going to be stretched to her limit with all her clients because her helper just left.) I'll have to put some thought into this... One step at a time many thanks again Michelle. love and hugs, Kerry - Original Message - From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Friday, July 01, 2005 8:47 PM Subject: Re: Anyone know how immuno regulin is administered? No hospitalization is required. A vet is only needed to do it because it is an IV injection. If you know someone who can do IV injections, or if you want to get a house call vet to do it, that is all that is needed. The dose is every 3 days or once a week for the first 2 weeks, then once a week thereafter. She may need another transfusion too, and/or another shot of dexamethasone depending on what is happening that is making her HCT fall like that. Is she sluggish? One word of caution-- IR causes fever and chills and some other side effects in a small percentage of cats. It caused very high fever with Ginger (105.8) and chills for about an hour, but I do think it helped her get over her URI and start eating again. My cat Patches got it with no side effects and I think it helped her get over pneumonia quickly. My only hope that IR will help with anemia is from that article on our website, but I hope it does. I think it might be hard to administer to a feral, but if they gave her a transfusion that is IV too (though her HCT was so low that she probably could not fight or care at that point). Are you leaving your pet sitter with instructions about things to do if she seems to be more anemic? I think there is a good chance her HCT will fall while you are gone even if you get it back up now. You might want to do another transfusion if you can before you leave, since the last one seems to have helped her for over 2 weeks, right? Maybe it will get her through your trip? Michelle In a message dated 7/1/05 6:26:54 PM Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Hi Kerry, I'm sorry the hematocrit went down. I don't know that much about the numbers, but it seems that's not a huge drop. When I used immunoregulin I had to take my cat in for injections. I believe we started out every other day or even every day, and then tapered down. With a feral cat I don't know if that's the way to go. My cat was very skittish, and after all she went through with the immunoregulin vet visits and then the eye drops treatment for herpes she was always semiferal after that.. I hope your next test shows no drop in the hematocrit. You and Flavia are in my thoughts and prayers. tonyaKerry MacKenzie [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hi everyoneFlavia's test was not so good last night--her hematocrit went down from 21to17. I'm taking her again on Saturday for the same test. I wish so muchthat I wasn't going out of the country on Wednesday--it is such bad timing.Michelle had suggested I read the article on immunoregulin posted on thisgroup's site--how it had been successful in treating FeLV cats with varioussymptoms including severe anemia. My Q is, does anyone know what's involvedwith immunoregulin treatment --does it involve hospitalization for severaldays? I'm not keen to do that--Flavia is feral, and gets very stressed outby human contact and change. If anyone has any experience of treating akitty with immunoregulin I'd really appreciate any info.Thanks, Kerry
RE: Anyone know how immuno regulin is administered?
I am so sorry about HCT, Kerry - Is there any option not to go to UK at this time?? As for immuno regulin, I don't think it requires hospitalization, but I think it's something that need to be done at the vet since it's administered via IV - that's the drawback because it will stress them out - here' the link to the article http://www.felineleukemia.org/hope.html http://www.felineleukemia.org/ireginfo.html http://www.felineleukemia.org/opinion.html -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Kerry MacKenzie Sent: Thursday, June 30, 2005 8:49 PM To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Subject: Anyone know how immuno regulin is administered? Hi everyone Flavia's test was not so good last night--her hematocrit went down from 21 to17. I'm taking her again on Saturday for the same test. I wish so much that I wasn't going out of the country on Wednesday--it is such bad timing. Michelle had suggested I read the article on immunoregulin posted on this group's site--how it had been successful in treating FeLV cats with various symptoms including severe anemia. My Q is, does anyone know what's involved with immunoregulin treatment --does it involve hospitalization for several days? I'm not keen to do that--Flavia is feral, and gets very stressed out by human contact and change. If anyone has any experience of treating a kitty with immunoregulin I'd really appreciate any info. Thanks, Kerry
RE: Anyone know how immuno regulin is administered?
Kerry, looks like the postings of messages are not working - I am sending this to you off line, too. -Original Message- From: Hideyo Yamamoto Sent: Friday, July 01, 2005 11:22 AM To: 'felvtalk@felineleukemia.org' Subject: RE: Anyone know how immuno regulin is administered? I am so sorry about HCT, Kerry - Is there any option not to go to UK at this time?? As for immuno regulin, I don't think it requires hospitalization, but I think it's something that need to be done at the vet since it's administered via IV - that's the drawback because it will stress them out - here' the link to the article http://www.felineleukemia.org/hope.html http://www.felineleukemia.org/ireginfo.html http://www.felineleukemia.org/opinion.html -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Kerry MacKenzie Sent: Thursday, June 30, 2005 8:49 PM To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Subject: Anyone know how immuno regulin is administered? Hi everyone Flavia's test was not so good last night--her hematocrit went down from 21 to17. I'm taking her again on Saturday for the same test. I wish so much that I wasn't going out of the country on Wednesday--it is such bad timing. Michelle had suggested I read the article on immunoregulin posted on this group's site--how it had been successful in treating FeLV cats with various symptoms including severe anemia. My Q is, does anyone know what's involved with immunoregulin treatment --does it involve hospitalization for several days? I'm not keen to do that--Flavia is feral, and gets very stressed out by human contact and change. If anyone has any experience of treating a kitty with immunoregulin I'd really appreciate any info. Thanks, Kerry
Anyone know how immuno regulin is administered?
Hi everyone Flavia's test was not so good last night--her hematocrit went down from 21 to17. I'm taking her again on Saturday for the same test. I wish so much that I wasn't going out of the country on Wednesday--it is such bad timing. Michelle had suggested I read the article on immunoregulin posted on this group's site--how it had been successful in treating FeLV cats with various symptoms including severe anemia. My Q is, does anyone know what's involved with immunoregulin treatment --does it involve hospitalization for several days? I'm not keen to do that--Flavia is feral, and gets very stressed out by human contact and change. If anyone has any experience of treating a kitty with immunoregulin I'd really appreciate any info. Thanks, Kerry
