Please Help My Cat - He Has Leukemia - Hes on Interferon - PLEASE!

I am in desperate need of help for my cat.

Recently my cat who is 3 years old was diagnosed with Leukemia. His red and white blood cell count is very low and he is anemic. He is very very lethargic 24/7.

I love my cat more than anything So 2 days ago ( 2 days after finding out he has Leukemia) I got him a blood transfusion. I Have him on Clavamox, Viralys, Baytril, Fatty Acids (fish oil), Mirtazapine to make him eat and I even have him on Feline Interferon Omega which is very expensive.

It is day 2 for all medications and day 2 after the blood transfusion and he is still very very lethargic. He only gets up to eat and drink. He sleeps all day and is not very responsive. I Took his temperature and it was around the normal range.

Please anyone have any advice. I do not know if I should bring him back to the doctor. I feel like they will try to only hydrate him and than want to put him to sleep if he doesnt become more active.

I am so sorry to hear of your cat's problems. I have no specific advice to offer - it seems that your vet has already got him on all that can be done, but I would not give up yet. Two days is a very short time for him to respond, and it does sound as if he is very seriously ill. As for putting him to sleep, unless there is a marked change in his condition, I do not think the vet would want to do that so soon after starting him on the medication plan. And only you can give that final decision, whatever the vet might say. So give it a chance to make a change, and keep a careful watch for any signs that seem as if he is feeling either better or worse. Cats have a way of telling their loving owners when they have had enough, you will know when the time comes. Meanwhile many vibes to you that you have some more quality time with your beloved pet.

Hello,

I am very sorry to hear about your cat. I agree with Jenny, 2 days is not long. I had high dose chemo myself last fall, and became anemic and neutropenic, had blood transfusions, etc. Still, it was a good month before I began to feel better, so if he's not in obvious pain/discomfort, and just lethargic, I would let him rest.

You might want to call your vet and give a report and see what they say as well. You may find that this is completely normal.

Good luck.

C

Thank you all so much. I love him so much. I adopted him about 8 months ago and he is the greatest cat. Hes like a dog in the way that he acts lol. Its so sad.

I'm so sorry your kitty has FeLV.

Right now, the best thing for him is rest. We have a kitty with an autoimmune disease and we've been battling his anemia for seven years now. Your kitty's white blood cell count is low because FeLV affects immune response, and he is very lethargic because he is anemic. The very very best thing he can do right now is rest, and do NOT encourage him playing or being active. As Jenny pointed out, you need to give the medications time to do their work, and the best thing to help that happen is rest.

There's no reason for the vet to suggest putting him to sleep. He's not in any pain.

for both you and your baby.

Could you specify whether your cat have FeLV or lymphocytic leukemia? It's going to cause a bit of confusion as most people automatically think FeLV as the virus is much more common. Advice for dealing with that virus will be different than dealing with cancer.

If it is lymphocytic leukemia, do you have a oncologist vet working with you for his care? If not, that may help his treatment.

I'm sorry your cat is so sick. It has only been 2 days since starting all the medicines. Just like medicine for people, you've got to give them a chance to work.

I agree, you have some time to see if these meds are going to work for your cat. I pray that they will.

I agree....my cat had a really bad URI, and it took the meds almost a week to kick in. Prior to seeing improvement, I really thought she was not going to pull through. Hang in there...

Prayers for your kitty...

Keith

I know Interferon is used for treating FeLV, we were going to treat Attitude and Nuts until we realized it was way too expensive to even consider(I couldn't have afforded to treat myself or my human child with it at the price they gave me.)

You need to discuss this with your vet as he can give you a good idea of how long it might take to see an improvement in him and when you should see an improvement in him(max times, as in we know this isn't working after x amount of time has passed with no improvement.)

2 days is not long, but your vet really is your best source of advice on this. If they recommend euthanasia it is usually or a very good reason, especially when they have a 'long term' relationship with the pet and owner. It isn't really even a specific amount of time needed for long term, I had one with my vet in a year with my FeLV+ cat Attitude who passed away in Nov at 15 months old. I had known Attitude since she was 4 weeks old and she had been going to this vet since 6-8 weeks old. They are also the vet who treats Nuts, who is also FeLV+ whenever he needs a vet, which, other than regular yearly exams, is never. He is surprisingly very healthy.

Talk to your vet, seriously, they aren't going to suggest euthanasia unless they think it's in the cat's best interest. They make a lot more money keeping your cat alive than they do putting it to sleep(Attitude's "last bill" was actually one of the cheapest vet bills I ever had with her.) I had to realize that when it came to Attitude. When our last chance effort failed and she was still getting worse I had to let her go.

Taryn

Originally Posted by cd32505n

I am in desperate need of help for my cat.

Recently my cat who is 3 years old was diagnosed with Leukemia. His red and white blood cell count is very low and he is anemic. He is very very lethargic 24/7.

I love my cat more than anything So 2 days ago ( 2 days after finding out he has Leukemia) I got him a blood transfusion. I Have him on Clavamox, Viralys, Baytril, Fatty Acids (fish oil), Mirtazapine to make him eat and I even have him on Feline Interferon Omega which is very expensive.

It is day 2 for all medications and day 2 after the blood transfusion and he is still very very lethargic. He only gets up to eat and drink. He sleeps all day and is not very responsive. I Took his temperature and it was around the normal range.

Please anyone have any advice. I do not know if I should bring him back to the doctor. I feel like they will try to only hydrate him and than want to put him to sleep if he doesnt become more active.

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i am so sorry about your kitty has felv, my orange tabby has it to and she is 4 and half yeras old. there is not much can be done except high pro food, NO STRESS and keep her indoor. since you have been trying different things i have a suggestion to try this product: they call it immuno dmg tablets for dogs and cats.. i have been giving to my cat for last 2 years and it suppose to help with immune system. go online look for link PETABBEY or other suppliers and order this pills.. they are small tablets size of asprin and you can give it to her with soft treats or her favorite can cat food.
knock on the wood my cat doing really well but needs more dental cleaning. good luck to you and hope everything turns out for best

product name: usan-immuno-dmg-tablet 90 tablets for dog and cats ( pettabbey.com) or other suppliers.
just make sure order the one for dogs and cats and not human.

Hey everyone thanks for the support. It means so much.

I received bad news recently. My cats face was swelling so I brought him in and they said something is in front of his heart. Most likely a tumor. They gave him some steroids to reduce the swelling and it worked 2 days later. They send me home with meds but I couldnt give it to him anymore he was just not having it. His throat was to small. That was 3 days ago. I woke up this morning and the swelling is gone but he cannot move. He has not eaten or drank anything in 2 days. I am trying everything even meds but its not working. He can stand for about 3 seconds than falls down.

I am beyond sad and i even ran out and got him his favorite treat thinking he would atleast eat that and no go.

He is basically gone already. Idk how to deal with this and i feel like I am being selfish. I have decided to bring him in tom (monday) to put him to sleep. I love this guy more than anything. Hes my little buddy. I cant even fathom life without him around. He made it so much better.

Best way to describe my cat is that he made me smile.. An honest feel good smile. Its very rare to feel that in life. Just looking at him made me fill up with joy. Just like a son or a daughter would.

This is my last day with him and i cannot deal with it. Lets just say I have been hitting the scotch hard.

I feel like there is nothing left I can do. The next step would be trying to find out what is in front of his heart and they would have to stick needles into his chest and do many tests etc and i cannot do that to him. I even stopped the other meds ( i finished the first stage of interferon ) i cannot take the way he looks at me after I stick pills down his throat.

WHAT DO I DO!?! Im losing my best buddy.

Please anyone have advice.. Please

It sounds like it is his time. From your description, he is getting no pleasure out of life. He can't muster the energy to stand or even eat. You know it is his time, and it really sounds like it would be the best for him if you did the humane thing tomrrow as you have planned. I know this is hard, but when you look back at it you will be glad you put him to sleep instead of prolonging his pain with no real purpose. You don't want to look back and remember him struggling to exist just for you to have a few more days or a week with him.

It's never easy when they hit that point.
I agree with rad65. It sounds like it may be his time and the last kindness you can give him would be to take him in tomorrow. If it's not his time, something will happen between now and tomorrow to prove that to you.

Only advice I can give is to try and have a 'normal' day with him today. If he liked sleeping on the couch with you, bring him over to the couch and hang out with him. If he liked curling up in your bed, put him there, grab a book and join him. Anything that's something you would have done with him when he was well...

I doubt there's any advice we can give that will lengthen the time you have your special cat. Their time with us is too short in the best of circumstances, and cruel fate can cut it even shorter. We have lost one young, and it hurts even today, 15 years later.

I'm so sorry you're going through this. I lost my girl two years ago and it was horrible even though I knew she was really sick. It's hard to imagine not seeing their face when you wake up in the morning. The only thing that made me feel better was the knowledge that I could now give a home to another cat that so desperately needs it and I know that my baby girl would have wanted me to help another cat. She also would have wanted me to be happy. I adopted a little black girl that nobody else wanted in honor of my angel cat and it felt good knowing that her passing brought with it something good - life and love for an unwanted cat.
Your boy loves you as much as you love him and he wouldn't want to see you sad. Also remember that he's not going to be gone. He's just going to a better place where he will watch over you, free of pain and illness. Although it will be painful for you it will be a relief for him. Try to do what you think he would want for both you and him.
Maybe something good could come out of your boy's passing too by giving an unwanted cat a home with you. That way it would not be in vain. You can never replace a cat but you can start a new chapter with a new friend.

Please come back to let us know how you're doing. We're here for you. Hugs