Koko most likely has IBD - a new journey for me

Koko had her follow up exam this afternoon. The good news is that she has gained 4 ounces in weight, and that in spite of the fact that I'm working carbs out of her diet and replacing them with proteins. Her blood protein level is back to normal, which indicates that she is able to absorb proteins again.

The bad news is that the GLUC is still high, indicating a continuation of the inflamation. But worse, her red cell count has dropped, which could mean a number of things (cancer included). The vet sent the blood work off to an off site lab for more extensive analysis, and I will hopefully hear back on that by Friday. Depending on what I hear about that, will need to get her back sooner rather than later for additional tests (xrays, ultrasounds, etc). Since she's regained weight and she is acting better, we're going to take these tests one at a time. No emergency (yet).

We had weaned Koko down to 1 pred every other day, but the vet wants us to put her on a daily dose until the next recheck in 3 weeks. Oh boy, she's going to hate that, but the vet gave me a new improved pill gun to see if that is easier to use on her.

Oh Amy, this is not cancer! And the new pill gun helps!

Bad news. The blood work shows that Koko is not creating very many red blood cells. This is a strong indication that she might have bone marrow leukemia. It's a rare enough cancer that my vet needs to consult with a specialist to find out if there are even available treatments for it. We talk again on Thursday to schedule a bone marrow aspiration, which will tell us conclusively if this is what she has. It's really not looking very good right now.

I texted my dear friend who has 2 of Koko's littermates. She offered her siblings to provide blood or marrow to Koko if she needed it. Wow. I never thought I'd have a conversation about the possibility of organ donors within this sweet orphaned litter.

Every one please send vibes that she does not have cancer. I'm a bit shocked right now.


And btw, the new pill gun didn't work all that well on Koko, but she has sort of resigned herself to the fact that she is getting a pill every day. DH and I are able to get it in her the first try most days.

OH NO!!! Oh my gosh, sending you huge amounts of good vibes and positive thoughts. I'm so sorry you both have to go through this. Please keep us posted!!

I both love and hate the internet.

Just read up on treatments and prognosis for cats with bone marrow leukemia. As suspected, there is no cure. Once diagnosed, life expectancy is a few weeks if untreated, or a couple months if treated through chemotherapy. The chemo used for this is highly toxic and makes them miserable.

I need prayers that she does NOT have this disease!!

Oh Amy! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm so sorry. I really hope there's some other reason for this and they can find out quickly what it is!

OH AMY............. I can't believe this news. From possible IBD to THIS :sobbing:. I really hope that it is not bone marrow leukemia :shame:. I know - I hate and love the internet. I am forever looking up thing's that ail us and our pet's. Sometimes just makes us feel worse . I am sending Koko major vibes and you loads of strength vibes. This is very upsetting news and I am very sorry you and Koko are going through this... :rub: :rub: :rub: :rub: :rub: :rub: :rub: :rub: :rub: :rub: :rub: :rub: :rub: :rub: :rub: :rub:

It's love and cheese danish time, regardless of the outcome of the next test.

Koko has always been my husbands cat, to the point that she always pulled away from me when I tried to pick her up or even pet her. Even when we were bottle feeding her as a baby, she preferred it when DH fed her. She's slept cuddled up against him her entire life. She picked him and I've always been OK with that.

I have been very purposefully pushing myself on her in the last few months and finally gotten her to a point that she'll jump up next to me sometimes when I call her name and will allow me a few pets. She's a smart girl. All of the other cats are mine and tussle with each other to be close to me. I assumed that she just didn't want to compete with the other cats for my attention. It's going to be a bit hard for me to supply the love and cheese danish. I will be the cheese danish dispenser and DH will dispense most of the love.

(and for those that don't understand the theory, I'm not feeding her cheese danish, just any food that she loves)

Keeping Koko in my thoughts and prayers, and sending absolutely heaps of vibes!

I am going though the IBD thing with our 15 year old Tabby.

I have had good luck with some of the supplements here:

http://holisticat.com/ibd.html

Specifically:

L-Glutamine (Source Naturals brand powder): an amino acid shown to help slow down catabolism (break down of musle) and repair the abdominal wall and mucous lining -- 1/16 tsp

Digestive enzymes (Prozyme, Petguard, or Dr. Goodpet): cellulase, lipase, protease, and lipas, not to be confused with proteolytic or pancreatic enzymes -- follow brand guidelines.

Probiotics (Jarrow Pet-Dophilus powder or non-dairy UAS Labs DDS capsules which also contains FOS) -- look for as many strains of beneficial bacteria as possible and a minimum of 1 billion CFU per kitty serving.

She has also taken to a raw diet pretty well. I tried naturesmenu.com and the CSR gave me a sample pack of their various meats for about $15 plus shipping.

Good luck

Thanks for the info, but her diagnose was changed to probably cancer rather than IBD.

The good news is that when I weighed her yesterday, she gained about a half pound since last week. She's on pred daily right now so it is really stimulating her appetite. She's loving the new canned grain free foods and of course I've been slipping her a little deli meat in between our normal feeding times. Koko's "cheese danish" is deli meat. Could be a lot worse, but if it's helping to put on some weight right now, that's good. She'll be able to handle what's coming up a little better with more weight.

I may not have mentioned it in this thread, but when the vet saw the blood work, she said that there are 2 reasons for the reduced immature red blood cells: FeLV or blood marrow leukemia. I ruled out FeLV as my household has been tested for that repeatedly over the years. But during a subsequent conversation, my vet put some really nagging doubts in my mind about the potential for this being FeLV rather than the cancerous leukemia, when she told me about one of her patients who developed it at 9 years old after being tested negative her entire life. She was an indoor cat with no exposure what so ever to other cats other than the ones she lived with her entire life. All of the household had tested negative, but came from a cattery who was having FeLV problems. Koko came from a feral colony when FeLV was present. She and her brother Muddy tested negative numerous times in the past, and their littermates who live with a friend tested negative over and over again, their last test was run 2 years ago. But some cats just harbor the virus undetected for years and years apparently. And since all of my cats came from that same feral colony, could they all be harboring the virus? My mind is still trying to wrap itself around the possibility that I may have FeLV in my household, and what to do if I do have it.

Momofmany said:

...She and her brother Muddy tested negative numerous times in the past, and their littermates who live with a friend tested negative over and over again, their last test was run 2 years ago. But some cats just harbor the virus undetected for years and years apparently. And since all of my cats came from that same feral colony, could they all be harboring the virus? My mind is still trying to wrap itself around the possibility that I may have FeLV in my household, and what to do if I do have it.

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Amy, this is true about harboring the virus and it developing later in life. I have the data bookmarked somewhere. I'll see if I can find it.

Well, if I have it bookmarked, I can't find it. You can google as well as I can, and this information is easily found. What I remember reading was detailed stats on each type of progression. Anyway,

Prognosis
The prognosis varies considerably. About 70% of cats that are infected with FeLV develop immunity and are able to fight the virus before developing symptoms. These cats usually live a normal life.

Some cats that develop initial immunity suffer a viraemic breakout months or years later, usually after being stressed or medicated with drugs that suppress the immune system.
Thirty percent of FeLV-infected cats that don't develop immunity to the virus are persistently viraemic. These cats may live months or years, depending on how far the disease has progressed when the cat is diagnosed. More than 50% of these cats die within a couple of years.

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I wonder if Koko developed IBD, and that suppressed her immune system, which perhaps has resulted in the FeLV virus reappearing? :dk: What dose of pred is she on? Is it an anti-inflammatory dose or an immuno-suppressive dose? Have Muddy or their litter mates ever been on pred before?

Momofmany said:

I may not have mentioned it in this thread, but when the vet saw the blood work, she said that there are 2 reasons for the reduced immature red blood cells: FeLV or blood marrow leukemia. I ruled out FeLV as my household has been tested for that repeatedly over the years. But during a subsequent conversation, my vet put some really nagging doubts in my mind about the potential for this being FeLV rather than the cancerous leukemia, when she told me about one of her patients who developed it at 9 years old after being tested negative her entire life. She was an indoor cat with no exposure what so ever to other cats other than the ones she lived with her entire life. All of the household had tested negative, but came from a cattery who was having FeLV problems. Koko came from a feral colony when FeLV was present. She and her brother Muddy tested negative numerous times in the past, and their littermates who live with a friend tested negative over and over again, their last test was run 2 years ago. But some cats just harbor the virus undetected for years and years apparently. And since all of my cats came from that same feral colony, could they all be harboring the virus? My mind is still trying to wrap itself around the possibility that I may have FeLV in my household, and what to do if I do have it.

Click to expand...

OH Amy..... ..... I have heard of this before :shame: Cat's testing negative to FeLK - only later to test positive It scares me to no end as well. Caring for ferals and taking in cats from different colonies, barns or wherever, is always disconcerting to me. The threat of FeLK is always in the back of mind. I will be praying very hard that this is NOT what Koko has... :cross: :cross: :cross: Please know I keeping you very, very close during this time. :heart3: :heart3: :heart3:

p.s. Good point, Laurie ... I am also wondering about the usage of the Pred and Koko?

Muddy has been on prednilisone (5 mg every other day) for the last 3 years. Koko started pred after the first blood test that pointed towards IBD. Right now she's on 5mg daily. The vet is going to run the Elisa on Tuesday before she puts her under for the biopsy. If she tests positive, they'll send an IFA test to a lab to confirm. No point in the cancer biopsy if the FeLV is positive.

I lost both Bob and Eightball to cancer a couple years ago. We tested both of them for FeLV when they first appeared to be sick. Both came out negative. Stumpy was last tested when he first came down with his auto-immune disease. Lucky was tested right before we moved into this house (6 years ago). Bob and Lucky were/are indoor/outdoor cats. Lucky's entire litter had FeLV and Lucky was spared. Muddy and Stumpy both have auto-immune diseases, both could be harboring it since its obvious the entire house would be exposed if Koko has it, yet neither are sick outside their specific diseases.

So if there is FeLV in my house, my residents are very hardy from it. My vet made a comment that she having FeLV would be worse because of the size of my household. For Koko's sake, it would actually be the better diagnose, as she could have a few good years left. The cancer will take her in a few months. I'm back to the problem of the the good of one over the good of many.

Oh, that amount of pred isn't immuno-suppressive anyway, and far too recent (I think!) to have had an impact.

I don't know that I agree with the vet about a diagnosis of FeLV. I have to agree - your kitties seem very hardy to it. I can't imagine that Koko having FeLV would be a problem for the others? Or the concern is active shedding at this stage in everyone's lives? :dk:

WHATEVER it is, if those are the two choice, both suck.

Amy,  I am sorry, I've been very behind in reading the latest posts in this thread.  Sending vibes and hugs..humans need a bit of extra love too when their sweetlings are dealing with serious health issues.

Koko goes into the vet in the morning for her tests. I'm doing what I can to distract myself right now, cause I honestly don't want to face the firm diagnosis. The more I think about FeLV, the less likely it seems to me. That litter was isolated behind closed doors for the first 6 weeks of their lives, let out with the other cats for about 2 weeks before we found the FeLV in our house, then quarantined again for a couple of months until we had everyone tested a couple of times. They never interacted with the infected cats during that time, and the virus itself is so fragile outside a host that she wouldn't have gotten it that way. My friend confirmed that she had the other 2 littermates FeLV tested at their last annual exam less than a year ago. If they got it from their mom, most of them would have died from it before they hit a year old. They turn 9 on April 22.


I built her a cat condo over the weekend and she is loving it. This is just another form of "love and cheese danish".

I put on the first 2 hammocks on the condo and she immediately planted herself on it and slept for 3 hours. That's her littermate brother Muddy on the left. The 2 of them have always been pretty close.


When I finally got around to finishing all 5 levels, she was back up on it with some of the other cats. She didn't stay too long this time, as Scarlett wanted it for herself and smacked Koko to get her to run away. Koko stayed her ground until Scarlett left, then jumped down for a mid afternoon snack. Did I say she loves deli ham?


Yeah, the boys in my house are way larger than the girls.

Amy, I LOVE IT!!!!! And I think Deli ham is a fair trade for her spot on the condo! :lol3:

:heart2:

WONDERFUL tower of hammock beds, Amy!!!!!!!!!! I just LOVE your work. :anon: Still have to make on to the website... I WILL do that.... :lol3:

Anyway - YES your boys are huge in comparison to the girls. AWWW Koko is a doll, hun. Mega vibes are coming your way for the best possible outcome tomorrow at the vet. Either way - FeLK or Cancer or Whatever - you will have our support and love through this whole ordeal. Let's just STAY POSITIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know it is scary - but you are not alone