PK Disease

If my boy is sick...I may just lose it.

Long story:  2 Cats- Brother (Dash) and sister (Gracy). Healthy and no problems. Had a flea problem last summer, but it's all resolved. 

Gracy died this morning after a 5 day battle with anemia. She was fine one day, off the next, sick the next, severe the next, critical the next. We just brought her home from the vet Saturday and was "stable" but within 24 hours she rapidly declined.

Dash all good BUT  his RBC is high.  I do not know the numbers. Our vet is concerned that Gracy had and Dash has PK.  I need to line the litterbox with white paper to see the color of his urine.

I am so sleep deprived from force feeding Gracy and all of the crying that I've done today that I am in fight mode.

I read that "Cats that undergo a bone marrow transplant may have a normal lifespan. Unfortunately, those that are left untreated will typically die by four years of age as a result of bone marrow or liver failure. Most of these patients develop severe anemia and accumulation of fluid in abdominal cavity (ascites) during the terminal stage of the disease."

Anyone have any insight??

Oh hun, I'm so sorry! Gosh you did NOT need this right now. :heart2:

Thank goodness you took Dash in though. :heart2:

I don't know anything about PK Disease, but will do some work on it.

Just know you're surrounded by loving thoughts, lots of hugs are headed your way, and mega vibes are flowing for Dash.

I am not familiar with PK disease. Did the vet do a test, or just observation?

Edit = I just looked it up and found information that says that a reduction in RBC count is symptomatic. It also says that transfusions and partial splenectomies are the most common treatments, and then only for severe cases.  Bone marrow transplants are mostly done for leukemia, I think.

First thing of note: there is a DNA test that can be done for a definitive diagnosis.

What tests are available and can carrier cats be detected?

Fortunately a reliable test does exist for PK deficiency. It comprises a DNA test that is performed on either a blood sample or cheek swab. A genetic test is available at the Josephine Deubler Genetic Disease Testing Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania in the US, at the University of California, Davis and at Langford Veterinary Diagnostics, University of Bristol. Affected cats as well as carrier cats can be identified with the test.

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From FabCats: http://www.fabcats.org/owners/pk_deficiency/info.html

...and I'm not sure where you got the information about life expectancy in cats, as you didn't provide a link to the source. But here is information from Univ of Pennsylvania (one of the places that tests for the disease): http://research.vet.upenn.edu/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=U0rNndMXiHk=&tabid=545&mid=960

The life expectancy of affected dogs is shortened and most die before 4 years of age.

PK deficiency has been recognized in both dogs and cats. The dog breeds involved are... The feline disease differs from the canine disease in that affected cats can have a normal life span, only intermittently have anemia, and do not seem to develop either osteosclerosis or liver failure. [//quote]

I don't have the full study, but this study (published in 2008) shows that 14 cats with PK Disease had extremely variable outcomes: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18077199

Actually, the Wiki Vetbook has a fairly thorough discussion of the disease: http://vetbook.org/wiki/cat/index.php/Pyruvate_kinase_deficiency

More and :heart2:

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My vet brought up the PK disease based on having two siblings who have/had abnormal RBC levels. My vet had a PK cat who would have high then normal then low then normal RBC count.  The test takes time to get back.  I must have misread the information that I looked up since cats are less likely to succumb to the disease at age 4.

Dash has no symptoms of PK, I think.  The only issue is that he is overweight by 4-6 pounds. "The main consequence of the disease is the development of anemia. However, since the body can quickly manufacture new red blood cells, the anemia is usually only intermittently detectable."http://www.fabcats.org/owners/pk_deficiency/info.html"  Gracy left us so fast that my mind is full of worse case scenarios with Dash. All of Dash's blood work was normal and Gracy's only abnormality was her RBC and Hemocrit.

I now wonder if something else was/is wrong with my babies?

Thank you again LGD. And, my Gracy and Dash look very similar to your Tuxie.

Eventhough Gracy was Bart -, FIV - and FeLV -  and FIP - my dr is still testing Dash, just in case.  This just sucks.