Very Low Neutrophils (White Blood Count) Need Advice Please

My cat Petey has been acting strange the past few days. He’s been sleeping in really high places, usually backed into a corner. I just thought he was trying out a new spot as they sometimes do. Then last night he started chasing imaginary things in the house. He has also been scratching and biting at himself a lot. After much googling I though he had feline hyperesthesia. I brought him to the vet this morning and they ran a bunch of tests. They said his red and white blood cell count was low and he needed a transfusion. This terrified me. They are keeping him overnight and will be doing the following:

1. Testing for FELV/FIV (even though he tested negative at shelter and is indoor only)
2. Abdominal Ultrasound
3. 3-View Radiology
4. IV Fluids
5. IDX Comprehensive CBC
6. Blood transfusion with blood typing

The bill came to $2,558 which shocked me a bit. Especially since this could be the tip of the iceberg. The vet seemed to indicate it could be bone marrow cancer and testing his marrow would be next. Petey is only 3 and I find this so hard to grasp. She also admitted the other symptoms I described have her confused.

Petey has had 3 serious bouts of sickness in the past year and a half. The other 2 we did tons of testing, overnights, big 3k bills with no results. NO transfusions but no appetite, diarrhea, peeing outside box, etc. They thought maybe IBD?

After TONS of googling I did see a couple of sites saying low blood counts could be due to stress. I believe Petey is very sensitive to stress and my household has a large dog who barks and over reacts in a pretty stressful manner to anyone just walking down the street. Petey runs and hides every time. I have actually tried to find a better home for the dog who I love but he needs someone home all day and I believe he is making Petey sick.

Does anyone have any experience or info they could share with any of what I’ve said. I am still in a state of shock that they think Petey has cancer, he is so young and he is my favorite little boo, I truly cannot imagine my home without him in it. Please help?

So sorry you've had no responses.  Now that's it's been a full 24 hours, have you gotten any further test results?  How is his hematocrit?  Is that really low? 

I don't have any idea whether or not this is a misdiagnosis, but I did manage to find this article, which says that chemotherapy works surprisingly well for bone marrow cancer in cats, so IF that's what it is, at least  there is some good news:  http://manhattancats.com/Articles/multiple_myeloma.htm

@mrsgreenjeens  you are so sweet to respond and find that information for me. Your post helped very much. Yesterday afternoon they began to think he has lymphoma due to an enlarged spleen seen on an ultrasound. I was devastated because I lost a dog to lymphoma at a young age and began to wonder if there is something in my house causing this. Also, lymphoma is basically a death sentence. I took Petey home this morning and spoke with the technician who told me itis most likely lymphoma and even if we get a negative result we'll need to do a surgical biopsy to rule it out as the test isn't reliable enough unless it cmoes back positive. I left even more despondent and basically cried all day wondering what my life and my home will be like without Mr. Pete.

About an hour ago the vet called and told me the test was negative and the pathologist said she is certain we can rule out lymphoma in the spleen. I was and still am elated. There could still be lympoma in the bone marrow or cancer of the bone marrow but I am so happy to know the lymphoma they thought was there is not.

I found this post on another forum when googling Petey's symptoms. Because in addition to the severely low blood cell count, he also had itching around the head and neck area. I'm beginning to think it could be hemobartonellosis. (Parasitic attack on the blood causing severe anemia). Although Pete is 100% indoor cat, I do have a dog who has brought ticks in the house as well as spiders and mosquitos that can come in on Fred (my dog). This would be the best case scenario of course.

I should know more next week when the blood work comes in. I hope I haven't gotten my hopes up too high after the great news of no lymphoma in the spleen.

Thank you again for your thoughtful response!

I forgot to include the post: http://www.city-data.com/forum/cats/1549907-cat-scratching-itself-raw-intense-itching.html

veronica00 said:

 
I forgot to include the post: http://www.city-data.com/forum/cats/1549907-cat-scratching-itself-raw-intense-itching.html

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Interesting.  did you mention this to your Vet?

mrsgreenjeens said:

 
Interesting.  did you mention this to your Vet?

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Yeah I did. She didn't seem to react at all. I asked if they need to do a separate smear to test for that and she said it's all part of the blood workup they're waiting for results for which should be in the beginning of next week. I will ask specifically about that again at that time. 

Petey has had 3 serious illnesses in the span of a year and a half. The first 2 both seemed like the same - possible IBD but this one is different with the severe anemia and itching but no lack of appetite. Although I've spent over 10k, I have never gotten an answer. I hope I do this time.

veronica00 said:

 
I forgot to include the post: http://www.city-data.com/forum/cats/1549907-cat-scratching-itself-raw-intense-itching.html

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Interesting.  did you mention this to your Vet?

veronica00 said:

 

mrsgreenjeens said:

 
Interesting.  did you mention this to your Vet?

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Yeah I did. She didn't seem to react at all. I asked if they need to do a separate smear to test for that and she said it's all part of the blood workup they're waiting for results for which should be in the beginning of next week. I will ask specifically about that again at that time. 

Petey has had 3 serious illnesses in the span of a year and a half. The first 2 both seemed like the same - possible IBD but this one is different with the severe anemia and itching but no lack of appetite. Although I've spent over 10k, I have never gotten an answer. I hope I do this time.

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I sure hope you get answers to AND that he'll be okay.

My cat has been sick for about a week and still no diagnosis. He has non-regenerative anemia (required a blood transfusion last week) caused by something serious and we are trying to figure out what. I am still hoping for a parasitic infection however unlikely (Petey is an indoor cat but it’s still possible). Once all the bloodwork comes in if it all comes back negative as suspected, we will do a bone marrow aspirate. We may also need a bone marrow sample which requires surgery (stitches) and has possible complications such as a bone fracture due to the size of the needle required.

My question is in search of advice on how to proceed. To book both together or start with an aspirate and go from there. Also, if anyone has had a cat with non-regenerative anemia and what was the cause? I am inclined to do just the aspirate initially.

PROS for both at once:

$200-300 cheaper ($1800 vs about $2100)

Get it done in one shot for Petey

Not have to wait even longer for diagnosis if stagger procedures

CONS for both at once:

May not need both depending on the disease

Would require surgery with stitches so I’d guess a hood for Petey who is already traumatized

Could cause other problems such as bone fracture

You might be able to get some information from a thread we had last year concerning a cat with non-regenerative anemia, and if not, do a search for it in or search bar right under the very top brown bar at the top of the page.  There are other threads concerning this condition too, but I think think this one is the most recent.

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/278959/severe-non-regenerative-anemia

You can send a private message to any of the people on the thread by clicking their name and selecting Private Message if they appear to have some knowledge you would like to ask about.

In this particular case, I would probably have a heart to heart with my Vet and ask them if were their cat, which way would they go.

It's definitely a tough decision

My cat is constanting scratching and grooming himself. Occasionally shaking his head. Sprinting a few feet and grooming again. He hides a lot, will come out to eat sometimes but will definitely eat if I bring the food to him. When I brought him in last week he was anemic and got a blood transfusion and $3k worth of diagnostic testing, all has been negative so far.

Lymphoma aspirate from spleen

FeLV

FIV

Blood tests for cancer

The vet still thinks it’s cancer or auto immune disease and wants to do a bone marrow aspirate and/or biopsy. I have thought it could be an allergic reaction because his weird behavior symptoms seem to indicate a skin condition. Last night I found a big scab near his neck. Any thoughts on whether this could be a bad allergic reaction to something and if so, what would treat it? I read that secondary IMHA can be caused by an allergic reaction. 

Adding a picture

Your cat's symptoms are a little more extreme than my cat's were but I went through something similar last winter.  Stilton would do the racing around grooming thing, excessive grooming and had some involuntary leg and head twitches going on.  I took him to the vet who ran a blood panel etc. with nothing wrong other than slightly anemic.  He gave him vitamins for that.  Anyway, I switched up his food and eventually discovered that I think he is allergic to chicken.  I also made sure he got some omegas for his skin and worked on paying more individual attention to him (I have two other cats as well) in case it was a behavioral/stress thing.  He is doing much better.  He will still sometimes seem to groom for overly long but it is down to about once a week and he doesn't have any of the other symptoms.

A similar story involves the dog of some acquintances.  I saw them in the park awhile ago and noticed their dog was in a long sleeved t-shirt.  When I asked about it, they said he was chewing all the fur off of his legs and the vet wanted to put him on some sort of doggy prozac.  I mentioned the allergy thing and that animals can develop an allergy to a food even though they have been eating it without issues for years.  They changed his food and started spraying salmon oil on his food and he is 100% better.

dahlia said:

 
Your cat's symptoms are a little more extreme than my cat's were but I went through something similar last winter.  Stilton would do the racing around grooming thing, excessive grooming and had some involuntary leg and head twitches going on.  I took him to the vet who ran a blood panel etc. with nothing wrong other than slightly anemic.  He gave him vitamins for that.  Anyway, I switched up his food and eventually discovered that I think he is allergic to chicken.  I also made sure he got some omegas for his skin and worked on paying more individual attention to him (I have two other cats as well) in case it was a behavioral/stress thing.  He is doing much better.  He will still sometimes seem to groom for overly long but it is down to about once a week and he doesn't have any of the other symptoms.

A similar story involves the dog of some acquintances.  I saw them in the park awhile ago and noticed their dog was in a long sleeved t-shirt.  When I asked about it, they said he was chewing all the fur off of his legs and the vet wanted to put him on some sort of doggy prozac.  I mentioned the allergy thing and that animals can develop an allergy to a food even though they have been eating it without issues for years.  They changed his food and started spraying salmon oil on his food and he is 100% better.

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Thank you so much for your post, yes the racing around grooming thing and the twitching. Did Stilton have any other behavior such as hiding or sleeping on hard surfaces away from others? I have 3 cats too but Petey is by far most affected by stress. He has flare ups of what we think is IBD caused by stress. Do you know what Stilton’s red blood cell levels were? Petey was at 14 when they gave him the transfusion.

I had read that they can develop allergies to foods they’ve been eating all along which is interesting. I may try to change to a bland diet for a while but the other 2 cats will not be please. I am really hoping this is just an allergy thing but the vet is not listening to me on that. I’m pretty sure she hasn’t seen the scab I found last night. I’m talking to a different vet today.

I will have to check his blood work again.  I will do that when I get home tonight.  He was only slightly anemic though so he is just on vitamins.  I considered that it might be feline hyperesthesia (spelling?) but it didn't seem as extreme as that.  He did seem to try and avoid the other cats and didn't want to play with them.  He has always been kind of a hard surface sleeper so I didn't notice much change there.

I don't know if you have to go bland diet necessarily.  Just start paying attention to ingredients.  I read that chicken and beef are the most likely to cause allergies so maybe try eliminating that if you feed them chicken or beef.  My cats were already grain free so I knew it wasn't that causing the allergy.

Another thing I started was adding a morning and night play session for about 10 minutes.  I just use a wand toy or a laser pointer.  Jackson Galaxy always seems to recommend that so I gave it try as a stress reliever for the cats.

dahlia said:

 
I will have to check his blood work again.  I will do that when I get home tonight.  He was only slightly anemic though so he is just on vitamins.  I considered that it might be feline hyperesthesia (spelling?) but it didn't seem as extreme as that.  He did seem to try and avoid the other cats and didn't want to play with them.  He has always been kind of a hard surface sleeper so I didn't notice much change there.

I don't know if you have to go bland diet necessarily.  Just start paying attention to ingredients.  I read that chicken and beef are the most likely to cause allergies so maybe try eliminating that if you feed them chicken or beef.  My cats were already grain free so I knew it wasn't that causing the allergy.

Another thing I started was adding a morning and night play session for about 10 minutes.  I just use a wand toy or a laser pointer.  Jackson Galaxy always seems to recommend that so I gave it try as a stress reliever for the cats.

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That is what I brought him in suspecting it was!! Feline Hyperesthesia! But there were things that didn't fit like he actually liked when i would pat and scratch him as though it gives him some relief, which is not the case with hyperesthesia, they can't tolerate it. But the crazy darting around and stopping to scratch, bite and groom as well as a lot of attention to his tail grooming was what worried me initially.

Oddly, I have recently started feeding him more salmon and less chicken and turkey and almost no beef. 

I didn't even know you could do grain free with a dry cat food. Mine are so picky, they only like this one brand of dry food (Nutro Max Cat). What are you using that is grain free and your cats will actually eat?

I play with Petey a lot, he tires or bores of it after a few minutes so I'll then brush him. I think my dog stresses him out because he is an anxious and loud barker. This all started a few days after my dog walker closed Petey in a bedroom with Fred. When i saw this happened I was worried but Petey just laid there when i opened the door and didn't come flying out so I thought it was okay. I wonder if the stress from those hours together began this issue. 

My cats mainly eat wet food but I have Nature's Variety Instinct that I give them as kind of a bonus and they seem to like it.  I forgot to look at Stilton's bloodwork last night but will try to remember to do so.  Please let me know what you find out about Petey.  If Stilton ever starts having issues again, I want to have some other possibilities in mind when I go see the vet.

I posted about a month ago when my cat Petey started acting very strangely and it turned out his Red Blood Cell count was extremely low (14%). He had a blood transfusion and at the time was diagnosed non-regenerative. After lots of tests, ultrasounds, spleen aspirate, etc. his CBC started showing an increase in RBC and he was diagnosed as regenerative. 1 month later we just did a CBC for Petey and the RBC count is at 37, the vet and I were very happy with that.

However, his white blood cell count is a problem. His neutrophils are at 870 (normal is 3,000 to 12,000 I think with 2,600 being the very low end of normal). I feel like I got this huge relief over the past few weeks and now I’m back where I was a month ago, constantly crying and trying to figure out what to do next. I am so upset at this latest CBC. I have requested all his records but the past 3 CBCs have been as follows for neutrophil count:

930, then up to 1358, now down to 870

What should I do?! The next step would be either a bone marrow aspirate (which may or may not tell me anything) or wait a month and do another CBC. I am so confused and scared. Could it be FIV? (blood tests were negative but she said it could be found in the bone marrow). If so, is this contagious to my other cats?! He and his brother wrestle and occasionally scratch each other. Any advice would be deeply appreciated. I really have no support system, it's just me and my fur babies.

We are here for you. I do hope something can be done for your cat and that he will improve.