10 year old cat - lethargic but eating

Hi, I'm new to the site.  My cat Chloe was just diagnosed with feline leukemia virus yesterday.  She was severely anemic, literally near death, and had a blood transfusion yesterday.  She is like a new kitty!  She had not been eating and could barely pick her head up pre-transfusion.  Now she is eating, drinking, and purring.  She feels much better.  

Your situation may be very different since there are tumors involved.  But I just wanted to let you know how sick my cat was yesterday (really thought she would die) and she tolerated the transfusion without any problems.  It won't cure the underlying illness, but it buys some time to treat it.  

Good luck to you and your kitty!  I so understand how hard this is.

katcoe said:

 
Hi, I'm new to the site.  My cat Chloe was just diagnosed with feline leukemia virus yesterday.  She was severely anemic, literally near death, and had a blood transfusion yesterday.  She is like a new kitty!  She had not been eating and could barely pick her head up pre-transfusion.  Now she is eating, drinking, and purring.  She feels much better.

Your situation may be very different since there are tumors involved.  But I just wanted to let you know how sick my cat was yesterday (really thought she would die) and she tolerated the transfusion without any problems.  It won't cure the underlying illness, but it buys some time to treat it.

Good luck to you and your kitty!  I so understand how hard this is.

Click to expand...

did they find out why she was anemic? I hope it works out.

three years ago I was in your shoes. but they told me it would either buy time and find the reason or not. unfortunately her bone marrow stopped making red blood cells. I hope your kitty gets better!!!!

foxxycat said:

 
did they find out why she was anemic? I hope it works out.

three years ago I was in your shoes. but they told me it would either buy time and find the reason or not. unfortunately her bone marrow stopped making red blood cells. I hope your kitty gets better!!!!

Click to expand...

Hi, thank you!  Yes she was diagnosed with feline leukemia virus yesterday which is the cause of the anemia.  It is non-regenerative anemia so she is having trouble making red blood cells.  I'm going to a holistic vet with her next week to see what therapies we can try.  I'm also going to get her on transfer factor and B vitamins, etc.  Vet has her on prednisone and antibiotics right now.  She is coming home this afternoon.  She was like a new kitty when I visited her in the vet hospital last night.  She is 13 or 14 (unsure exactly, rescue kitty) but I think she has some of her 9 lives left!

foxxycat said:

 
If the vet says to take pred-keep her on it-it will help. that's where I went wrong. Thought it was going to hurt her-but she didn't have leaukemia-hoping that those red blood cells get back to work. b shots are an option as well. and of course eating! whatever she will eat is best!! good luck!

Click to expand...

Thank you, I am leery of prednisone too because a dog of mine had terrible reactions to it.  But, we will monitor her response and hopefully she will tolerate it well.  Yes, I had discussed B vitamins with the emergency vet and she was very supportive of that.  

Charlie is gone. There is just no hurt quite like this. I can just take heart in knowing we loved that boy SOmuch every minute of every day.

kelliez said:

Charlie is gone. There is just no hurt quite like this. I can just take heart in knowing we loved that boy SOmuch every minute of every day.

Click to expand...

kelliez said:

Charlie is gone. There is just no hurt quite like this. I can just take heart in knowing we loved that boy SOmuch every minute of every day.

Click to expand...

Oh, I am so, so terribly sorry!  I know the hurt of saying good bye to a beloved animal friend.  I am sure Charlie knew - and still knows - you love him and rested in that as he made his transition.  

kelliez said:

Charlie is gone. There is just no hurt quite like this. I can just take heart in knowing we loved that boy SOmuch every minute of every day.

Click to expand...

I'm so sorry for your loss....Fly Free Charlie and land softly- you were so loved!

Oh no, I'm so, so sorry Such a lucky boy to have had you and your husband to love him so much. And you were so lucky to have him.

I'm sure my Lucky is there to greet him. They look like they could be related. They both have that same look.

Thank you for all your kind words. Something about those little tuxedo cats just gets me every time. He had such a personality! Blessedly we still have our 13 year old girl kitty to fawn over, but it just won't be the same. And it shouldn't be. A decade of our life was greatly enriched by loving a sweet cat wearing a tuxedo.

Just saw this. So so sorry! May he fly free with all our angels. Say hi To Flash for me.

The TCS team would like you to know that we are so very sorry for your loss. Threads are locked after someone has suffered such a loss, as a sign of respect. We invite you to place a tribute at http://www.thecatsite.com/f/19/crossing-the-bridge as an enduring testimony to your friend.


RIP Charlie.



ETA - Charlie's bridge thread -

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/313495/sweet-charlie-brown