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- Oct 19, 2016
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Abut a month and a half ago my cat began having decreased appetite. When it got to the point of no eating at all, we headed to the vet. Blood tests showed everything as normal though she had a slightly elevated temperature. We assumed IBD and treated with a shot of Convenia for any possible infections and a food change.
Two week later, symptoms had retracted slightly and then returned full force. We did another Convenia shot for possible infection and a Depo Medrol injection for inflammation and scheduled an ultrasound. The ultrasound was somewhat inconclusive but showed some pancreatic inflammation, thickening in the duodenum and liver inflammation. Her liver enzymes were elevated, her hemacrit was lower, but still within the normal range.
From that point we treated with mirtazapine for appetite and B-12 injections with some slight improvements, but still unusual behavior changes. Since I was planning to travel with her, I requested the vet do a full blood panel to check her liver enzymes again. This time everything was normal except her hemacrit had dropped to anemic levels, 17 (normal range 24-28). A lab report indicated non-regenerative anemia with poor bone marrow response. No parasitic activity or heinz bodies, she's FeLV/FIV negative. We did a new CBC two days later and the hemacrit was only marginally lower (down from 17.9% to 17.3%).
Basically we don't know what's causing the anemia. One theory is the triaditis flare up may have involved an immune response that's suppressing bone marrow (we've started her on daily prednisolone and she perked up a lot). Another theory is that the triaditis was actually caused by lymphoma that didn't show up on the ultrasound and has spread. We have no reason to believe she has internal bleeding and autoglucanation was not indicated in tests.
Right now it's looking like either an immune response or cancer is the most likely scenario, but I have read that Convenia can cause anemic relations in cats. She's had convenia before with no ill-effects. Most stories I've heard the cats developed life-threatening anemia within a matter of days—it's been three weeks since she's received the shot which would make me think it's not the culprit or we would have seen a faster drop in hemacrit.
We're not doing a biopsy and I've decided no transfusions unless we know for sure that she has good chances of recovering. We're just doing pred and hoping we see her numbers start to improve. Just wondering if anyone else has gone through this and what I can expect?
She's my baby girl and I love her so much it hurts. I'm hoping for the best, preparing for the worst.
Two week later, symptoms had retracted slightly and then returned full force. We did another Convenia shot for possible infection and a Depo Medrol injection for inflammation and scheduled an ultrasound. The ultrasound was somewhat inconclusive but showed some pancreatic inflammation, thickening in the duodenum and liver inflammation. Her liver enzymes were elevated, her hemacrit was lower, but still within the normal range.
From that point we treated with mirtazapine for appetite and B-12 injections with some slight improvements, but still unusual behavior changes. Since I was planning to travel with her, I requested the vet do a full blood panel to check her liver enzymes again. This time everything was normal except her hemacrit had dropped to anemic levels, 17 (normal range 24-28). A lab report indicated non-regenerative anemia with poor bone marrow response. No parasitic activity or heinz bodies, she's FeLV/FIV negative. We did a new CBC two days later and the hemacrit was only marginally lower (down from 17.9% to 17.3%).
Basically we don't know what's causing the anemia. One theory is the triaditis flare up may have involved an immune response that's suppressing bone marrow (we've started her on daily prednisolone and she perked up a lot). Another theory is that the triaditis was actually caused by lymphoma that didn't show up on the ultrasound and has spread. We have no reason to believe she has internal bleeding and autoglucanation was not indicated in tests.
Right now it's looking like either an immune response or cancer is the most likely scenario, but I have read that Convenia can cause anemic relations in cats. She's had convenia before with no ill-effects. Most stories I've heard the cats developed life-threatening anemia within a matter of days—it's been three weeks since she's received the shot which would make me think it's not the culprit or we would have seen a faster drop in hemacrit.
We're not doing a biopsy and I've decided no transfusions unless we know for sure that she has good chances of recovering. We're just doing pred and hoping we see her numbers start to improve. Just wondering if anyone else has gone through this and what I can expect?
She's my baby girl and I love her so much it hurts. I'm hoping for the best, preparing for the worst.
