2 Year Old Kitty With Anemia

Well, it's been awhile since I've posted. Several days ago one of the kitties, Tom, was not his usual self one evening and he was no better the next morning so off to the vet we went, he spent the whole day there, and come to find there was a mass in his belly and the dr was not entirely sure what it was, even after x-ray, was sent home with antibiotics and pain meds. A day later still not eating and not being himself so again off to vet and come to find that his red blood cell count was low yet the mass had decreased quite a bit in size. Was prescribed predisone and he has been taking it for three days now. All this started last friday. So far he is not really eating but picking at his food. I am feeding him by syringe, which he is taking pretty well and supplementing that with nutrical. Vet is away for the holiday until Monday. I am hoping he feels a bit better by then. He is better now than he was this past sat, the day of his first visit, just not yet his usual self. His gums are still a bit pale. I've not ever had a cat with anemia so I am looking for any advice. Felv and fiv tests cane back negative as well.

I do have him in a a large crate, kind of like a bedroom, with a heat pad, litter pan and his food, which he will not eat. He'll lick a bit, take a bit or two and then nothing more. Any  advice would be greatly appreciated.

Did the vet check for kidney disease?  My cat Sandra became anemic, but she was in advanced kidney disease. She ended up having to get a blood transfusion and was started on Aranesp treatment (helps promote red blood cells).

Sandra was also put on Pet-Tinic, which is a vitamin and mineral supplement.  It has iron in it and helps with anemia.  If you read reviews, a lot of pet owners said it was effective for treating anemia in their cats.

For poor appetite in sick cats, you can use the Gerber meat based baby foods.  You just have to make sure they don't contain onion and garlic.  You can also try to make bone broth, which is very good for sick pets:  
Sending hugs and prayers to your baby  .

I am a human doctor, not a vet and any advice that I give you about cats should be checked with a vet.

Anaemia , defined as a reduction of circulating red blood cells, can be a primary illness, the anaemia of vitamin B12 deficiency is an example.  Others include haemolytic anaemia, where circulating red cells are destroyed by the body itself, and the anaemia of blood loss.

Much more commonly anaemia is a secondary feature of an illness, such as the anaemia of malignancy,  kidney disease, chronic sepsis, malnutrition and chronic illness, to mention only a few.  From what you have written, the intestinal mass may be a factor in causing the anaemia in your cat and it certainly warrants a full examination for its cause.  However, the anaemia  itself certainly warrants full investigation for the causes of the secondary anaemias. 

Do not try various off the shelf medications or foods for anaemia, these are all quack remedies and can only do harm by delaying the diagnosis.. The cause of the anaemia must be found before trying to treat it.

Can you please let us know how your cat goes?

Geoffrey

We have had a few kitties here with anemia that is autoimmune in nature.  Since your vet has your kitty on a steroid that seems to be what your vet suspects.  For some reason the depo medrol shot works where other steroids don't.  This is the thread from a kitty that had this http://www.thecatsite.com/t/283731/anemic-cat    The thread is long but the kitty has been in remission for a year.  His vet actually was dubious about the depo medrol but tried it and it worked.

Did the vet also check for a parasite that can cause anemia?

Thank you for your responses. I am not certain if she did or not. 

So far, he seems a bit more active today, walking around, purring and sitting in his window seat when I let him out of his crate to see if he wanted to eat and lift his spirits. He ate a few bites of turkey but nothing more, so over three feedings today, he got 6 ounces fancy feast mixed with nutrical. That's more than he had been getting and he is using the litter pan. I am hoping to up it to 9 ounces or so by tomorrow. I was afraid he'd vomit if I'd tried too much food at once or in one day since he'd barely been eating and had been syringe feeding.  @Denice  is depo medrol a steroid as well? I am planning to bring him back in on monday as soon as they open if he is not  eating by himself by then. I haven't brought him in any sooner as they are all closed for the holiday.

Yes it is a shot.  It is one of those medications that stay in the system for 3 or 4 weeks.  Ordinarily I don't care for that type of medication because if there is a bad reaction there is nothing that can be done but wait it out.  For some reason that steroid seems to work better for autoimmune anemia.  I think it may have something to do with how the medication is released.

Denice said:

 
Yes it is a shot.  It is one of those medications that stay in the system for 3 or 4 weeks.  Ordinarily I don't care for that type of medication because if there is a bad reaction there is nothing that can be done but wait it out.  For some reason that steroid seems to work better for autoimmune anemia.  I think it may have something to do with how the medication is released.

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I'll mention it on monday and see what they say. He's a young cat, only 2 years old and this all happened rather suddenly. He was fine friday morning, by friday evening, he was just hanging out by himself and not wanting his dinner. It was storming out so I thought maybe that was why but by sat morning, I could tell something much worse was wrong with him. And this is how we are where we are. 

Sorry for being late with the update. He did go to the vet on monday, blood tests were re-run and they found he is making new red blood cells. He prednisone was raised to twice a day, 5 mg tabs, an appetite increasing tablet and also a stronger antibiotic, doxy. He gets everything twice daily. Now today he goes again to see if the increased dose of prednisone is helping. 

Today he went again and we have better news. His red blood cell count is rising. His appetite is still small at best but I'm supplementing with syringe feeding and nutrical cat gel. The vet was very pleased with his results.

nansiludie said:

 
Today he went again and we have better news. His red blood cell count is rising. His appetite is still small at best but I'm supplementing with syringe feeding and nutrical cat gel. The vet was very pleased with his results.

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Very glad to hear of the improvement- I just went through the exact same thing with a two-year old female. Came home one night and she was barely able to walk, not eating, lethargic. Took her to ER and her PCV was at 7; normal values are around 36. She was rushed to intensive care and had two blood transfusions to save her; about $6,000 in tests did not show why she was suddenly critically anemic- cancer, marrow infection, toxic exposure like insecticide or onions, who knows. We were going to do a bone marrow biopsy but she likely would not have survived it, so we started her on 0.5mg Dexamethasone twice a day in case it was autoimmune. It's been only six weeks, and on Wednesday her PCV is now 28! She has started playing and purring again and is becoming her old self- engaged, affectionate etc. 

Before she 'crashed' in October, she had started licking the tile floor in the kitchen, which I thought was just a weird habit or maybe she smelled something. It turns out that anemic cats often have Pica, meaning they want to eat strange objects like cement as they sense a deficiency in themselves. Here is a great resource:

http://felinecrf.org/anaemia.htm

Besides the meds from the vet, I did a few things to try and help her. Living in Vancouver BC, we have some of the softest water in the world- almost no minerals, so I give her bottled mineral water. I feed her Natures Variety, which has Montmorillonite clay- might sound very strange but apparently animals in nature when sick will often find a clay bank to lick- extra minerals.

http://www.clayremedies.com/Info_About_Edible_Clays.html

I also give her a bit of extra vitamin b12, b6, and folic acid in her food- these are building block of red blood cell production. I use Webber Naturals that come in gel capsules so there are no fillers or other ingredients; I simply open the gel cap and put a pinch in her food- about 20th of what a human would get in a full capsule. These are water-soluble vitamins, so there is no concern with toxicity.

The thing about your cat having a mass in the tummy and being anemic is interesting- my cat stared eating her litter, which of course is made of clay. Clumping bentonite clay litter will form a mass in a cat's stomach or intestines and can kill them. Wondering if that is what your cat has in its stomach? Many certs do not know about anemic cats eating or licking clay or cement. I now have my cats on either corn litter or a new product I found made from grass, called Fresh 4 Life- it's great litter, no dust, clumps well.

Some of this might sound strange to some people, but I feel there are reasonable and scientific claims to be made, and whether or not what I have been doing has made a difference, she is getting much better and that's all that matters.

Good luck and please PM me if you want to.

nansiludie said:

 
Today he went again and we have better news. His red blood cell count is rising. His appetite is still small at best but I'm supplementing with syringe feeding and nutrical cat gel. The vet was very pleased with his results.

Click to expand...

Very glad to hear of the improvement- I just went through the exact same thing with a two-year old female. Came home one night and she was barely able to walk, not eating, lethargic. Took her to ER and her PCV was at 7; normal values are around 36. She was rushed to intensive care and had two blood transfusions to save her; about $6,000 in tests did not show why she was suddenly critically anemic- cancer, marrow infection, toxic exposure like insecticide or onions, who knows. We were going to do a bone marrow biopsy but she likely would not have survived it, so we started her on 0.5mg Dexamethasone twice a day in case it was autoimmune. It's been only six weeks, and on Wednesday her PCV is now 28! She has started playing and purring again and is becoming her old self- engaged, affectionate etc. 

Before she 'crashed' in October, she had started licking the tile floor in the kitchen, which I thought was just a weird habit or maybe she smelled something. It turns out that anemic cats often have Pica, meaning they want to eat strange objects like cement as they sense a deficiency in themselves. Here is a great resource:

http://felinecrf.org/anaemia.htm

Besides the meds from the vet, I did a few things to try and help her. Living in Vancouver BC, we have some of the softest water in the world- almost no minerals, so I give her bottled mineral water. I feed her Natures Variety, which has Montmorillonite clay- might sound very strange but apparently animals in nature when sick will often find a clay bank to lick- extra minerals.

http://www.clayremedies.com/Info_About_Edible_Clays.html

I also give her a bit of extra vitamin b12, b6, and folic acid in her food- these are building block of red blood cell production. I use Webber Naturals that come in gel capsules so there are no fillers or other ingredients; I simply open the gel cap and put a pinch in her food- about 20th of what a human would get in a full capsule. These are water-soluble vitamins, so there is no concern with toxicity.

The thing about your cat having a mass in the tummy and being anemic is interesting- my cat stared eating her litter, which of course is made of clay. Clumping bentonite clay litter will form a mass in a cat's stomach or intestines and can kill them. Wondering if that is what your cat has in its stomach? Many certs do not know about anemic cats eating or licking clay or cement. I now have my cats on either corn litter or a new product I found made from grass, called Fresh 4 Life- it's great litter, no dust, clumps well.

Some of this might sound strange to some people, but I feel there are reasonable and scientific claims to be made, and whether or not what I have been doing has made a difference, she is getting much better and that's all that matters.

Good luck and please PM me if you want to.

Thank you for your reply. I've been giving him two chopped raw chicken livers a week. We don't use any clumping kitty litter but the vet thought it was his spleen enlarged with red blood cells, thankfully by his second visit, she could no longer feel the mass. He's been eating good again for the past four days, still rather tired but doing well. His most recent visit, he gained a little weight, and the vet said his levels rose a bit more.

Thank you for your reply. I've been giving him two chopped raw chicken livers a week. We don't use any clumping kitty litter but the vet thought it was his spleen enlarged with red blood cells, thankfully by his second visit, she could no longer feel the mass. He's been eating good again for the past four days, still rather tired but doing well. His most recent visit, he gained a little weight, and the vet said his levels rose a bit more.

nansiludie said:

 
Thank you for your reply. I've been giving him two chopped raw chicken livers a week. We don't use any clumping kitty litter but the vet thought it was his spleen enlarged with red blood cells, thankfully by his second visit, she could no longer feel the mass. He's been eating good again for the past four days, still rather tired but doing well. His most recent visit, he gained a little weight, and the vet said his levels rose a bit more.

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I don't think I'd be able to give him any mineral water or anything like that because he is also a urinary issue prone kitty. I did have him on a 95 percent wet food/raw diet combo but when he got sick I was desperate for him to eat, anything, so I broke down and gave urinary dry food. he is eating that but also his wet food.

Well, he finished his last round of prednisone. He has better days and worse days. Some days he'll not want to eat much and I'll supplement with syringe, some days on a good day, he'll make a little piggy of himself and chow down. So far his numbers are better, he's still playing and purring so as long as he is willing to give it a fight, so will I. He stays on his heat pad and loves raw chicken livers.

nansiludie said:

 
Well, he finished his last round of prednisone. He has better days and worse days. Some days he'll not want to eat much and I'll supplement with syringe, some days on a good day, he'll make a little piggy of himself and chow down. So far his numbers are better, he's still playing and purring so as long as he is willing to give it a fight, so will I. He stays on his heat pad and loves raw chicken livers.

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That's great- happy to hear he's doing better! Just something to be aware of is the extremely high vitamin A content of liver.

http://www.vcahospitals.com/main/pe...animal-health/vitamin-a-toxicosis-in-cats/389

I know- sometimes it seems it's difficult to know what the right thing to do is! I've taken Jasmine off mineral water now as she has been doing so much better and I see the mineral deposits on the side of the water bowl- the last thing I want is to cause stones. She's started chasing her sister around the house again- so god to see her happy and playing again.

Best of luck, I hops things continue to improve!

CatDaddy007 said:

 
That's great- happy to hear he's doing better! Just something to be aware of is the extremely high vitamin A content of liver.

http://www.vcahospitals.com/main/pe...animal-health/vitamin-a-toxicosis-in-cats/389

I know- sometimes it seems it's difficult to know what the right thing to do is! I've taken Jasmine off mineral water now as she has been doing so much better and I see the mineral deposits on the side of the water bowl- the last thing I want is to cause stones. She's started chasing her sister around the house again- so god to see her happy and playing again.

Best of luck, I hops things continue to improve!

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BTW- the only reason she was on mineral water is because Vancouver has extremely soft water with also no minerals at all. Most areas tap water should be fine- unless your cat doesn't like the chlorine smell. You can also use distilled water.

CatDaddy007 said:

 
BTW- the only reason she was on mineral water is because Vancouver has extremely soft water with also no minerals at all. Most areas tap water should be fine- unless your cat doesn't like the chlorine smell. You can also use distilled water.

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Yes, he only gets one or two livers a week. Thank you though. He drinks his regular tap water. So far he's had a fairly bad day, mostly sleeping and not wanting his dinner at all so with the syringe it was. In a couple days he goes for a recheck on his numbers. They want to see how he does without the prednisone.

We cut Jasmine's Dexamahasone in half after the last visit- next visit is January 07 so I'm anxious for a couple of weeks until we see how she is doing on a lower dose. She's seemed much better the last few weeks, no way of knowing if cutting her meds will have any good or bad effects. Her gums are still a bit pale but overall she seems pretty normal now.