My FeLV+ boy is Anemic help.......

I've never been a cat person but 3 and 1/2 years ago a kitten showed up and wouldn't leave. We fell in love with him took him to the vet and he was FeLV+. The vet said put him down but I couldn't. We took him to the University of Auburn's animal hospital for scans and to confirm. They confirmed and said he would have a low quality of life.

Fast forward 3 years he was NEVER sick. Last week without warning he started throwing up and wouldn't eat. He was very lethargic. Took him to the vet and his WBC was only 200 and Red was 26.1% calcium was high so she sent us back to Auburn thinking it was cancer. After every test imaginable bone marrow only shows FeLV no cancer. He is still producing wbc but no red..... They sent us home with no treatment options only antibiotics.

He is weak, breathing rapidly but he still is fighting, he drinks uses his litter box jumps in the bed etc. I do have to syringe feed him AR. Anyone have luck with blood transfusions or steroids? I can't give up on him....It's too hard and he is trying so hard to stay with us.. ....This disease is so cruel......

Google Stanozolol & Felv anemia, it is an anabolic steroid, (type that athletes abuse). It helps increase the red blood cells.

My Salem had a hematocrit of 8.0. The vet said he should not be alive with that type of result.

It is available thru compounding pharmacies only. Have your vet look it up.

Salem turned around and began eating and playing again... unfortunately, 2 months later,I thought we were in the clear and I reduced his dose. I lost him a few weeks later.
Salem, in happier times...

Thank you so much, this gives me some hope! I'm sorry that you lost Salem such a beautiful baby.

High protein or even raw diet is sometimes good in humans and I suspect it may work on cats to. Your vet may guide you in the most appropriate diet in this case.

In my country there is a pet blood bank, which is quite affordable. The vet may decide whether blood transfusion has a chance.

Keep fighting!!

I wish you luck!

AmandaG said:

Thank you so much, this gives me some hope! I'm sorry that you lost Salem such a beautiful baby.

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FeLv cats are immuno compromised and for that reason i would avoid raw diets unless like some (Stella and Chewys) have been pressure pasteurized.  Your cat may benefit from a blood transfusion(s), cats like people have blood types and you can discuss with your vet.  Anemia is a cause of death in cats with FeLV, and rapid onset is much more dangerous than slow onset.  I know this is very hard, and many cats live with FeLV 2-3 years, and then get very sick and die.  It's good to give your cat every chance, but its also reasonable to discuss with your vet a timeline for letting your dear friend go.  Dying of anemia involves suffering.

A good site: http://www.2ndchance.info/flv.htm

AmandaG said:

Thank you so much, this gives me some hope! I'm sorry that you lost Salem such a beautiful baby.

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I have a friend who works at this FeLV cat sanctuary http://aslanscats.org who says that she doesn't recommend transfusions at this stage, too stressful on the cat and only helps for a week or so.  She said when the symptoms warrant it she would put the cat down, and that end stage anemia is in fact the end.... I'm so sorry.

Never give up. Never ever. Stand up and fight to the very end.



Fingers crossed!

Solomonar said:

 
Never give up. Never ever. Stand up and fight to the very end.

Fingers crossed!

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I understand but respectfully disagree and while there are times to fight there are times to end suffering.  Her cat may not be quite there yet but i think both POV's need to be represented.  We domesticated cats (or they domesticated us!) and because of that we are in a relationship with them where they are dependent on us.  Medical science is not available to them in the wild, so we have to potential to extend their lives past the point where they would have lived and died in nature, and while generally that's a good thing, we can also extend them too long, into suffering and past dignity and every owner has a duty and a responsibility to weigh quality of life against life extension. 

Death is not something to be feared or even hated, its a natural part of the life cycle to which we and all creatures are born, how we end our lives and those of our animal friends can be more important that how long that life goes on for, and framing it like a battle never to be given into makes it sound like good versus bad, when its just a part of life. Saying goodbye is very very hard,  and most people here have probably had to do that to a cat they have loved, but saying goodbye is much easier than living forever with the haunting memory that you kept your friend going too long.

I expect you don't disagree but were giving the poster support! :-)

@StephenQ

I mean not to give up as long as there are chances to heal he cat somehow. Sometimes we just feel disarmed and helpless in face of difficult diseases. I think this is a quite natural and human feeling.  I am against suffering, of course. But I also stress the point of facing end by fighting, to explore whatever is possible and available to save a life or at least to prolong it (again, within acceptable standards).

So I think that every encouragement, no matter how small, is important, as we are human beings and suffer to the point we feel we cannot take it anymore. We sometimes suffer so much that we do not know what to do - there is full of dark in front of us and a small light can make a difference.

Solomonar said:

 
@StephenQ

I mean not to give up as long as there are chances to heal he cat somehow. Sometimes we just feel disarmed and helpless in face of difficult diseases. I think this is a quite natural and human feeling.  I am against suffering, of course. But I also stress the point of facing end by fighting, to explore whatever is possible and available to save a life or at least to prolong it (again, within acceptable standards).

So I think that every encouragement, no matter how small, is important, as we are human beings and suffer to the point we feel we cannot take it anymore. We sometimes suffer so much that we do not know what to do - there is full of dark in front of us and a small light can make a difference.

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Understood and agreed

Thanks for all of the advice. Tomorrow morning we will get labs done and see where we are. I'm going to talk to the Dr about anabolic steroids. http://felineleukemia.org/pipermail/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org/2015-April/000534.html

Good luck at the vet's! Hopefully he or she is willing to give the Stanozolol a try... as long as he is comfortable and not short of breath.
The assist feeding helps too.

I've had 7 Felv cats...and sometimes with the meds and feeding they would just say enough! Leave me alone....and at that point I had to respect their wishes and let them go.

Each and every one was very special to me...it was hard dealing with death so often. But they enjoyed lives that they might not have had....

Amanda G I hope you are able to help your sweet kitty! Thank you everyone for this information and all of the links. I recently took in four FELV cats from a local shelter. It's a no kill shelter so the diagnosis of FELV condemned them to a lifettime in isolation cages, a situation I could not ignore. Now they have a large room in my basement and a small outdoor enclosure. Even though I asked around and did some internet searching I did not find much info on what to watch for in these cats. The links provided here will help me a great deal.

I took Gary back to Auburn University this morning. The breathing was not due to anemia itself but due to fluid in his chest cavity. They drained the fluid and put him in an oxygen room and my boy is so happy! No breathing problems at all, he has so much energy and looks so happy! They are going to monitor him over night to see if the fluid starts to return quickly. He is anemic but not enough to need a blood transfusion. With that said the fluid if not caused by a bacteria ( which is doubtful) is caused by anemia. So we are going to start him on the Winstrol, possibly with Prednisone in the beginning. To try and fight the anemia. There is no worry of Heart Disease as he had an echo done last week while at Auburn. I know this isn't a cure but, I have spoke to Doctors at Cornell University and have done more research on success stores with Winstrol and there is some hope. If I had listed to my other vet my cat would have been put to sleep this weekend, he was so full of energy and happy and his blood levels stable....sometimes you just know in your heart that you know your baby more than a vet and you need a second opinion. As long as my boy is willing to fight, I'm going to fight with him. I will know when it is time to stop and let him go. Thanks for all of the support and information. I hope I will have some good results soon!

Sorry for all of the typos.....it was a long weekend!

Awesome! So glad you found good help for him, and you!

Yeah! That's great about the Winstrol!!!

You DO know your cat the best, so you fight for them... I wish you lots of jingles that this does the trick !

Pet-tinic is a really good vitamin b and iron supplement. Great for fighting the anemia. I did all the calculations once, when another vet (2nd opinion) sent me home with Liqua-tinic. Pet -tinic won... no I don't work for Pfizer...

Lisa and Biscuit, my current Felv kitty my avatar is Serendipity, my 2nd Felv kitty

One of my cats was just found positive and I am at a loss he has been in close contact with our four 10 month cat since they were 5 weeks . The vet I saw did not suggest blood work to see how advanced it is or treatments of any kind . I could either put him down to protect the others or risk it and see if antibiotics ( second round) help his uri and mske him more comfortable, all he does is sleep in the sun or in front of the wood stove and cuddles us, if I think about it the kits have been avoiding him a bit

My boy past away Friday morning.....it was heartbreaking. He fought so hard and his blood pressure started getting really low and we just knew it was his time. We were going to make the choice to stop fighting  because I could see that he was starting to suffer and that we were just being selfish and trying to keep him around for us. We told him how much we loved him and that we knew he was going to leave us soon. He died peacefully the next morning on his own in his sleep. I will be starting a non-profit in his honor to help vaccinate and spay/neuter both feral cats and pets that the owners may not have the funds to care for their pets. So you all will be hearing more from me in the future! It kills me to know that my boy died from a disease that could have potentially been prevented and I want to do everything I can to help end this awful disease!!

How old is your cat that was found FeLV positive? Is he sick? Have either of the cats had the vaccine?

Docs Mom I applaud you, there is no way I could have another cat with FeLV......Gary's death broke my heart and I have 3 small children that are also heartbroken. I don't think I can get another cat at all. I do plan on volunteering at some shelters that take in FeLV cats! We need more people like you!