Severe Anemia - What is the cause? Please read and if you can help, please do - am running out of time

missbliss · Sep 21, 2022

May I have your thoughts please - sorry for another different post but we just got back from the vet who ran CBC, Renal, Gastro, Thyroid and Pancreatic panels - SHE IS SEVERELY ANEMIC - 2.6 and HYPOTHERMIC (low body temp core) which he is charting down to her kidney not producing the necessary red blood cells and he said due to her age 18 this is the outcome. Everything else is perfect. Creatinine, Urea, Thyroid - et al. He said when it gets below 2 then there could be transfusions necessary. Sent home with Nutrients. But I am thinking there is something else going on. She is in pain, nauseous and not eating that much. These are the blood results -

Mati, soon to be 18, very ill - not drinking

di and bob · Sep 21, 2022

My cats have feline leukemia and have the same symptoms at times. If you can get her to hold on for a few weeks, her bone marrow will produce new blood cells. (if it is able) my cat's red blood cell count was so low the vet said it was almost nonexistent and he only had 'days' to live. He lost half his body weight in a week and was so sick......I got some Delectable Lickables in the stew flavors(a cat lickable treat) and he took a few licks! He survived on a few licks a day and 5 drops of 'nose relief' (amazon) because he was so congested too. That was three years ago. I did some research and started all my cats on DMG too, an immune system supplement. If your little one is at the natural end of her life, there is not a whole lot that can be done. Just love her and be with her as much as you can, giving her as much comfort as you can. There ARE still miracles out there! I'll keep you both in my thoughts and prayers.........

missbliss · Sep 21, 2022

Thank you. I asked the vet if it could be a virus and he said if that were the case the esophils would be elevated - but as posted above that came back normal. Her RBC has decreased by HALF in a year - last year about the same time she had blood work done showing her RBC at 4. So something is causing this decrease - systematic or not - he only said it was age. Then I countered if that was the case all aged cats would have anemia. So something is going on. Will check out the supplement you mentioned.

Kflowers · Sep 21, 2022

Our vet said the same thing about anemia in our older dog. They did a transfusion. We accepted that. shouldn't have. A month later her gums went white again. This time we had a sonagram done. She had a huge tumor on her liver that was causing the problem. She was a large dog and you couldn't tell from looking at her. As you said, animals don't just get anemic for no reason. You may not be able to fix the reason, but anemia is the symptom not the reason. You might suggest your vet do x-rays and if they see a shadow, a sonagram. Or you might try to find another vet.