Understanding Serum Iron Panel Tests

[arikanisil]

Hello,

I have a 4 years old, neutered male cat. And we are dealing with IMHA for 1,5 years. I will give the details at the end of the post and my question is;
what attached iron methabolism test tells us?

(We have an appointment with the vet this week, so I want to study beforehand and ask him the right questions).

Thank you so much for help in advance.

Details of his medical history:
After not getting response to all possible meds, Robin Panda had splenectomy at 11th of March. Since then, he was on 2mg/kg depomedrol (every 14 days) and 2 mg Chlorambucile every other day. And he even hit the HCT 38! Our vet stopped depomedrol injections in the beginning of May. My cat was stable since then. Till this week.
His HCT is dropping slowly and is now %29.
By the way; his immune system is suppressed a lot recently, probably bcs of the chlorambucile (WBC is at 2,09).
I suspected he is losing iron (because his MCV and MCHC values were decreasing gradually, since the splenectomy). So, insisted my vet to run an iron panel tests. Here are the results.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

We are not Vets here, and reading blood work is really a science. Each time you have had his blood checked, have you discussed the results with your Vet? The only thing I can suggest is that you take each item that is either high or low (or right on the line) and ask about them specifically and then they can tell you which values work in concert with other values and what they might mean overall to your cat's health going forward.

My understanding is that without a spleen one is more apt to be immuno compromised anyway, and the chlorambucile also can lower the WBC.

One thing I WOULD ask about is the borderline low Ferritin with normal levels of iron. To me this seems to suggest anemia waiting to happen (again), but a different type of anemia. Is he on any Vit B shots?

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Have you had your Vet visit yet? What did you learn?

 

[BellaBlue82]

Hi there,
Those are definitely some puzzling results. I also have a cat with primary IMHA, although she did not have a splenectomy. I'm a little curious though that the depomedrol was stopped and the chlorambucile was continued; our cat was on prednisolone and cyclosporine. My understanding from my vet was that the steroid was the primary immunosuppressant. We eventually stopped the cyclosporine once her HCT reached 40 and rested there for a few months. This way we would be sure it was safe enough to stop the secondary immunosuppressant.

I would speak again with your vet and discuss if they think there should be a change in your kitty's medication. My experience is IMHA is a condition not many vets deeply understand, as we had gone through this with Sadie until we found an internist that seemed really knowledgeable.