Tuesday February 3, 1998 Part 1 15 Messages ====================================== From: WORKPARK@aol.com Date sent: Tue, 3 Feb 1998 02:30:47 EST To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Subject: Re: nausea and vomiting Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net Barb: I'm new to this list, but I was reading about your kitty vomiting - both of my babies are Siamese crosses, and I knew a woman when I lived In D.C. that bred Siamese cats at one point - since I have a little "puker" too, she had mentioned that a lot of Siamese cats tend to be a little bulimic. It might just be a fairly normal thing for your cat. Pam -------------------------------------- From: WORKPARK@aol.com Date sent: Tue, 3 Feb 1998 05:02:40 EST To: felvtalk@mailinglist.net Subject: Rissa-tai Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net I just found out about angelfire.com yesterday while I was researching for information on-line for feline leukemia, as my 2 1/2 yr. old siamese x, Rissa- Tai was found positive from an IFA test taken on Friday. My husband and I are devastated, but now have some hope after reading all about your kitties since I registered to be on the mailing list last night. We started taking her to the vet Jan 2 since she was so lethargic, and she's been going in every week since. Her ELISA test came back negative at the beginning of the month. She was anemic, and also had elevated protein levels and elevated bilirubin (from her liver) levels. The vet put her on Prednisone and Pet Tinic. She had also lost almost a third of her body weight, as she hadn't wanted to eat very much. We're now feeding her science diet Feline Growth (mixed with the Science Diet light I used to feed them) to try to get some extra nutrients into her (which is making my other cat get fat - but I can live with that, as she looks better and seems to have gained some weight back). She was on an antibiotic for three weeks as she had a fever, but the vet and I realized her temp is more than likely going up just from going to the vet - I can feel her heating up very quickly. They at first thought she had FIP, and had me take her to a specialty clinic last week to see an internist. He said her spleen was very large and did an aspirate (biopsy) on it which did not show anything other than lymphoid hyperplasia, which they expect to see in a cat so anemic (it means she's producing new red blood cells in overdrive from what they told me). The vet told me her cbc should be at 30, and when I first went in she was at 14, then went up to 16, then plummeted to 12 when she was at the internist's, where they gave her a transfusion and she went up to 19 last Wednesday. As of Friday, she was back down to 16. I would like to know what is a reasonable cbc for a cat diagnosed FeLV+, and what we can do to help her get that level up. I don't know if I want to put her through getting another transfusion, nor do I want another cat to have to go through that if it won't really help her. My vet seems to be open to looking into treatments, and I faxed her what I had printed out from James Wilson's website regarding new medications. She is still on the Pet- Tinic and the Prednisone (7 1/2 mg 2x/day) right now, and we are waiting for the results from her FIV ab and protein Electrophoresis tests to come back before putting her on any other medications. The Internist is out of town all week, and we are unsure if we should wait until he comes back on Monday to ask him where to go from here medication-wise or to start her on some of the meds available right now. My husband and I are really shocked, as we have had both our cats tested since we got them (my older cat, Lai-tai, is going to be 6) and they have always come back negative. We took Lai-tai in today to be tested, and her ELISA came back negative, so they are sending it out for an IFA test. If anybody can help to answer these questions, we'd really appreciate it. What should I expect for her cbc level to be? Should we wait for the internist to get back on Monday, or have them order the meds right now? What else can we do? If our other cat comes back negative from the IFA - have you separated your animals? They've been together since August of 95, and get upset when separated - never mind that we live in a 2 BR apt. and it will be next to impossible to separate them. Does anyone have any suggestions? We also picked up a brochure on veterinary pet insurance with DVM insurance agency 1-800-872-7387 at the vet's. Does anyone know if they accept FeLV+ cats, or if they are any good? Thanx all for listening. I also found a pretty good website at www.petloss.com that not only talks about the Rainbow Bridge but also has a candle lighting ceremony that's world-wide on Monday nights to honor all the fur babies with "special needs" as well as to remember those that are gone. I hope Benny and all your other furbabies are doing well, and look forward to discussing (is that the right term?) all this and more with you soon. Pam Workman-Parker (& Chuck Parker) WORKPARK@ AOL.com (although we might be changing soon) -------------------------------------- Date sent: Tue, 03 Feb 1998 08:10:17 -0800 From: Dana Crow Organization: Magical Moments Preschool To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Subject: Amoxycillan dangers??? Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net Could anyone please tell me if they know of any dangers to using long term Amoxycillan? I mean like daily for at least a year. Will it actually loose it's effectiveness or do long term harm to the cats? Can it be used in conjunction with Interferon & Immunoregalin(sp?)? I have not had time to write the last couple of days but I read several times daily. So GLAD to hear that Russian & Benny are doing better. We all have to be our cat's own advocate as they can't speak for themselves. Continued good luck to all; my fingers are crossed Thanks again Dana -------------------------------------- From: DLMLLM@aol.com Date sent: Tue, 3 Feb 1998 11:45:04 EST To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Subject: Re: Amoxycillan dangers???and Russian Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net Everyday brings good and bad news tho. Russian had fluid in her lungs. They checked it. Think it is a bacterial infection, on going thing. They are sending it out for culture. It has white blood cells in it. The tooth they do not want to touch as yet due to the stress factor. Her fever is now 103.5 and they are having to force feed her along with the IV. So before work I guess Mommy will have to go over and try with her favorite food. I hate to see the bill for this. But it is worth it. I've been fighting bronkitis for a month and been offf the last four days again. So I know how she feels. The vet is not optomistic about her long term health, she believes the leukemia is starting to take it's toll in other ways. She says with the right treatment maybe 6 month to a year. But Russian is a strong cat and I do not believe people can predict what God takes care of. Dr. Myers. Other then the regular signs that leukemia puts out what does it really do? Can you tell or not with the blood counts you get if it is doing it's worst? If she has no involvement with her kidneys or liver and everything else seems normal, how do they actually tell ? The vet said something about a t count. Thank you. Linda -------------------------------------- From: DLMLLM@aol.com Date sent: Tue, 3 Feb 1998 11:54:21 EST To: Felvtalk@mailinglist.net Subject: Anglefire? Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net Can one of you give me the web address for Anglefire and Petloss? I'm still learning my way around on the web. Heck I still can't get this scanner to work either. Linda -------------------------------------- From: "Lynn Stickels" To: "felvtalk" Subject: re: nausea and vomiting Date sent: Tue, 3 Feb 1998 09:16:02 -0800 Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net Stinker is not sick at this time, in fact, he has been feeling pretty good. This is the longest he has felt good for a long time. He use to get very sick every three to four days. Then it was every week and now he has felt good for the past three weeks!:) He has been on the immunoregulin for the past year. A couple of months ago, I brought the immunoregulin home and give it to him under the skin. I have been giving it to him twice a week as it seems to keep him "well" and also when he does get sick, it perks him up. I am going to try and wait a week for the next injection. I added the interferon in December and just recently added the Pau D'Arco and CoQ10 with his vitamin, felovite 11. My cats eat Science Diet and Stinker will try and eat it until it hurts him too much. His diet mainly consist of A/D, about a can a day(I try to get that much down him.:)) When he does start to get sick, it begins with severe(forceful) vomiting. I was asking now for information before or if it happens again. He will be perfectly fine one day and then out of nowhere be very, very sick. My vet, quite awhile back had prescribed the zantac. Stinker regected it at once. I mean he just did not like it! And, it didn't work anyway so I didn't even bother with it. I was just wondering if there was something I could do to help him if it happens again, and it has for over the past year and a half. He suffers so much when he vomits. When he does vomit, it is liquid and foam and the dry heaves. That last from one to two days and then he becomes dangerously sick. I also have changed his antibiotic from antirobe to cefa-drops about four days ago. Like I said, he is feeling good now, but I never know when he will go down.............Lynn(Stinker) -------------------------------------- Date sent: Tue, 03 Feb 1998 12:18:05 -0500 From: Tookie Myers To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Subject: Re: Immunity/Titre/Vaccination Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net Equine and feline RBC,s are very fragile compared to human or canine and do not do well with handling. As you have already noted the transfusion did not last long and this is normal in felines. M. W. Myers, D.V.M. -------------------------------------- Date sent: Tue, 03 Feb 1998 12:24:39 -0500 From: Tookie Myers To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Subject: Re: Immunity/Titre/Vaccination Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net I fully sympathize with your dilemma and as a veterinarian associated with research I am going to answer the big question with a very cold fact. You would like to know why we do not have better tests, functional vaccines, and possibly effective treatments for FIP. The answer is there is no profit in this disease for the major pharmaceutical/biological manufacturers. I am sorry to be the bearer of these bad tidings, but from what you have written thus far, I'll bet you suspected this. M. W. Myers, D.V.M. -------------------------------------- Date sent: Tue, 03 Feb 1998 12:36:03 -0500 From: Tookie Myers To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Subject: Re: Rissa-tai Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net DVM insurance is excellent, but I doubt they will accept your positive cat. Even if they did, a disclaimer would preclude any payments for disease problems referable to the FeLV, so that would eliminate most of the expense coverage you need. You would need to get as much concentrated nutrition into her as you can. Liqiufying a/d catfood and syringe feeding her small amounts frequently is one method. Raw foods are better and if you would like some sugestions along these lines just e-mail me. As soon as you can get her off prednisone, I would do so. A regimen of interferon, Immunoregulin, and dimethlyglycine can be started immediately. Antioxidants are helpful as are supplemental digestive enzymes. I know this sounds like a "blitzkreig" approach, but you have to be as aggressive as posible with this disease or it will win. M. W. Myers, D.V.M. -------------------------------------- Date sent: Tue, 03 Feb 1998 12:50:13 -0500 From: Tookie Myers To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Subject: Re: Amoxycillan dangers??? Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net Bacterial resistance can develop to the medication as well as problems with normal GI flora. I usually alternate medications and attempt to withdraw them when the immune system seems to be improving. M. W. Myers, D.V.M. -------------------------------------- Date sent: Tue, 03 Feb 1998 12:52:24 -0500 From: Tookie Myers To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Subject: Re: nausea and vomiting Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net I would consider supplemental digestive enzymes for Stinker. This should help with his digestive upsets. M. W. Myers, D.V.M. -------------------------------------- From: "Lynn Stickels" To: "felvtalk" Subject: re: vetricine Date sent: Tue, 3 Feb 1998 09:52:34 -0800 Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net I took in a little information I had on-line about the vetricine to my vet. His supplier doesn't have it nor knows anything about it for felv cats. What I need to give my vet is some more information of this medicine, how to obtain it and how it works. I am very anxious to start my kitty on it but I have to give my vet something to work with. Any help would be greatly appreciated............Lynn(Stinker) -------------------------------------- Date sent: Tue, 03 Feb 1998 12:54:15 -0500 From: Tookie Myers To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Subject: Re: vetricine Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net Have your veterinarian call Vetri Science directly at (800)882-9993. M. W. Myers, D.V.M. -------------------------------------- Date sent: Tue, 03 Feb 1998 13:51:48 -0500 To: felvtalk@MailingList.net From: "Michele R. Smeal" Subject: Re: Merlin Update Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net Barb: I hope Merlin is doing bettter every day. Benny is doing well, so far so good. Please say prayers and we're doing the same for Merlin and all the other dear little kitties on this list and everywhere who have this terrible disease. It's so unfair that our babies have this, they deserve a happy, healthy life. God Bless all you kitties! Michele and Little Benny -------------------------------------- Date sent: Tue, 03 Feb 1998 11:33:35 -0800 From: Dana Crow Organization: Magical Moments Preschool To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Subject: Re: Amoxycillan dangers??? Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net Can we give cats acidopholous yogourt to help with the good "bugs" while on antibiotics? Also, how can you tell when the immune system is improving in an otherwise healthy looking cat showing no symptoms? -------------------------------------- END OF PART 1: See Part 2 at: http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/Spa/9802032.txt