Wednesday April 15, 1998 Part 2 20 Messages ====================================== From: "James G. Wilson" To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Date sent: Wed, 15 Apr 1998 14:05:16 +0000 Subject: Re: To Jim--addition to vet's list Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net Hey Nancy, Thanks for asking your vets- I've added them to the directory. Please take a look and make sure that all information is correct. Everyone can find this vet directory at: http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/Spa/8025/ I still encourage everyone to ask their vets about joining our list. It is a free service and has this disclaimer that you can show them: As there is still no cure for FeLV, NO veterinarian listed here shall be held liable for any death or subsequent complication related to feline leukemia or the use of these newer methods for treating it. Vets listed here are recognized solely for their efforts to employ the methods described on our FeLV project web page . As with all information taken from the internet, it is your responsibility to look into and decide on the validity of these presentations. Thanks to all who've made these projects successful. Let's keep taking every possible advantage away from this nasty disease that we can- your slice of cheesecake depends on it! Take care, and best wishes to all. In loving memory of Vyvyan: March 20, 1988 - August 15, 1997 James G. Wilson phaedrus@ctnet.net, phaedrus69@hotmail.com, felv@angelfire.com http://www.angelfire.com/il/felv/ http://www.litchfieldil.com/members/phaedrus/ http://www.fortunecity.com//skyscraper/sterling/20/niu.html -------------------------------------- From: AskforArt Date sent: Wed, 15 Apr 1998 14:38:13 EDT To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Subject: Re: Cat's esophagus & Type of Vit. C, and Toxoplasmosis. Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net Greg---If Pooter is having diarrhea she may be dehydrated, which can cause a loss of appetite. To check for dehydration gently pull up the skin at the base of her neck, just above the shoulderblades. If the skin pops right back into place, she's OK. If the skin slowly returns to its position, then she is dehydrated. The more slowly the skin returns, the greater the dehydration. You can administer purified water to her with a dropper, but it is slow, tediuos, and time-consuming. A better solution is to have your vet show you how to administer sub-cutaneous fluids using an IV bag. I hate needles, and it feels gross when I put the needle in one of my cats, but I think it's a lot better than putting one of my guys through the torture of going to the vet every day. If she is not dehydrated, her loss of appetite may be a natural response to her illness--just like when you're sick and have no appetite. It can also be caused by many other illnesses, or from medications--check with your vet to see if the medication she's using has loss of appetite listed as a side-effect. The vitamin C reccomended by vets is sodium ascorbate. During an illness cats usually need more vitamin C, and with diarrhea all nutrients pass through the body too quickly to be absorbed. Use 1/8 tsp 3xs daily. The least expensive way to purchase this is loose powder (bulk) at a health food store. Give the Ambrotose 3xs daily, with the C. To help stop the diarrhea, you can use blackberry tea. Just adjust the reccomended dose to a kitty-size dose. Feed with a dropper. Most grocery stores carry the tea, or you can buy it at the health food store, too. Hope this helps, Linda P -------------------------------------- From: "Claude Horstmann" To: Subject: Rissa-Tai Date sent: Wed, 15 Apr 1998 10:58:20 -0400 Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net Great ! I'm so glad that you were able to trace the behavior to an adverse reaction to the pill-administration, rather than to the pill itself ! .marilyn. -------------------------------------- From: "AZ-HART" To: Subject: Waiting for Cheesecake Date sent: Wed, 15 Apr 1998 08:55:33 -0700 Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net Jim, I had to laugh when you mentioned the "cheesecake" being served, at first I wondered what on earth that meant, but it hit me right away. I'm grateful this list is here. Everyone was very supportive when I lost my "Topaz" in February, and I can see all the support going out for little George, such a beautiful kitty. At present, I am counting my blessings that none of my 5 remaining FeLV+ kitties have any health problems: Stella, Desmond, Rosemary, Sage and Tom-Tom are all hearty and happy. Having just lost my disabled kitty "Angelina" on April 6th, I have been very down for over a week about that. She was a non-FeLV kitty, but she needed so much daily care, that she was a huge part of my life. Her spinal chord disease finally caused her not to be able to get enough air, and it was time. I've lost so many precious souls doing cat rescue the last 3 years, it sometimes leaves a permanent gray cloud over your head. And as silly as it sounds, I'm almost hesitant to have a "happy moment" for fear I'll jinx myself and someone else will become ill. It saddens me deeply to read of all the losses FeLV owners are going through. But on this list, many of us have experienced it, and everyone's support is touching. It helps a great deal. Irene Hart In Memory of "Angelina", Sept 1994 - April 6, 1998 Arizona Homeless Animals Rescue Team (AZ-HART) http://home.sprynet.com/sprynet/azhart Email us at: azhart@sprynet.com -------------------------------------- Date sent: Wed, 15 Apr 1998 14:01:53 -0500 (CDT) From: "Nancy A. Schmall" To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Subject: Re: Rissa-Tai's Dr. situation Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net Pam, I have to tell you and I don't mean to be vet bashing here, but I would find another vet. Clinics get busy, but a doctor can always say, "Tell them I will call them around 2:00 or whatever . . ." I would not continue using a vet who would not talk to me personally even it was to say that we've exhausted all possibilities. Every time my vet has been unable to call at the allotted time, she has always apologized and provided me with a reason, even though I have not aasked for one. Good luck and keep on trucking! nancy -------------------------------------- Date sent: Wed, 15 Apr 1998 14:10:52 -0500 (CDT) From: "Nancy A. Schmall" To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Subject: Re: Cat's esophagus & Type of Vit. C, and Toxoplasmosis. Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net Pam, You're right; dairy products can make diarrhea worse. Yogurt contains a bacterial culture--Acidophilus--which helps to restore the "friendly bacteria" found in our and our animal's intestinal tracts. This friendly bacteria is destroyed by antibiotics since antibiotics destroy all bacteria--both good and bad. If your cat does not like yogurt (most of mine don't), you can buy capsules of Acidophilus and sprinkle some of the powder in their food. Believe me; it helps! Nancy -------------------------------------- Date sent: Wed, 15 Apr 1998 14:13:12 -0500 (CDT) From: "Nancy A. Schmall" To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Subject: Re: Arnie--Wednesday update Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net Jean, This is wonderful news! Perhaps This will not be just temporary. But I know what you mean. Each day that an FELV+ cat has that's a good one is a cause for celebration!! Each day I see my Panther and Jake alive and well, I am thankful. Nancy -------------------------------------- Date sent: Wed, 15 Apr 1998 14:31:11 -0500 (CDT) From: "Nancy A. Schmall" To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Subject: Vet list Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net Jim, I am unable to access http://www.geocities.com/Hot Springs/Spa/8025/. Any suggestions? Nancy -------------------------------------- From: "James G. Wilson" To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Date sent: Wed, 15 Apr 1998 14:43:34 +0000 Subject: Re: Vet list Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net Hi Nancy, > Jim, > I am unable to access http://www.geocities.com/Hot Springs/Spa/8025/. You have a space (Hot Springs) where there shouldn't be one- it's HotSprings. Hope this helps. Talk to you soon. In loving memory of Vyvyan: March 20, 1988 - August 15, 1997 James G. Wilson phaedrus@ctnet.net, phaedrus69@hotmail.com, felv@angelfire.com http://www.angelfire.com/il/felv/ http://www.litchfieldil.com/members/phaedrus/ http://www.fortunecity.com//skyscraper/sterling/20/niu.html -------------------------------------- Date sent: Wed, 15 Apr 1998 15:53:12 -0400 From: Andrew Sherrod To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Subject: Re: George is gone :( Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net What a lovely poem! I just wanted to thank everyone for the kind words and loving thoughts. After I wrote the message I knew that I could count on everyone...that helps a lot! I'll write more tomorrow (I'm a wreck today). I'm just sending warm thoughts to all of you, those with Felv pos friends and those that have lost dear friends. It's a tough battle but I'm convinced that it can be won (may I bring "Tofu Cheesecake"?). I definitely will stay on the list because I care so much about all of you and the cats. I don't have any Felv pos cats left-they all passed away within a year of its discovery in my home. I hope that I can find a way to contribute more in the future. Thinking of all of you... Paula -------------------------------------- Date sent: Wed, 15 Apr 1998 16:05:48 -0400 From: Andrew Sherrod To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Subject: Re: Waiting for Cheesecake Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net poor little Angelina....and all of the other cats that have passed recently and not so recently. I'm going to look at your webpage. When I get a bigger house I'd love to do cat rescue....geez, I have over 20 now! Take care and...I know how you feel. Thanks for the compliments about George. She was so starved and flea ridden when we found her-it is nice to hear everyone say how cute she is! She was a very wonderful, wonderful cat....aren't they all! Paula -------------------------------------- From: Newtanator Date sent: Wed, 15 Apr 1998 16:34:45 EDT To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Subject: Re: Cat's esophagus & Type of Vit. C, and Toxoplasmosis. Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net Nancy, Pam, Yogart has bacteria in it, however I read somewhere that most of them are killed in the stomach and never get to the bowel. The problem with antibiotics is they are indisriminant. They do not have radar that zeroes them in on just one bug. While some are more active against certain types, they tend to kill off the good with the bad. (Ladies, good old yeast infections after antibiotics??!!) So you can sometimes get a "sterile gut". The GI tract is full of good bacteria that aid in the breakdown an absorption of nutriants. With out them, you get diarrhea because the good ones are dead to. I have seen in health food stores, a powder that will replace these little darlings. You might give your health food store a call and see if they have any. Good luck, barb. PS watch for dehydration! -------------------------------------- From: "Claude Horstmann" To: Subject: Wednesday update : Arnie Date: Wed, 15 Apr 1998 18:29:37 -0400 Reply-to: felvtalk@MailingList.net Dear Jean, I am so THRILLED for you and Arnie ! One good day, followed by another good day, and we're soaring with happiness. I have been known to wax poetic over formed stool in the litter-box, nevermind the full blown excitement of a cat EATING ! Hope it continues, for you.. and for all of us who share this journey with you. .marilyn. (selena) -------------------------------------- From: Newtanator Date sent: Wed, 15 Apr 1998 19:32:52 EDT To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Subject: Re: Arnie--Wednesday update Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net Jean, What great news. A cat that likes to eat is a very good sign indeed! And you're right, what ever they want, they get!! barb -------------------------------------- From: "Lynn Stickels" To: "felvtalk" Subject: Yogurt Date sent: Wed, 15 Apr 1998 16:03:12 -0700 Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net My cat Stinker has to take antibiotics. He won't eat yogurt......yuk for him!:) Dr. Myers suggested a product called Flora Support which replaces the good bacteria. I use it with Stinker. If anyone is interested, I would be happy to tell you how to get it.......Lynn(Stinker) -------------------------------------- To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Date sent: Wed, 15 Apr 1998 19:52:11 -0400 Subject: Re: Arnie--Wednesday update From: naohalloran@juno.com (Naomi J O'Halloran) Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net Jean, It's great to hear that Arnie is feeling better! I hope he stays that way for a nice long time! Keigan and I are crossing our fingers (toes) for you! Naomi -------------------------------------- From: DLMLLM Date sent: Wed, 15 Apr 1998 20:15:35 EDT To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Subject: Re: George is gone :( Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net Sorry to hear George lost her fight. The little ones we have lost will always be remembered. I miss my Russian so much. I will always remember the good times we shared as you will your memories of George. Take pride in the fact that she had a good home, and someone who loved her. You both fought a good battle. Linda In memory of Russian I'm curious. How did you come about the name George for a female cat. It's funny about the names we pick. -------------------------------------- From: GinaTex Date sent: Wed, 15 Apr 1998 20:50:16 EDT To: felvtalk@MailingList.net, phaedrus@ctnet.net Subject: Our FeLv household: Rubin's story Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net Hello This our first time ever in one of these discusion groups. We have a household of 5 cats and 2 dogs all indoors. Of our 5 cats 2 are felv+. I will start with the non positive cats: The 2 youngest will be 1 this month they are brother and sister (Patrick & Elizabeth), they where born to a feral cat that we took care of outside. As soon as they where born we took advandtage and started giving them lots of human contact. And in the process became very attached, they did not move into our house until they had all the FeLv booster shots required. To this day they are testing negative and are very very healthy. The next 2 are also brother and sister they just turned 4 years old. They where abused as kittens by the neighbors who owned them. They have lived with us since they where 6 months old. The boy Zachary continues to test negative, (he was just tested last month), each year he recieves his vaccine for FeLv. His sister, Sophia, has tested postive since she was 6 months old, and to this day has not been ill at all. The vet felt that she got it from her mother, but we feel that it was both a combination of her mother and the fact that our old neighbohood was litteraly infested with FeLv and she lived outside her first 6 months. We have been real lucky with her and her brother. The oldest is Rubin, he just turned 12 years old. He is one amazing cat. we have had him since he and his brother was abandoned by his mother and needed to be bottle fed. His brother disappeared when they where 4 years old. At that time we did not know much about FeLv, and we allowed them to come and go in/outdoors as they had pleased. We attempeted to get him vaccinated when he was 1 years old but he had jumped out of the box and ran across the highway getting hit in the rear by a truck. It took us four hours to find him and we finaly found him in a bryer patch. He had a torn ligament, but otherwise was fine. When he was 5 years old he got ill, we took him to the vet and found out he was positive for FeLv. At that time we changed the way he was living, he became a strictly indoor cat and we changed his diet to dry Iams. He got well and was doing well until he was 8 years old. At that time he got real ill again the vet we used at that time recomended putting him to sleep. Well he was close to death on the night of Easter Sunday at midnight, we found a vet with 24 hour emergency care. We brought him into her and she treated him nursed him back to the living. She also gave him the option of chemotherapy, he was treated with vincrestene for 8 weeks. It was a very tough time with the force feeding and a high weight loss, He went from 18 pounds down to 9 pounds. But he started responding and bounced back. He was suposed to have 2 rounds of the chemo but he responded very well to the first round. He gained all his weight back and was in remision for 4 years. He remained + but not ill at all with very good blood counts until Thanksgiving 1997. He started to show signs of weakness, pale, weight loss and bad appetite. He was checked and we found out that the cancer was back. He was anemic and his white cell count was very low. He started back on chemotherapy same treatment, he started to show it migh be working, he gained a few pounds to a weight of 12.5 pounds, his appetite came back and he was looking good. There where times that his white cell count dropped to a dangerous level of 800, then bounced up to the 2,000 to 3,000 range but it was still not normal. After the 8 treatments that took 3 months we had his blood tested again. He did not respond this time, His good spirits and healthy appetite fooled us into believing that he was doing fine. We did a bone marrow biopsy which showed level 5 Felv and that the bone marrow was no longer producing red or white cells, but instead was full of leukemia. 2 weeks after that he was transfused and the vet started a diffenrent chemo routine, he is still on predisone, winstrol, and for chemo vincrestene and L-asparaginace (which is 100.00 an injection) I am looking for any info on this chemo. He has had one treatment, and this weekend he goes for his 2nd treatment. He is looking pale again and does appear to be weak. He still has his appetite and has been maintaining his weight. Well I appolgize for such a long winded message but i did not know how else to tell our story. We hope that other people will find hope in seeing that Rubin has survived 7 years so far with FeLv. Thankyou Gina and JoAnn -------------------------------------- From: "James G. Wilson" To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Date sent: Wed, 15 Apr 1998 20:32:49 +0000 Subject: (Fwd) Re: Our FeLv household: Rubin's story Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net ------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- From: "Steve Lackow" To: Subject: Re: Our FeLv household: Rubin's story Date: Wed, 15 Apr 1998 18:29:31 -0700 Welcome Gina and JoAnn! Do you have any pictures of Rubin? I would love to feature him on my page paying tribute to those successfully fighting FeLV. -- Steve -------------------------------------- From: "James G. Wilson" To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Date sent: Wed, 15 Apr 1998 20:34:01 +0000 Subject: (Fwd) Re: George is gone :( Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net ------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- From: "Steve Lackow" To: Subject: Re: George is gone :( Date: Wed, 15 Apr 1998 18:31:07 -0700 Paula, I'm so sorry about Georgie. Do stick around. We've only started to fight. -- Steve -------------------------------------- END