Anemic cat?

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cards222002

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Well Trust didn't want to go to the Vet this morning went to the rest room and he decided he would hide on me so going later tonight, I think he had learned the routine and may need to change it up to afternoon appointments. I do have a call in to have the vet call me to dicuse the depo medrol.
 
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cards222002

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Well trust came out of hiding around 9:30am (his appointment was at 9) I swear I looked whete he came out of like 3 times. Well ended up taKing him to the vet at 6pm where we started the Depo medrol injections. So we are going to back of the Pred through the week through Friday and by then the Depo should be going fully. Talking about holding off his next PCV until the 2nd give this steroid time to kick in.
 
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cards222002

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So sorry haven't posted in a while. Really not alot had changed we took Trust in last Monday and his pcv really didn't change a whole lot, his rbc was 15.7 so Alittle drop. Took him in today and didn't see our normal vet since we took him in later, we got hit with a pretty good snow storm here in michigan. However the other vet said his wife (normal vet we see) was at a conference at MSU this weekend and had been asking around and a few things a few other vets have recommended so well see what all that's about.
 

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Sorry the depo didn't help vs the pred. Whatever happened with the epogen or darbopoetin (?) shots? And is Trust on any antibiotics at this point? As you may recall, IV doxy (then oral at home) helped Tuxie get over a hump.
 
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cards222002

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So one thing I have started to learn is not to get my hopes up when it comes to blood work days. However the past week and a half how Trust has been is hard to do. All of a sudden Alittle over a week ago he has shown interest in his toys, yeah he would occasionally bat at a hand under a blanket but he has been playing with his balls alot this past week. Again I am not getting hopes up on what his test will show but it's been nice seeing him play, and not putting up with the dog. Poor Sheba has gotten her share of claws to the nose this week
 
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cards222002

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Well a good trip to the vet 38.5 on the red blood count
 

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I have been reading this thread. My cat George is going through the same thing :( and I am feeling very lost about what to do. He had a blood transfusion this weekend and I am not sure it helped. He is on pred and just started atopica 2 days ago. They say atopica takes at least 5-7 days to begin working. Has anyone has success with this? I am worried about his well being in the meantime and I am sure if I take him to the vet they may recommend another transfusion. Do I have any reason to believe that if the first one didn't work a second one will? Any advice would be great. Thank you.
 

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Well, for cards222002 cards222002 switching from atopica to depo seems to have made a difference. But if kitty has destroyed the red blood cells from the transfusion, seems another one might at least buy needed time to see if the atopica is going to help.
 

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@LDG thank you. I am very concerned about putting him through another transfusion because of the stress of spending the night in the hospital especially since the last one didn't seem to work. They told me it would make him feel better and I am very distressed that it did not.
 

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:heart2: :hugs: Our Tuxie was only able to take one transfusion. I really don't know why, it was 10 or 11 years ago now. The 2nd attempt the blood coagulated so couldn't be transfused. Anti-coagulants are normally used, so i don't know what was up. I've been wondering about this and have meant to call the vet to ask.

Is the vet visit itself stressful? May want to see where the HCT is. ???

I keep forgetting to mention - I'd be asking my vet to look up and see if Yunnan Baiyao might help. Even if they are traditional vets, they have (or should have!) resources to check this. This is one of the most widely known alternatives within the traditional vet community.

Edited to add: Yunnan Baiyao would be complimentary treatment, not replacing anything.

:vibes: :vibes: :vibes:
 
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cards222002

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We only had trust on the atopica for about two weeks didn't really see any benefits either way with it. At the time we switched Trust to the depo he was only on Prednisolone and B12 injections. There are studies that say for a cat this is better to give then Predisone, so first I would look into this. The Depo medrol injections have seemed to help Trust he is more active playing more and more social and his numbers have improved so far. I really don't have much to offer on the 2nd transfussion because we have not had to go through that. I wish I could offer more advice but one thing I have learned is not all cats respond the same as other cats. I wish you the best
 

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@Cards222002 thank you very much for your advice. Did the doctor recommend switching from prednisolone to predisone and the B12 injections or is that something you researched and inquired about to your vet? I am asking because they have been recommending this trial and error approach-- first try doxyclicline, that didnt work, then try prednisolone, that worked for a week or so and he seemed to be doing better. When I noticed he was worse we took him in for a test and his count came back at 16. A few days passed and then we took him in for a transfusion and started him on atopica. Overall I dont feel like George has the time for a trial and error approach and I want to cover all bases during this critical time.

What was the lowest red blood cell count Trust's tests showed? Did his tests ever show that he was not producing many new red blood cells? Or did they just show he was destroying his red blood cells? Thanks for your help, it sounds like George is going through something very similar.
 

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@LDG was was 16 last week, dropped to 11 on Friday before the transfusion, and remained steady at 18 about 18 hours after the transfusion. Now that he is home he seems worse but I am hoping that the atopica helps. They said 5-7 days to see any results. I am looking into house call vets so someone can take his blood here and bring it to the lab. He has been through so much these past few weeks I feel like dragging him to the vet will traumatize him even more.
 
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cards222002

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The lowest he has been wad the day we noticed him being sick and that was like 8, we did the transfussion and brought him up to 25 and brought him home from the er where he dropped down to i want to say 16 before showing improvements after a few weeks. The b12 and prednisolone are things I was recommended through this page. Also you may have said already how is his bone marrow production lookin is he producing new red blood cells?
 
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cards222002

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Trusts retics have been all over the place through the 6 months he would be around 30 k/ul for a few weeks and drop down to 8 k/ul we would change something and he would jump back up to 30. Last test we did after switching to the depo he was at 40.8 the highest since testing. another option we haven't tried but has been recommended when his retics were dropping was epogen we never did it because Trust always had decent retics but may be something to look into
 

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Does retics mean new red blood cell production? Last week's test showed his new red blood cell production was low :(. I am working on a house call vet to come by and get a blood sample so we can see what has happened since the transfusion. Has your vet ever told you what the "danger zone" of the red blood cell count is?

What is the b12 injection supposed to help with? And the depo shot is intended to stop destruction of the red blood cells right?
 
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cards222002

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Yeah the retics are new red blood cells being produced by the bone marrow. The Depo is a steroid that suppresses the immune system to help slow down the body destroying the rbc. The b12 is a vitamin that helps develop the immature rbc to mature rbc. if he is low on his retics the epogen may be something to look into to stimulate the bone marrow to produce new rbc. Now have they looked into what is causing the animia? We never really have narrowed Trusts cause down but suspect it is a blood paracite.
 
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