Non Regenerative Anemia

[Freeney12]

Hello, I’ve had my life blown away in the past 48 hours. My beautiful 12 year old indoor cat/ best friend has suddenly disappeared and is now a shell of her former self. I have been told she has moderate to severe non regenerative anemia. No other worrisome blood work, scan came back clear, all looks good and the doctors are baffled. She will have an emergency canine blood transfusion in a few hours (there is not any cat blood available in the country) has anyone else had this?? I am devastated and scared to hope. If she survives the transfusion they will do a test for Feline infectious anemia I believe as she has had fleas before, and then they will test her bone marrow for leukemia tomorrow as apparently it could be hiding since the blood test came back negative. She was thriving last week, reduced to be unable to walk & barely eating & drinking. I can’t believe how quick this has happened. I will be awaiting reports from the hospital she is staying at, but does anyone have a similar story with a positive outcome?

 

[Furballsmom]

Hello, there has been at least one (but I think the situation is not quite the same).

In any case every cat is different and your sweetie hopefully does fine with the transfusion

 

[fionasmom]

I am sorry that you are facing this. It is logical that your vet will use a dog blood transfusion under your specific circumstances, given the lack of a precise donor cat or blood bank. No doubt this was explained to you, and if your cat is critical enough, it is the only option. Please let us know what happens as the vet updates you.

 

[Freeney12]

Thank you both. I don’t have an update yet but hopefully soon. I can’t stop crying. I feel like this is my fault. I said to do what the vet thinks is best, and now I feel I have condemned her to death and inadvertently made her a case study. I made the mistake of getting on google and I don’t see how she will pull through this. I am so sad

 

[Furballsmom]

Hang in there. Every cat, and every cat's situation, is different.

Be strong for your sweet baby, she knows you're upset but doesn't understand why so it makes it hard for her

 

[fionasmom]

It is highly unlikely that any well cared for indoor cat has developed non regenerative anemia because of anything that the owner did. It can occur spontaneously from an attack from the cat's own immune system, for one. As for letting the vet make a decision in this case, any competent vet whom you trust will do their best for her. They are doing the right thing to try to get to an underlying cause and treat that.

Fleas are a danger to very young outdoor kittens or puppies who suffer a major infestation. I am not picturing this kind of flea problem on an indoor cat.

 

[babiesmom5]

I am very sorry you are in this position now. Been there...done that. I had a 15 year old indoor cat who had a presumed combination of immune mediated hemolytic anemia and anemia of chronic inflammatory. (He had IBD). It was presumed and successfully treated as such after tests ruled out every other cause.

After a blood transfusion using feline blood from the blood bank at Univ. of Penn, he received regular injections of Darbepoetin, plus Atopica (immunosuppresant) and Prednisolone. With this regimen, his non-regenerative anemia became regenerative and he was able to make his own RBC. He was stabilized and lived a good life for over a year before passing away from something unrelated.

Please don't fault yourself. You did not cause this. Indoor cats do not develop anemia unless their own immune system turns on itself or it is related to the anemia of CKD or something else.

Please do not give up hope! With a blood transfusion and proper therapy, your kitty can be stabilized and pull through this. I think a good Internal Medicine Vet (preferably with experience with this), as well as the specialized treatment offered at a Vet university teaching hospital will be helpful. I wish you and your kitty all the best.

 

[missbliss]

Hi - how are you and kitty doing? Please update on what is happening.