@Marje and Gracie Would you please look at my babies BW even though he doesn’t have diabetes, the vet also sent it to lab and a pathologist
@Marje and Gracie He’s 11 months old and they gave him mirtz, pred, amoxicillin and vitamins Rebound, we are waiting for the BW to come back on Monday but if he gets worse take to Blue Pearl, he’s very anemic
Oh no. I saw the anemia. Has he been acting sick or just started? Why prednisolone given? I get the antibiotic and mirt. Were you given more mirt for home?
I’m not sure I was so upset, he had been acting just kinda sad looking and was sleeping a lot, not normal for a 11 month old. Started about 3 days ago but yesterday he literally laid on coffee table alllllll day only ate if I took it to him
Well he has eaten about 3/4 can of critical care food so far and is taking his meds really well, gonna try some beef liver today
He is only 11 months old? What did the vet say about the anemia? That hematocrit is very low and normally intervention like a transfusion would be recommended. How is he doing now?
How did this all start? I am wondering if he may have some kind of autoimmune disease? What did the vet say? Why the amoxicillin? Is it just a shot in the dark? There are better choices in antibiotics for cats if they just are giving it because they don’t know what to do. Did they do are urinalysis? What different bloodwork will the lab do than what was done in house at the vet? Is he on any flea or tick meds?
I would also recommend starting a B-Complex supplement immediately. It’s not just B-12 that is required. I use Jarrow B Right capsules divided into ten size 4 gelatin capsules. The B-Complex vitamins are necessary for red blood cell production. If the bloodwork results on Monday are inconclusive, there are some test for viruses and other diseases that can be done. Maybe that’s why the vet sent a sample to a pathologist? He is very small for an 11 month old cat. Has he been ill for some time?
Yes and he weighs 10lbs as of yesterday, vet said that if anything at all changes take him to blue Pearl for transfusion He is better this am and eating, he even got on the cat tree
He was fine then about 2 days ago he was just laying around and not playing so I took him No urinalysis Yes on flea meds
I suppose they were trying to combat suspected inflammation with the pred. Doesn’t completely make sense. It’s immunosuppressive. If they suspect autoimmune disease it makes sense. If they suspect something else like a viral or bacterial infection then it would be the wrong way to go. Is there any sign of a GI bleed? Has his stool been normal? Any vomiting? The labs look like his bone marrow is producing adequate retics - so it’s trying to produce red blood cells.
Oh okay. That’s normal. I just saw on the bloodwork it said 6 lbs or so. They just didn’t update the weight on there.
When did he last have flea meds and what kind? If he’s indoors only, I would not give them. I’m just trying to think of everything and some flea meds can cause bad reactions.
I'm no expert, but one thing my vet told me when looking at my civvie's bloodwork, is that the reticulocytes are blood cells forming. In my cat's case, hers are low, which vet said means that she is not regenerating hers. It looks like yours *is* regenerating, which could be a good thing. Look up regenerative anemia. Was the vet confident the sample was of good quality? I had a set of labs once that looked pretty bad on that page, but they said it was a bad draw. I can't remember if it showed anemia or not, but the bottom half of the page was out to lunch.
Yes no problem with blood but that’s a good thought and they also tested it 3 x to make sure it was accurate
Darn, was hoping it was just a bad draw. I hope you get some answers soon, and your boy starts feeling better!
There are a few things that did make me think of an autoimmune condition as I suggested before. And he is producing adequate reticulocytes, which are immature red blood cells… but is still anemic. But there are so many possibilities other than an autoimmune condition. I hope he continues to improve and that you can get some answers. I hate that this has happened to one of your new babies. Your Bella was such a great cat with so much personality, and we were all so sad when he passed. And then we were all so excited for you when you adopted two new orange boys! I know it’s been just a little over a year since you lost Bella. This must be so worrisome for you. We don’t expect our young ones to have problems for many years either, so it must have been a shock. All I know is that he has a really great mom who will get to the bottom of things and will fight with all her might for her boy! Please keep us posted on Aodhan. You’re a part of the FDMB family.
Ahhh Suzanne thank you for those kind words, yes I will absolutely fight for him, and OMG I was so much in the state of shock I was numb, thinking this can’t be happening. Thank you again and I will keep you all updated, he will get whatever it takes to fix this or manage.
I am thinking that the vet grilled you about… could he have eaten a toxic plant or anything toxic? I was going to ask about the diffusing of essential oils or scented candles. And that is why I asked about flea meds. Does he go outside? If so, he could have gotten into something harmful. However, his various liver enzyme values were not elevated so I don’t see evidence of poisoning. I just keep thinking about this!
No plants in house, all bedding including ours is organic cotton, do not use any chemicals of any kind in this house, haven’t since Bella got diabetes, I do light a candle when I’m home but he has never got up on the counter, never ever ever goes outside he hates his backpack or harness
I have went over and over and over it, can’t think of anything, we use meyers laundry and dish detergent which is eco friendly, weruva food
I suspect they're thinking IMHA (immune-mediated hemolytic anemia), which can be caused by a number of factors...some are infectious, it can be idiopathic (no known cause), or in some cases by activation of the mother cat's antibodies in a kitten. It results in the targeting of red blood cells by the immune system, so although they're produced (the reticulocytes), the body destroys them faster than they can become active in the blood. Secondary causes of a similar disorder are often seen as the result of onion or garlic ingestion. Treatment is steroids + antibiotics although doxycycline is more commonly used than amoxicillin.
That sounds terrible and scary I was reading about SAD a few minutes ago trying to find anything Systemic Autoimmune Disease
It is scary, but it often does eventually go into remission, and if not it can generally be controlled with steroids.
I figured you had gone over everything in your mind. And I was talking to my kids (grown) about him this evening (because they were asking me about what had I been doing on the Board today and I told them about your baby being so young and getting ill so suddenly) and I was saying that I believed you to be a very experienced cat owner who knows what she’s doing and I was sure that you were in touch with things that can potentially harm cats in the home… I told them about Bella and Andy living to 18 and 21 (I think?) years old too! I’ve just been trying to think of anything!!
Well let’s not put the cart before the horse just yet. I know my mind tends to run to some very scary outcomes in my own cats. I’m sure we’ve all been thinking about hemolytic anemia today because of the bloodwork and the retics being normal. But we are not there yet. Let’s wait until Monday and the lab results. So, how is he doing tonight?
Yes you were right about the ages I have gone through everything in my mind over and over, nothing new and no changes of what’s in this house, I do soooo appreciate your help and concern, he ate almost all his food this am and took all his meds like a champ
I know! I’ve been thinking about you. I hope you will be able to post something tomorrow. I an helping my daughter with a paper right now and have to take one of my cats to the vet tomorrow morning early, but I hope you will have a path forward starting tomorrow. He continues to improve, right? I find it interesting that the steroid has helped him, but also he was on an antibiotic so who knows. Anyway, I am rambling… but this is my way of saying that I will check in on the Board tomorrow to see if you have any updates on Aodhan. I’m in Eastern time. Are you on Pacific time?
I’m in Florida so eastern is it lol Yes very anxious to hope for some answers tomorrow hope the results are in I did think of 1 new thing I picked up at petsmart and it’s the kitty grass
It seems unlikely to be kitty grass, but who knows. To be safe, I am sure you have taken it away at least for the time being? Wasn’t it some seeds that you had to grow? I think I bought some oat grass last year on the recommendation of a member here. Smarty Kat sweet greens organic oat seeds that I grew. Foster kittens loved it anyway.
No it was already grown and u never know if some messed up person could have done something to it, yes lol I’m thinking that far out
Bw from lab is back and waiting for vet to call me after he looks at them and our appointment is 4:30 he ate well this am and is moving around a little more
I’m happy to hear he ate and is moving around more. Hopefully that means the anemia is somewhat better.
They are gonna retest for feline leukemia and still waiting on another test to come in, gonna schedule a test with blue Pearl on his bone marrow
Well some good news, the blood work they sent out vet was really concerned about was negative so that's good, he will go over more with me, tech called
For now, he said come back in 2 weeks do bw again unless he starts looking sick again, RBC isn’t when it should be but it went up
This makes me think that it was something in his environment? Maybe the cat grass? I am just hoping so because then he should recover and be perfectly healthy! And your other kitty (Finley?) is okay? How much longer does he have on the Prednisolone?
Me too, cat grass is in trash and Finley is just fine, thank God. The pred for 2 weeks and then back for more BW, I was thinking of getting a meter and checking is BS just in case, thoughts??
Finley was about 6 months ago having allergies and I got a air purifier and it all went away, just a watery eye
Well, you can see where he is BG wise if you want to. No harm done. I noticed it was good at the vet when the did the bloodwork. What kind of air purifier did you buy? I've been looking at them.
I love this one1 you take the bottom cover and just shake it out and like I said Finleys eye watering stopped
Update on Aodhan, he is now down to 1 pred a day and numbers are going back to normal finally, vet said he had an immune crisis, so he’s slowly getting back to his young self Thanks to everyone
