"Dave" wrote in message
...
We took our 11/2 year-old male, sweetheart of a cat in to the vet because
he was lethargic, and the vet diagnosed auto-immune anemia. Further
testing
showed that he had an 11% red blood cell volume (normal is 35-50%) and is
positive for Feline Leukemia.

Have your cat tested for Hemobartonella felis. -- H. felis is a parasite
that attaches itself to surface of RBCs and shortens the life of the RBCs --
but far more damage is caused to the RBCs by the cat's intense immune
response to the parasite attached to the cell than by the parasite itself.
HaemobartonelÂ*losis is associated with an increased incidence of FeLV
infection. So its possible that the parasite reduced your cat's resistance
to FeLV and permitted an infection that the cat may have otherwise resisted
or allow a latent infection to re-emerge and initiate persistent, or
hopefully, only transient viremia. OTOH, FeLV can suppress the cat's normal
immune response - so FeLV might increase the cat's susceptibility to
haemobartonellosis or even convert a latent H. felis infection into a
full-blown disease.

You should have the test run at least four times on four consecutive days
because H. felis parasitemia is cyclic - IOW, the parasite can disappear and
reappear in the blood sometimes in as little as 2 hours or less... Also, its
absolutely essential that your vet uses *fresh* blood for the tests and
prepares the smears right away because the parasite usually detaches itself
from RBCs in refrigerated anticoagulated blood and in vitro. Bad timing
and/or improperly collected and stored blood will lead to false negative
results in an infected cat. Tests results will also turn out negative if
the tests are run after you begin treatment because the parasites disappear
from the blood while the cat is being treated with tetracyclines. Thus the
test can't be used to monitor therapy.





Oh boy...

We've decided to give him the best chance he can have to get back on his
feet and keep him with us for as long as we can. So, he had a blood
transfusion last night and for the next few weeks he's been prescribed
steroids and antibiotics, as well as Felovite vitamins. In a week he'll
get
another blood test and we'll see how he's doing.

We CAN'T loose this cat, period.

So, I would appreciate it if you folks could point me to some
info/resources
on getting him past this anemia and making his life with leukemia as
healthy
and long a one as we possibly can. There's a ton of stuff out there (I
know,
I've been digging through it) but it's hard to tell what info is current
and
reliable. Has anyone had any luck with supplements/medication that we can
give him to help him fight the virus (our vet is looking into getting him
on
Interferon)?


If you go with interferon, I'd go with daily high-dose parenteral r-HuIFN-a
preceeded by transfusions for a month as the initial therapy rather than the
low-dose PO 7 on/7 off protocol. Transfusions will reduce the viral
oad -- and even a temporary reduction in the viral load might allow the
cat's immune system to mount a stronger and more effective response. When
the results are good, they're very good! We have a few FeLV cats still
going strong 6 years post IFA+!


Best of luck,

Phil