"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.

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)? Are there any diet changes that can help? He doesn't like the
Felovite, are there any other options for getting him his vitamins?
Anything
else I'm missing?

Many thanks,

Dave


You say positive for feline leukemia, but I suspect what you mean is
positive for feline leukemia virus. As another poster suggested, it's a
good idea to have the cat rechecked, both with the ELISA and IFA test. I
had a kitten test positive, then negative; but if your cat has such serious
clinical signs, I wouldn't be optimistic for a reversal. Another thing to
consider is getting a referral to a specialist in the area if possible (I've
gone to the Animal Medical Center in New York and local specialist
practices); sometimes this is a tradeoff between the stress on the cat of
traveling what may be a considerable distance to see the specialist and the
value of the specialist itself.

There's a lot of information available on FeLV on the Web and elsewhere;
another site is:
http://www.winnfelinehealth.org/health/FeLV.html

Good luck.

JA Golczewski, Ph.D.
http://users.rcn.com/jigo/jg.HTM
Updates, free book on health and life-extension