My beloved FeLV+ kitty suddenly has Erythremic Myelosis!

Hi all,

I'm really torn up over my cat, Sali. Here is a little page I did for
her awhile back.

I rescued her when she was one years old...she is now four. She
tested positive for the Feline Leukemia Virus when I first found her,
but because she has been such a force of nature (strong physically and
strong willed) we thought she would be one of the lucky ones that never
actually develops any cancer. Or least not until she was older. But
last week, while I was on vacation, my friend saw Sali fall over and
moan.

I raced back from the mountains to find Sali at an emergency vet
clinic - terribly anemic. My vet did some blood tests and found that
Sali's lymphocytes were 105,000...normal is 8,000. She was at the
emergency vet clinic all weekend until we could get in to see an
oncologist (Dr. Harris) here in Dallas on Monday. Dr. Harris thought
something was strange with the blood work and re-did it. Sure enough,
Sali's white blood count was 2,500...way too low - not too high. It
turned out that the lab my normal vet sent the blood to used computers
or something to count the white blood cells - and it greatly
overestimated them. Dr. Harris sent her blood sample to a place that
uses humans to count them. Dr. Harris was suspicious that Sali had
leukemia of the red blood cells.

And a bone marrow sample that Dr. Harris took today (Tuesday)
confirmed that. Sali was diagnosed with something called Erythremic
Myelosis...leukemia of the red blood cells. Apparently this type of
cancer is very hard to treat. I'm absolutely devastated. A week ago,
Sali was playful and energetic - letting me know when it was time to
play with the feather, etc. A real toot. Now she is very, very
lethargic (PAC around 13 to 15). We did a blood transfusion two days
and that gave her a little energy, but not much. Dr. Harris said that
she has heard of *some* success with Accutane (10mg daily). It's a long
shot - but we are trying it. She normally fights being pilled, but she
is so tuckered out that I was able to do it. We are also giving her
Prednisone (10mg daily). Sali occasionally eats and drinks, but is very
groggy. This is all such a horrific shock. I've had the privilege to
love a lot of cats, but this little gal really got into my heart - as
well as everyone else who met her. Besides giving her lots of love, is
there nothing else I can do to for her?

Thanks in advanced,
Brad Stone

Brad Stone wrote:

Hi all,

I'm really torn up over my cat, Sali. Here is a little page I did for
her awhile back.

Oops I forgot to include the URL to her little page, if anyone is
interested: http://brushyland.com/cats/sali.htm






I rescued her when she was one years old...she is now four. She
tested positive for the Feline Leukemia Virus when I first found her,
but because she has been such a force of nature (strong physically and
strong willed) we thought she would be one of the lucky ones that never
actually develops any cancer. Or least not until she was older. But
last week, while I was on vacation, my friend saw Sali fall over and
moan.

I raced back from the mountains to find Sali at an emergency vet
clinic - terribly anemic. My vet did some blood tests and found that
Sali's lymphocytes were 105,000...normal is 8,000. She was at the
emergency vet clinic all weekend until we could get in to see an
oncologist (Dr. Harris) here in Dallas on Monday. Dr. Harris thought
something was strange with the blood work and re-did it. Sure enough,
Sali's white blood count was 2,500...way too low - not too high. It
turned out that the lab my normal vet sent the blood to used computers
or something to count the white blood cells - and it greatly
overestimated them. Dr. Harris sent her blood sample to a place that
uses humans to count them. Dr. Harris was suspicious that Sali had
leukemia of the red blood cells.

And a bone marrow sample that Dr. Harris took today (Tuesday)
confirmed that. Sali was diagnosed with something called Erythremic
Myelosis...leukemia of the red blood cells. Apparently this type of
cancer is very hard to treat. I'm absolutely devastated. A week ago,
Sali was playful and energetic - letting me know when it was time to
play with the feather, etc. A real toot. Now she is very, very
lethargic (PAC around 13 to 15). We did a blood transfusion two days
and that gave her a little energy, but not much. Dr. Harris said that
she has heard of *some* success with Accutane (10mg daily). It's a long
shot - but we are trying it. She normally fights being pilled, but she
is so tuckered out that I was able to do it. We are also giving her
Prednisone (10mg daily). Sali occasionally eats and drinks, but is very
groggy. This is all such a horrific shock. I've had the privilege to
love a lot of cats, but this little gal really got into my heart - as
well as everyone else who met her. Besides giving her lots of love, is
there nothing else I can do to for her?

Thanks in advanced,
Brad Stone

On Tue 08 Aug 2006 07:33:41p, Brad Stone wrote in
rec.pets.cats.health+behav ):

snip
And a bone marrow sample that Dr. Harris took today (Tuesday)
confirmed that. Sali was diagnosed with something called
Erythremic Myelosis...leukemia of the red blood cells.
Apparently this type of cancer is very hard to treat. I'm
absolutely devastated. A week ago, Sali was playful and
energetic - letting me know when it was time to play with the
feather, etc. A real toot. Now she is very, very lethargic
(PAC around 13 to 15). We did a blood transfusion two days and
that gave her a little energy, but not much. Dr. Harris said
that she has heard of *some* success with Accutane (10mg daily).
It's a long shot - but we are trying it. She normally fights
being pilled, but she is so tuckered out that I was able to do
it. We are also giving her Prednisone (10mg daily). Sali
occasionally eats and drinks, but is very groggy. This is all
such a horrific shock. I've had the privilege to love a lot of
cats, but this little gal really got into my heart - as well as
everyone else who met her. Besides giving her lots of love, is
there nothing else I can do to for her?

Have you tried Interferon? I had a cat that was infected with FeLV
*from* a transfusion, but he also had IBD (an autoimmune disease)
and we tried Interferon for a while, but that route was
contraindicated for him due to the immune-system boosting
properties. Interferon is dosed 7 days on, 7 days off, repeat for
as long as needed. It's cheap, but spoils quickly after it's been
diluted, so sometimes vets/pharmacists charge more to cover loss.

I'm not familiar with that cancer, but wish you and kitty well.
Heartbreaking.

--
Cheryl