My little kitty has non-regenerative anemia

Tina · 18-04-2008, 12:18 AM

Hi folks

My ten month old kitty, Mouse, was diagnosed with non-regenerative anemia on Friday. At that time her RBC was at 6.32% (should be 25 to 35%?) and she was lethargic and not eating. She was put on prednisone and antibiotics and bloodwirk was sent for testing. All bloodwork has now come back clear for everything they tested. On Tuesday night she was rushed to the vet with severe breathing difficulty, her RBC was at 5.5% and then gave her an emergency blood transfusion in the middle of the night (the vet's own cat was the donor). She has "perked up" quite a bit and is now eating and breathing better and her RBC is at 15%. Bone marrow aspiration was done on Wednesday morning and we hope to have the results tomorrow or Monday. The vet thinks that her problem is likely genetic and that it has been going on for some time even though she only became lethargic and stopped eating a week ago....and not even so much that I noticed right away.....we took her in because she kept trying to eat the cat litter and we thought she had worms! Has anyone experienced this, or know what kind of prognosis we might be looking at for a bone marrow disorder?

Note: FELV and FIV were negative and she is fully vaccinated......also our older cat is in perfect health, so likely nothing contagious.

Thanks for listening!

angieh · 18-04-2008, 09:58 AM

I am so sorry for Mouse and for you Tina. What a sad and worrying time for you. I have not come across this disorder before so can give no advise. I'm sure a more knowledgeable Catsey member will come along soon. You and your vet seem to have taken every possible action.

***HUGS*** to you and healing vibes for Mouse.

yola · 18-04-2008, 01:12 PM

Hi Tina - this is not something I have either heard of or have experience of, however I do sympathise with your problem. Poor Mouse . . . so very young to have such troubles

Please do let us know how she gets on, and hopfully as Angie says, some more knowledgable bods will be along soon.

charliebubs · 18-04-2008, 01:58 PM

Hi Tina and welcome to Catsey,

I'm so sorry to hear about Mouse. Unfortunately I don't have any advice and have not come across this problem/illness myself (infact I have no idea what an RBC is

)

It does sound as though you have a fantastic vet and I'm sure they are exploring all avenues for you. How lovely of them to use their own cat as a donor too.

Please keep us posted with Mouse's progress.

x

Mags · 18-04-2008, 02:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by charliebubs

Hi Tina and welcome to Catsey,

I'm so sorry to hear about Mouse. Unfortunately I don't have any advice and have not come across this problem/illness myself (infact I have no idea what an RBC is

)

x

I think it stands for Red Blood Count, Charlie...

dandysmom · 18-04-2008, 04:11 PM

I'm not one of the knowledgeable ones either; no information about it. I'm so sorry to hear you and Mouse are going thru this, and I do hope your vet will come up with something to help.......sending healing vibes.....

Edited:

I thought I should educate myself about this; so found a link which I found helpful at understanding it more...

http://www.sniksnak.com/cathealth/anemia.html

charliebubs · 18-04-2008, 05:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mags

I think it stands for Red Blood Count, Charlie...

Ah-ha........thanks Mags. That's obvious really

babycakes · 18-04-2008, 05:52 PM

Sorry to hear about you kittie, I don't have any advice either sorry but I'm sure someone will be able to help

Tina · 18-04-2008, 06:44 PM

Thank you all for your kind words and for the healing vibes.

Preliminary bone marrow results are in and it looks like the dignosis is Immune Mediated Erythroid Aplasia (don't worry, I don't really know what it is either!).....but awaiting final confirmation on Monday after results of the core bone marrow biopsy are in. The condition may respond to steroid treatment (which she has been on for a week now) but often response is delayed by up to 3 weeks.....so we need to hope we can beat the clock before she weakens too badly and before organ failure begins. If treatment works, the prognosis is that it can control the condition for up to 3 or 4 years as far as I understand. So, though the vet says Mouse will never be an old cat, she may be a healthy cat cat for a few years. We will love her and spoil her for as long as we are blessed with her.

Thank you again for your responses!

dandysmom · 18-04-2008, 08:02 PM

At least you have a diagnosis now and an idea of treatment. Do let us know how Mouse is doing......best of luck that the steroids will be beneficial.

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