Feline Leukemia

[Lori]

Note to all newcomers!

     If you get the terrible diagnosis of FeLV the experimental drug LTCI may be able to help.  HOWEVER, it takes a few weeks to start noticing effects, the results are not instant!  You may need to stabilize your cat if it is terribly anemic with a blood transfusion before other treatments.  The LTCI takes time!  A few folks have loaded up their cats and rushed to see Dr. Burris which is okay, but speak to your own vet first about stabilizing them or even call Dr. Burris before you come.  Unfortunately, some cats have died in transport.  Blood transfusions have helped stabilize others so they can survive until the LTCI takes effect.  So please, STABILIZE first!  The LTCI can be used at any time even before the transfusion but it is important that folks know that stress can be fatal to a really sick animal so please be cautious.

Lori

Hello All,

I feel compelled to share my story with everyone that will listen. If your cat should get the horrible diagnosis of feline leukemia please do not euthanize them! There is a medicine that may save them. My cat was diagnosed with leukemia in March and I was told she would not live beyond three months. My Vet (Dr. Burris, Southern Oaks Animal Hospital) decided to try a new experimental drug called LTCI (lymphocyte T-cell immunomodulator). Well, she not only is still alive 4 months later but has gained 4 pounds, is happy and more importantly she is clinically perfectly healthy. Yes, all her bloodwork is equivalent to a healthy normal cat. I am very skeptical / cynical of anything that promises miracle cures but this has been one for us. I have my dear cat and she is loving and playful again. Thanks to Dr. Burris and the makers of LTCI. As a side note I must say that no one else that I contacted (Vet school, clinics in Florida and Ohio) had any hope for her survival. Dr. Burris is my HERO. Please look into this if your baby gets sick, you really don't have to say goodbye.

Lori

[Andrew Domek]

And Karen--I hadn't seen your reply.  My heart goes out to you as well.  You and your family are also in my thoughts and prayers as you mourn.

Andy

[Andrew Domek]

Lori,

Take all the time you need.  Your love for Charley and all of your pets has led you to be a kind friend, knowledgeable resource, and a passionate advocate for creatures great and small. 

I am so, so sorry to hear about your beloved kitty.  Know that she was as loved as a cat can be, and while her life may not have been long enough, she had more love in her time here than most receive in many lifetimes. 

Sometimes it is true that the brightest lights burn out twice as fast.  It was so with Aggie, and others, and unfortunately with Charley too.  I had so hoped it would have been different for you guys. 

You are in my thoughts and prayers, friend.

Andy

[Christy Uzzel]

 

I'm so sorry to hear about Charlie and all of the other wonderful little souls who have been lost to this horrible disease. I haven't checked the site very often since I lost Daisy. It was too painful and hearing of other's loss and grief or even success just brought all the pain and regret back again. Something compelled me to log in today since I was seeing notice of such posting activity today. Words can't express how sorry I am for you all. It was 2 years on Jan 13th 2010 that I lost Daisy and I still cry and miss her terribly, but I can also smile now too. I try to do that a lot when I speak or think of Daisy. She was such a little light and hated it when I was upset. I know you will find comfort in your other pets. They are very healing. I appreciated the helpful words of guidance that you provided to me and all of us on this frustrating journey. When I lost Daisy you and all the others responded so quickly to me, a person you hardly knew, and it was so moving. Charley had a great champion in you, had such a great life and made it so much longer than she would have without you, but there is never enough time with those we love. Love is love and it doesn't matter that it's an animal. The grieving process is still powerful. I like to hope that all of our little soldiers may make a difference one day is eradicating this disease so others don't have to face this. Again my thoughts are with you and Charley. "Grieve not, nor speak of me with tears, but laugh and talk of me as if I were beside you... I loved you so ... 'twas Heaven here with you."

 

[Johan]

Lori -, I'm so very sorry that you had lost Charley.  I had not received forum new post notification for several months and it is actualy quite a bit of shock for me to learn the bad news this way.  I know Charley meant a great deal to you and I do hope that you had found some comfort in the sweet memory of her.

Karen -, I'm very sorry to hear your lost.  Again, I'm four months too late to do anything for you.  Is that Kato in the picture.  He looked just like my Snowy who had just turnned 24 months old.

Snowy, on the other hand is on a slow decline also.  Don't know how long I will have him with me.

   

[jennifer]

Lori and Karen - I am so sad to hear about the loss of Charley and Kato.  Our thoughts are with you both.

Lori - this must be heartbreaking, I hope you take all the time you need before coming back to the board.  Please know that your knowledge and your efforts to disseminate information saved my kitten Zeke, and probably many others with FeLV.  You (and everyone else who posts) allow us to extend the lives of these beautiful animals and create wonderful memories.  I am truly grateful for the time you spend on this website and hope you'll keep writing once you've had a chance to grieve.

Thinking of you,

jennifer

 

   

 

[Colleen S Jaracz]

With tears in my eyes…  Dear Friends, I am so sorry to hear of the loss of your precious little ones.  It makes me so sad for you both.  So many here on this blog can appreciate what you are going through.  We have experienced the sadness and grief as well, and we share in your hurts.  That’s what makes this blog so special, Lori.  You have united us in a common purpose; a place where we can come to find legitimate research about this terrible disease and make decisions from the basis of what we can learn here that just might lead to prolonging acceptable levels of life for the fuzzies we love so much.  I thank you for that.

Andrew, I think you and I began visiting this site around the same time.  We have both lost our loved ones and thankfully we have given our love to the ‘next’ one.  Still remembering Aggie and Chloe but grateful to have the fur on the sofa, the loving lick kisses, and the entertainment of our new kitties. 

So, please know my friends, that you are never alone in your pain.  We are here for you if you need keyboard hugs!  And, Karen, I, like you, could not speak of Chloe’s passing right away, just too raw…  My thoughts are with you and Lori.  May you both be smothered in the warm blanket of wonderful memories and may the darkness turn to light quickly.

Also, my warm regards to Dr. Burris.  I know that she has been there for you and many others and I appreciate her efforts as well.

Hugs to all ~ Colleen

[Dave Klingler]

Eight months ago my girlfriend and I acquired a very petite Balinese named Santi.  She had been living with several other cats in the home of some heroin addicts.  All of the cats tested FL positive, and all but Santi were euthanized.  Santi was healthier than the others but still pretty ill. 

We read about LTCI and were able to procure some through a woman here in Albuquerque that rescues cats.  My job ended shortly afterward and my girlfriend is going to school, so we didn't have the money to do much, and in fact before we got the LTCI we had decided that we couldn't afford to keep Santi alive.  I decided that we could try the LTCI with nothing else, no checkups, no other drugs, just a straight program of LTCI injections every two weeks, with an eye toward stretching Santi to once a month injections.  My girlfriend used part of her student loan money to buy it, and we began the treatments, using Santi's BMs and our eyeballs for diagnostic tools.  We kept notes regarding how long it took for Santi to get improve and then degenerate to diarrhea after the treatments.

I'm pleased to report that Santi has turned into a healthy, happy, sweet and incredibly affectionate cat.  There has been one time so far during which Santi seemed to be crashing, and we gave her three weekly treatments during that period.  Otherwise, for the most part, it's just been a steady slog of treatments every two weeks.  Through an oversight we've accidentally waited 17 days this time around; Santi's acting a little less social and she had diarrhea this morning.  We'll give her a dose tonight.

The problem for us is that we're having a tough time affording the treatments.  We're running almost exactly $50 per treatment.  I'm still not working and my girlfriend will need to borrow more money shortly.  If we could find someone we trusted to keep up the treatments, we would probably like to find her a new owner; it doesn't help that I'm allergic to her.  She likes to wrap herself around my left hand and go to sleep while I work on my laptop, so as I write I'm a bit congested.

Anyway, that's most of the story.  IV treatments every two weeks along with 100 units of Ringers solution, one course of Metro and occasional B12 when we could afford it.  Vet visits were out of the question, so there was just one, at the beginning, an aborted attempt at euthanasia which was stopped after the reassurance of our veterinarian.

There is one additional epilogue, however.  Santi now lives and sleeps with my three dogs, none of whom had lived with cats.  Two of those dogs have attacked cats before and one of them has killed twice.  That one, my border collie, is Santi's favorite, and my border collie is quite affectionate toward her.  The two of them sleep together on my bed, and Santi now uses the dog door to spend time in my back yard.  I'm more amazed by our progress on their coexistence than the way we've done with the feline leukemia.

I've uploaded some pictures.  She's a little drowsy in these because it's been too long since her last dose.

[Andrew Domek]

Hi Dave,

Welcome to the forum.  Thank you for all that you've done for Santi.  Already, she has had better care and more love than many FELV cats get.  It seems like the cats infected with these awful diseases always seem to be the ones that want life so badly.

I don't have much to offer, other than moral support from someone who has been through attempting to treat my FELV positive cat, Aggie, that died last June.  She lived with me from kittenhood to the age of 7, and she was quite a character.  In fact, her name was my daughter's first word.

Anything new to report?  Good luck,

Andy

[Anna Maria Salamida]

Ciao Dave,

I live in Italy and I'm very hit from your story and from your efforts to help your FELV cat based on your eceonomic conditions. I suggest you to ask for help to a veterinary center where I suppose there are doctors that can follow your cat without ask a lot of money.

In Italy there are doctors that when they know that the pet owners cannot sustain veterinary costs, they help anyway also because their work is a mission first of all for the health of the pets. You can try to pay a soon as you can but you have to bring your cat to a doctor. LTCI is a good medicine but don't fix on it..maybe your cat also with another treatment less expensive can anyway continue to live and stay well.

It's important that you let your Santi vist from a doctor and after that decide what to do for a tretament.

I'm using LTCI but you have to know that in Italy and in all the Europe this medicine is not selled so all FELV cats are treated with other medicine or with a good style of life..good food..and so on..

LTCI is expensive..with a dose of LTCI you can let your cat visit from a doctor and make some specific exams that can help better Santi.

 

Let me know as you can and a big kiss to Santi!!

Anna

 

 

[Johan]

Dave,

Santi is a lucky cat to have you guys take care of her.  How is she doing?  I think I maybe able to chip in a couple dose of LTCI.

[Angela Johnson]

Hello Everyone,

Yesterday my precious kitten, Figaro, was diagnosed with Feline Leukemia. He was a Baltimore city cat that walked into my friend's townhouse to escape the cold. She got him his initial round of shots and flea treatments. I adopted him from her on December 28, 2012. He is the most energetic, playful and loving little guy. He plays fetch, brings me his toys when he wants to play and snuggles with my boyfriend and me constantly. I would never think he is "sick" by watching his everyday life. My vet recommended euthanizing him yesterday but I couldn't do it. He is just too full of life right now. I took him back home with the knowledge that he will more than likely not survive for more than three years. I'm wondering how you all are coping with the prognosis and what you are doing to keep your cats healthy. I am trying to just give him a happy and nurturing life for as long as he is healthy. I fear once he gets an infection, he won't make it through and we will have to say goodbye to him way too soon. My vet told me I shouldn't put money into a sick cat. This really rubbed me the wrong way and I feel I need to find another vet.
Any feedback and support would be helpful as I am a new cat mommy and feel very overwhelmed by this diagnosis.
Thanks,
Angela

[Colleen S Jaracz]

Hi Angela,

Hang in there, help is on the way.  The originator of this blog, Lori, is very educatied on this subject and I'm sure she will be responding soon.  I lost my beloved Chloe to this disease so I understand your coming struggles along with many, many people who follow this site.  Most will stay in touch with you to provide encouragement for you...  And, I agree with you ~ your vet may NOT be the one to help you along the way with this...  I encourage you to go back through the prior posts...  This would start your education on choices you will be needing to make. 

 

My hope is that you will find the support and encouragement you need as you progress through this to hopefully more years with your little furry one.

 

Stay calm....  Colleen