Final Update
Update
Victoria has had four blood transfusions, a bone marrow biopsy (which came back inconclusive due to scarring) and has a new diagnosis of idiopathic myelofibrosis (non-cancerous) in addition to the non-regenerative anemia. The kidney disease has been ruled out. We still give Victoria subcutaneous fluids to keep her hydrated. A new medication is being tried for the myelofibrosis.
The other day we took Victoria to a beautiful park. She thrived. She was so happy to be outside, she rolled around on the ground (like she was on catnip!), nibbled on the grass and was very content. While Victoria’s quality of life has diminished (particularly on some days), she still has a lot of life in her, brightness in her eyes and she is quite alert on good days. Meoww, purrrrr!
Sweet Victoria has been very sick. She recently had her second blood transfusion. The diagnosis is that Victoria is at the earliest stages of kidney disease, has non-regenerative anemia, and a slight heart murmur.
We’ve made several trips from Johnstown to Pittsburgh, PA, to a specialty veterinary care animal hospital. Victoria has had enough of needles, syringes (including for feeding at times), probings, and having her fur shaved, meow!!
Currently the cause of Victoria’s non-regenerative anemia is not known. A bone marrow biopsy may pinpoint this. We’ve not done this yet as we understand it to be a painful process but we are thinking about it and need to do more research. We want to ensure that Victoria’s quality of life is improving and not stressful for her.
We’ve been giving Victoria subcutaneous fluids at home (Ringer’s lactate solution) as she is dehydrated. This helps her feel better, keep pumping those fluids! Plus a drug to stimulate red blood cell growth, an appetite stimulant, and other important medications. Victoria dropped down to 7.35 pounds (from around 10 pounds a little over a year ago) within a short period of time.
Victoria lived with my parents and brother in West Virginia before our parents passed away. My family wanted a white cat as our father was mostly blind in his later years (he had 10% of his vision and could see white). Victoria is our angel kitty and much loved family member. We’ve been blessed to have her in our lives and want her to be with us for many more years.
Please send lots of healing Purrrrs to Victoria! If you can provide any insight on how the myelofibrosis and non-regenerative anemia can be halted (if that’s possible) or helped, please contact me. Victoria meowwws her thanks in advance!
For those interested in learning how to give subcutaneous fluids to your feline loved one at home, see these short videos (for our doggie lovies too [instructions might be a little different for canines, so look this up], woof!):
How to give subcutaneous fluids to your cat at home
How to prepare a subcutaneous fluid bag
Dr. Uri Burstyn (Helpful Vancouver Vet) shares a no-stress tutorial on giving subcutaneous fluids to your cat at home