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Sasha's Case Study
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Other Diseases/Conditions:
None
Story: We met Sasha while doing volunteer work with a local no-kill kitty adoption center (http://www.advocats-inc.org). She was this little grey critter who came up and went home on a regular basis, seems no one wanted to take a chance on her - she has "special" ears and a big scar across her butt (hip to hip). She had a rough life you see, her ears were "folded" due to frostbite/earmites and the resulting fixes made them fold. Her scar, well no one knows, but her x-rays do not show any fracture lines, so maybe a burn. Suffice it to say she's a tough little kitty. We took her home, after Sally convinced me that she'd be a great cat, for a "trial" to see if she'd do ok with us. Five minutes in, she found a void in our apartments counterspace and took up residence. Me being the big idiot - jammed my hand in to try and pull her out and got a bloodied stump back, and thus began our life with Sasha. She then came out in her own time, jumped up next to me on the couch and proceeded to watch TV and rub my bloodied hand, now she was ready for me to pet her (lol).
Aside from oral surgery and an occasional itching fit/hot spot, Sasha was a picture of health. ALL FELV TESTS CAME BACK NEGATIVE. As she got older, they initially guessed her age between 5 and 7, she got a little bonier as most cats do. This year, April 2006, on a routine visit for her yearly teeth cleaning we got a call from the vet. He was concerned that the white cell count in the pre-op CBC was "high", when I went to speak with him he explained that it wasn't possible for his equipment to register the count so it indicated an "E". We immediately sent her blood out for pathology and he did some preliminary x-rays to follow up on and confirm an enlarged spleen that he though he felt.
Sasha's intial bloodwork confirmed very high WBC count, highest our doctor had ever seen at 334k (257k lymphocyte). We went to an oncologist for further analysis and diagnosis. The Oncologist has confirmed that Sasha is suffering from Small Cell Chronic Lyphocitic Lymphoma (CLL), one of the small percentage of FELV NEG cases (something like 30% of CLL cats are FELV NEG cases).
Sasha was initially treated with a shot of Vincristine and was proscribed Chlorambucil orally with Predgisone. In her first treatment she had no vomiting or other issues. She subsequently lowered her WBC from 334k (257k) to 64k(45k) to 48k(36k). She has developed an issue with anemia and a little bit of a nausea issue, so we had to back off the Chlorambucil for a few days and the doctor included an anti-nausea med. She also got another shot of Vincristine as it is supposed to help somewhat with platelet count, she had some nausea. We got the latest blood test back and she is back up to WBC count of 110k(87k)
Outcome: We continue with treatments on the Chlorambucil/Pred protocol for now. As explained by the doctor, though hard to accept, the disease is terminal with a 6-7 month outcome. But Sasha is a tough little bugger and usually bucks every prediction anyone has put on her - so we continue to hope to get a good amount of time with our little girl. However, death is an inevitability of life - whether its our pets, friends or families. We need to love and live in the moment. We'll keep you posted. I'll also update with photos.
- By Sally Sasha's Mom - |
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Photos
Chemo Protocol Used
Holistic Remedies Used
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