8/7 Bear Man Update

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Linda and Bear Man

Linda and Bear Man

Member Since 2009
Last week: http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=21152

Bear Man has had some success with his Aranesp treatments for anemia:
July 15 PCV=.18 Shot of iron dextran and Aranesp 6.25 mcg given
July 22 PCV= .20 Shot of Aranesp 6.25 mcg given. BP stable.
July 29 PCV = .28 Aranesp shot skipped. BP stable.
Aug 3 PCV = .28 Aranesp shot skipped. BP stable. Bloodwork done and hematocrit = .33!

The big surprise was that hematocrit being so much higher than the PCV (they are two ways of measuring the same thing). The .33 is a normal number, and is the highest he has been in over a year (it's quite a bit higher than Teddy's .29). The vet and I were both quite relieved that we had elected not to shoot based on the PCV of .28. The reason we did the bloodwork was twofold: (1) he had had a bad week with vomiting and lethargy and (2) the vet, who is not his regular vet, was shocked to see the number and severity of his focal seizures. These seizures have been worsening over time, and are happening at least once a minute, and involve his head and paws. I may end up taking him for a neuro consult, although he cannot undergo sedation for any imaging of the head, but we are first trying him on a course of gabapentin to see if it helps, and if he can tolerate it. His other blood values came back fairly stable. His phosphorus is higher, due to my allowing him to eat food that he likes, and his thyroid is higher. He will go back to the vet on Tuesday for recheck to see if the PCV is holding.

The last few days he has been feeling quite well. He has been able to climb his stair and get up on the bed, which is something he has not been able to do in a very long time. I became aware of this in the middle of the night when I was awakened by hissing and yowling. Teddy was in HIS bed on the foot of my bed, and Bear was perched precariously on the very corner of the bed trying to steal the cat bed away from Teddy, with much resistance. I leapt up and snatched Bear before he could fall off the bed and break a hip. Since then, he has gone back to his favorite old routine of climbing up on the bed hourly during the night, grabbing a tupperware snack on the bed, and climbing down on his bench on the other side. It effectively prevents me from getting any sleep at all, but it is great to see him having a bit of his old mobility back.

Twitchy Bear Man video:

 
Hi Linda,
Bear is one tough kitty. It's good to read that he had a good week and that he is feeling so much better that his activity keeps you awake! I hope that all will go well next week, too.

Ella & Stu
 
Sorry about your broken sleep Linda...but you don't need a good night's sleep, do you? @-)
I got such a kick out of your description of the antics. I guess Teddy loves Bear Man but not so much when he is trying to steal his bed, eh? Don't mess with me at night! :lol: It's great to hear that he is making his way onto your bed again.
Wishing you both a good vet visit on Tuesday....so happy to read your post this morning...sending hugs to you all!! :YMHUG:
 
Curry and I are pulling for Bear Man. What cute kitty and name. I watched his videos....what a doll...my heart just melts when I look at him. He's lucky to have such a great Mummy.

Saw that you are in Oakville, Canada. I was born there. Now in Houston. My accent and vocabulary has morphed a bit....have that wonderful southern drawl not...and say y'all alot. :-D
 
Hi Linda,
I'm glad to hear that Bear Man is getting around better and that his anemia is better too. I hope the gabapentin works for his seizures. He's such a sweety.
 
great update! I know you're glad to give up sleep if it means Bear is feeling better. I hope you can catch a nap sometime. I'm really happy to see his PCV numbers improving!
 
Hello,Linda!
Glad that buby Bear is feeling lil better and can jump on the bed - it's so nice to see that!
Hugs to everybody!
 
You know I just love a happy Bear Man report! He really sounds like he's feeling lots better. Sleep, schleep, you'll catch up on it later :mrgreen:
 
Love to hear about the Bear Man trying to steal away Teddy's bed. Sorry about the lack of sleep, but it sounds like a good reason for waking up a little. I hope the gabapentin will help. Such a sweet boy. (((BearMan)))
 
Good luck next week! I hope that goes well.

It really is wonderful to read that he is doing some of the old things - even if it interrupting sleep. I think I would be ecstatic. He sure is one tough cookie. Way to go Bear Man! Nice photo too - I look forward to those every week.

Hope you guys have a good day today.
 
Linda and Bear Man said:
The last few days he has been feeling quite well. He has been able to climb his stair and get up on the bed, which is something he has not been able to do in a very long time. I became aware of this in the middle of the night when I was awakened by hissing and yowling. Teddy was in HIS bed on the foot of my bed, and Bear was perched precariously on the very corner of the bed trying to steal the cat bed away from Teddy, with much resistance. I leapt up and snatched Bear before he could fall off the bed and break a hip. Since then, he has gone back to his favorite old routine of climbing up on the bed hourly during the night, grabbing a tupperware snack on the bed, and climbing down on his bench on the other side. It effectively prevents me from getting any sleep at all, but it is great to see him having a bit of his old mobility back.
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:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

i badly need a nap, and meowzi's already meowed impatiently twice, so i'm going to post and run :). i need to get these thoughts out of my head where they've been stuck all week - it's been a crazy week for me

(from last week's post)
Linda and Bear Man said:
WCF and Meowzi said:
It's also possible that Bear's kidneys are still making a little erythropoietin. IIRC, his kidney values aren't that bad, and aren't consistent with his HCT levels?
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You are right, Choy Foong - his kidney values are not that bad. It does appear, however, that his anemia is definitely of renal origin, or the Aranesp would not have done anything for him. Would you agree with that?
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i don't know. it probably is, if it's non-regen - you did test for retics, right? another thought i've had is what if it was iron deficiency? i know iron deficiency has been rare on the CRF support list, but what of Bear isn't rare? that shot of dextran may have done more than the aranesp, if he was indeed iron-deficient - no matter how much erythropoietin his kidneys may have been making, that order for red blood cells can't be filled if there isn't enough iron. or maybe it was the combination of both, but whatever it is, so glad to see the rapid turnaround :)

And here is something that freaks me out. I was looking at Teddy's b/w from last week, and his hematocrit is .29, only .01 higher than Bear's. That's from his Leukeran nailbite_smile
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teddy's is regen, right? it's from leukeran suppression of bone marrow?

The big surprise was that hematocrit being so much higher than the PCV (they are two ways of measuring the same thing). The .33 is a normal number, and is the highest he has been in over a year (it's quite a bit higher than Teddy's .29). The vet and I were both quite relieved that we had elected not to shoot based on the PCV of .28. The reason we did the bloodwork was twofold: (1) he had had a bad week with vomiting and lethargy ...
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he isn't dehydrated, is he, from the vomiting? dehydration can make PCV look higher than it really is. i'm not saying there hasn't been progress - he's clearly going in the right direction, there's no doubt about that. but i'm glad you're rechecking next week to see if it's still holding (paws and fingers are crossed that it is!)
 
Hi Linda,

I loved reading the Bear Man update. I'm so glad he's been feeling better. I love that he was able to climb on his stair and get up on the bed!! Makes me smile! That is the thing I miss the most about Chloe's old self....she used to sleep with me every night.
 
WCF and Meowzi said:
you did test for retics, right? another thought i've had is what if it was iron deficiency? i know iron deficiency has been rare on the CRF support list, but what of Bear isn't rare? that shot of dextran may have done more than the aranesp, if he was indeed iron-deficient - no matter how much erythropoietin his kidneys may have been making, that order for red blood cells can't be filled if there isn't enough iron. or maybe it was the combination of both,

teddy's is regen, right? it's from leukeran suppression of bone marrow?

he isn't dehydrated, is he, from the vomiting? dehydration can make PCV look higher than it really is. i'm not saying there hasn't been progress - he's clearly going in the right direction, there's no doubt about that. but i'm glad you're rechecking next week to see if it's still holding
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Reticulocytes were low, so non-regenerative.

I did consider that the iron played a big role, as it was the first week that he had a big improvement in clinical symptoms (but it was the second week when his PCV rose so quickly). I never tested his iron levels before tx started.

Teddy's anemia is from the chemo, yes. It has been stable at about the same level.

Good point about the dehydration. Would that affect hematocrit as well as PCV? His RBC and hemoglobin also rose. The vet checked his scruff and gums, and he did not seem dehydrated to her.
 
probably a combo of things but i think the gabapentin is helping. semi-educated speculation on my part coz i use it, but it helps me a lot. especially if he's had peripheral nerve pain it could really help his "get up and go" spirit.

yea bear for feeling better!! ((smooches))
 
Linda and Bear Man said:
I did consider that the iron played a big role, as it was the first week that he had a big improvement in clinical symptoms (but it was the second week when his PCV rose so quickly). I never tested his iron levels before tx started.
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Do his labs show MCV and MCHC? Some list members use those two as indicators - I don't remember how they interpret MCHC, but they say a low MCV, which is indicative of microcytic anemia, *may* mean that iron stores are low.

Good point about the dehydration. Would that affect hematocrit as well as PCV? His RBC and hemoglobin also rose. The vet checked his scruff and gums, and he did not seem dehydrated to her.
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I think it does. Jojo and I had discussed it a long time ago, but I'm too disorganized to find that PM. Here's what Tanya's site says: "Dehydration will make PCV look higher than it really is, so once a cat is rehydrated, PCV will often have fallen." and "If the RBC count is high, this may be indicative of dehydration." Something to ask your vet? (let us know if you do).
 
Lovely to hear some progress is being made, he has no idea how lucky he is to have chosen you for a mom, one willing to go the extra mile.....the extra 100 miles in this case to get him through this.
We are sending all our good thoughts and feel better vines for him.
 
WCF and Meowzi said:
Do his labs show MCV and MCHC? Some list members use those two as indicators - I don't remember how they interpret MCHC, but they say a low MCV, which is indicative of microcytic anemia, *may* mean that iron stores are low.
Here's what Tanya's site says: "Dehydration will make PCV look higher than it really is, so once a cat is rehydrated, PCV will often have fallen." and "If the RBC count is high, this may be indicative of dehydration."
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Here is the link to the b/w: http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0Bwg ... y=COquwKMO

Edited link.
 
awww, I loved hearing about the hissing and yowling and tupperware snack hunting - he's a spunky trooper. Good to see you Linda and Bear Man (((((hugs)))))
 
yup that one workey :)
but that's after her his aranesp and dextran; do you have one before tx started? wanna see if there was low MCV then. (eta: sorry, Bear!)
 
nope, that's not low. but it's also not an iron test. that's pretty much to the extent of all i remember on anemia, sorry.
 
Go Bear Man!
I'm so happy to hear this update. Sounds like he's more than holding his own.
I hope the new treatments yield some terrific results as well!
 
It's so good to hear that Bear is feeling better and that he is more active. I know in people the Gabepentin can work wonders for pain and also for focal seizures. I hope it works its wonders for him. He is such a sweet brave boy and you are the best of kitty MOms.
 
I love a good Bear report. Sounds like the gabapentin is helping with his pain level - my vet had asked if anyone here was using it for arthritis when KB first showing signs.

Glad CF is helping with the blood work review, very complicated stuff.

Sending eating vines to your clan, hope you have a less finicky week ahead.
 
So glad to hear that Bear's PCV values are looking so much better! And that he is behaving much more like 'himself'...even if that means no sleep for Mama bean! :)

I hope his head twitches can improve with the new meds. Love his pics, as usual.
 
When I feel sad, I think of you guys....and this post. Im just sooooo, sooooo thrilled he is having a good week (thus you are too!). You are making some tough, but GOOD choices for your boy, Linda. Keep at it and love him like you always do! :mrgreen:
 
linda -- so very happy to read that Bear man is feeling good enough to keep you awake :-D
it's the best loss of sleep you can get. I hope he continues on this path .

happy cat wishes !
 
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