My cat is anemic. Why?

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charliewarlie

charliewarlie

Member Since 2020
I'll have to go into the vet anyway for more tests but my mind keeps going to the worst situation. I've had Charlie less than a year but I already love him so much. I really don't want to lose him. Is it common for cats to be anemic? Could it be somehow related to his diabetes? Will he be okay? Whenever I google it I come up with leukemia, FIV, just a lot of awful things... I can't focus on any of my online classes, I can't stop worrying over Charlie.
 
First it would be interesting to see the bloodwork, and see how anemic he is. It's not usually related to diabetes. It could be something as simple as parasites. Chronic kidney disease can also cause anemia - which it did in my girl years after her diabetes diagnosis. When you are in to the vets, see if you can get a paper or electronic copy of the blood work results. There is a labs tab on our spreadsheet you can use to enter the data. I find it hand to track trends over time.

It will ultimately be up to your vet to figure out why the anemia. We aren't vets here (well, except for one or two members we've had).
 
How old is Charlie? Can you post the labs from his blood work? How the anemia is treated depends on how sever it is, and what the cause is. My cat Zimmy was boarderline anemic die to kidney disease. We resolved it with b12 and iron supplements. But if the cause of Charlies is something else he may need a different course of action.
 
Also is the anemia regenerative or non-regenerative? Regenerative anemia means that the body is responding to the low number of red blood cells and is producing more but the the cells are either being destroyed early or there is bleeding, especially internal bleeding. Non-regenerative means that the body is not responding. One example is in late stage kidney failure the kidneys do not signal the bone marrow to produce more red blood cells in response to low number of red blood cells. To tell the type of anemia the number of immature red blood cells (reticulocytes). to be determined. A lot of vet labs will do that count as part of normal blood work if the blood work shows anemia (low HCT/PCV).
 
Will go in tomorrow to further discuss bloodwork with vet tomorrow... He's an indoor kitty and has been his whole life so I don't think it is fleas or parasites. His age is reported to be 10 years old but he could be slightly older, the family of his previous older said she adopted him when he was a kitten but they can't place the exact year she adopted him. His previous owner is dead, she was really old and had died of cancer.
 
YOU could have unknowingly picked up a flea or two and brought them inside. Squirrels have fleas as other creatures outside. Or you could have picked them up from someone else's house. Or someone else could have unknowingly brought them when they came to visit you. I know someone who even had them in their car.
 
JanetNJ said:
How old is Charlie? Can you post the labs from his blood work? How the anemia is treated depends on how sever it is, and what the cause is. My cat Zimmy was boarderline anemic die to kidney disease. We resolved it with b12 and iron supplements. But if the cause of Charlies is something else he may need a different course of action.
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How is Zimmy now? Was he diagnosed with CKD? Is he on a special diet or anything? Also what supplements did you use
 
charliewarlie said:
How is Zimmy now? Was he diagnosed with CKD? Is he on a special diet or anything? Also what supplements did you use
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He died three years ago. He was ckd. He was actually doing well in that department but died of a stroke. Our some other internal bleed. He wasn't diabetic though.

CC, my diabetic is ckd but currently isn't anemic. I give her b12 methylcobalamin several times a week to keep her blood levels ok.
 
No bother at all
The anemia is not bad at all. the HCT (hematocrit) is 27.8% while rdange is 28.2-52.7%. Reticulocytes show moderate response to the low HCT.
The urine specific is 1.025 is kinda low for a 9 year old cat with low creatinine (0.9-2.5) and a SDMA of 11 (0-14).

Did the vet say anything about the need for additional testing or other actions? To me it is not clear if any action is required at this time.
 
Glad Larry answered your question and sounds like the vet did too. My vet always wanted to see two blood works in a row with numbers out of range before worrying, especially if it was only mildly out.
 
I would give b 12 methylcobalamin supplements. It can't hurt anyway... Add a little too the food. It may help build up the hct before it's way too low. I'd give 1/2 a zobaline sprinkled on food every day. Is she going to retest in a few months?
 
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