Cat Chat Feline Forum

As I have posted before, next door's cat Tay has anaemea. So far, all attempts to find the cause have failed and the condition does not seem to respond to treatment. Does anyone have experience of anaemic cats and how they got on? What kind of outlook is there for him without any further treatment? My neighbor is wondering whether to just let him carry on as he is, as he is quite happy at the moment and puts up a great resistance to being pilled (which considering he is an easy going chap shows how much he dislikes pills). I am inclined to just letting him live his life as he is, with no more prodding and poking but have no idea how soon his condition might deteriorate.

Hi, I don’t have any experience of cats with anaemia unfortunately, though someone may. Have your neighbours tried a different vets, a second opinion? I personally would try and get the pills down as I would have thought it’s important he takes them. If they can’t be disguised in food/drink then could the vet show your neighbour how to pill straight down the hatch? I’ve had to do that with some of mine when they’ve either not eaten them in their food or pretended to then spat them out after! It’s quite easy and very quick if you know how, and the cat will get used to it. I found the best time was when the cat was having a nap, sneaking up opening the mouth and straight to the back of the throat, good girl a tickle under the chin, a quick fuss, and the cat hardly knows it’s been done.

I'll send a message to Mark, he dealt with it, but can't remember too many details

anaemia is, I believe, not a disease in itself, but a symptom of something else - I had a cat who got very anaemic as a result of FIP, and I know it can be caused by a heavy infestation of fleas - presumably he has had various conditions ruled out, but there must be an underlying cause

a blood infusion is the best way to deal with it, as it is important to find out if the cat can make new red blood cells - if after an infusion the red blood cell count continues to decline then the outlook is not good

Has the cat been screened for haemobartanella a blood parasite that can cause anaemia and quite common it can take several tests to pick up the parasite and can sometimes be better dected by a blood sample from an ear prick rather than from a vein

Thanks for your responses, folks. Tay seems to have been screened for everything - all negative. Prodded and poked for the last two months, poor chap, he has shaven patches of fur all over. He is still getting his pills, 4 a day, whether he likes it or not. The concern is, is it worth it, as none of it seems to do any good.

Some good news to report. Tay's anaemea has improved slightly and his kidneys are much better - so much so that he doesn't need to be on the Kidney food diet any more (for which he is very grateful).
Still no idea what the underlying cause of the problems was, though.

Hi Alan that’s good news. Hope Tay keeps improving. Could it be related to iron levels? Vivian

That's good news

That’s great news fingers crossed things keep getting better.

Tay continues to improve.
Hemoglobin was 54. Then 60. 68 last time. Now 83! (Still aiming for 98). His ears, nose, gums and tum are noticeably pinker.
Crit % was 15. Now 25. (Aiming for 30.)
Potassium was 2 last time. Now 3.8. (Normal is 3.5). Protein is a tiny bit high.
He's even lost a bit of weight and is only 5.4kg - my campaign to keep him away from Tilly's leftovers (locking the cat flap at night) has been working.
Trouble is he now has even more bounce than he used to have!

Hi Alan good news ... fusses to Tay & Tilley. Vivian

An update on this thread. Tay has been gradually improving and his anemia seems to be under control at last. Vet seems to think that at 5.3kg he is getting a bit thin. Still seems rather chubby to me, though.