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Forums - General - (Update) I have a cat, she has a problem

Fei-Hung said:
Sorry to hear about your cat. I panic just at the thought of something bring wrong with my cat.

Hopefully she will recover from whatever it is and it's nothing to serious.

Chances are, it is something seirous.  Apparently her blood work came out normal for the most part, almost everything out of the ordinary was caused by the seizures themself.  The vet pointed out to me that her red blood cell count is very high and that it most likely means she's dehydrated from the seizures she had.  During the visit, euthanization came up as a potential action I may have to take.



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Another update: The vets think that my cat has primary polycythemia. It's a condition where a larger number of red blood cells are produced than normal, making her blood very thick. This can apparently cause seizures. The reason the vet thinks this is the case is due to both blood tests coming back with very high levels of red blood cells that simple dehydration cannot explain.



BraLoD said:
MDMAlliance said:
Another update: The vets think that my cat has primary polycythemia. It's a condition where a larger number of red blood cells are produced than normal, making her blood very thick. This can apparently cause seizures. The reason the vet thinks this is the case is due to both blood tests coming back with very high levels of red blood cells that simple dehydration cannot explain.

But what does that means to the cat? Can it be treated and cured? Will it suffer until it eventually loses to it? It can happen sometimes from period to period with no major implications for its health?

It's a rare, incurable problem that has a very simple treatment.  If this is what she has, she will need weekly visits to the vet to have blood drawn from her so that her red blood cell counts don't get too high.



Like BraLod said, not much we can do, your cat is in better hands with the vet. I love cats and I'm really sorry to hear this.



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Sorry to hear the bad news about your cat's condition. I hope she recovers regardless of the prognosis. Nutritionally, things can raise red blood cells. Iron, folate and b12 are the main red blood cell producers in the body. Hypoxia also induces high production of them through a reaction in the kidneys, That could explain why dehydration was a problem. Anyway, I hope that can help, and I pray she gets better.



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BraLoD said:
MDMAlliance said:

It's a rare, incurable problem that has a very simple treatment.  If this is what she has, she will need weekly visits to the vet to have blood drawn from her so that her red blood cell counts don't get too high.

So she'll live normally with a weekly blood control on the vet? Hope it's something you can take without much problem, financially.

Poor cat. My cat hates the vet although all she goes in for its a yearly check up. Hopefully the procedure isn't too painful. 



Spence said:
Sorry to hear the bad news about your cat's condition. I hope she recovers regardless of the prognosis. Nutritionally, things can raise red blood cells. Iron, folate and b12 are the main red blood cell producers in the body. Hypoxia also induces high production of them through a reaction in the kidneys, That could explain why dehydration was a problem. Anyway, I hope that can help, and I pray she gets better.

Her blood work showed only highly elevated levels of red blood cells with everything else being normal.  That's why they aren't saying it could be anything else in relation to the blood cell count.



I hope this weekly treatment will do the trick. So sorry for you and your little buddy.



can changing her diet help?

reducing the Iron intake in food helps lower red blood count, I don't know if it work on cats though.



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deskpro2k3 said:

can changing her diet help?

reducing the Iron intake in food helps lower red blood count, I don't know if it work on cats though.

I don't think that will change anything due to the fact that her red blood cell count isn't just a little high.  It's very high, to the point of making her blood visibly thicker.  The fact that her iron levels are normal, I don't really think it is an issue.  She generally has a balanced diet.  It seems like she still has problems, unfortunately.  Now she's having different symptoms that make me wonder about the whole thing.  She will be having a visit to a vet clinic with more advanced tools on Friday.