From:
Lynne Troy
Date: 2001-11-07 08:00:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Polycythemia vera
Dr. Heller (who is on this list) has been treating my Kai for about 6
months. He has only been phlebotomized twice. The first time I
believe she drew 6cc's of blood and he was put under with ISO. The
second time was 4 weeks later and she drew 5cc's but anesthesia was
not needed. This was at the beginning of his treatment. But lately
phlebotomy has not been required. He does get a CBC done every 2
weeks (no anesthesia). Some weeks his counts are higher than others,
but they have not risen to the point where he is in the danger zone.
His blood is nowhere near as thick as when we first started, correct
Dr. Heller? He is on 1 ml of pediapred twice a day. That is all
we're doing for him now and he is like a new ferret. He has so much
energy and loves to play with my 1 year old (Kai is 5). He dooks and
dances like crazy. I would imagine this will be our regime for the
remainder of Kai's life.
Lynne
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., Melissa Litwicki <squirty@m...> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I posted to the list two weeks ago with questions about an elevated
red
> blood cell count. The results of the second test are back, and
Puff's PCV
> and RBC are higher than last time (75% and 16.0?). Puff was not
> dehydrated during this test whatsoever, so the vet strongly feels
she has
> polycythemia vera. We have scheduled an appointment for a week from
today
> for a phlebotomy. After that, she wants Puff back in another two
weeks
> for a follow-up blood test.
>
> We are obviously unfamiliar with treatment procedures here. I've
given her
> contact information for Dr. Williams so that she can get more
information
> on how frequently we need to draw blood. I am under the impression
that,
> with mild doses of steroids, we can keep phlebotomy appointments
down to
> one every couple of months. Is this correct? Also, they will need to
> mildly sedate Puff (with iso) in order to draw blood. Is this
common?
> Last, about how much should such an appointment cost?
>
> What causes p. vera? I'm more or less still completely in the dark
here.
> Is there a reduced life expectancy? Is there a place I can go for
more
> information?
>
> Thanks,
> Melissa