From:
Melissa Litwicki
Date: 2001-12-29 15:48:00 UTC
Subject: More on Puff and p.vera
Hello,
For those of you who have been following this, I have yet more updates on
Puff and her condition, polycythemia vera. Puff is my 5yo spayed female
weighing 970g.
At last report, Puff had a packed cell volume of 78% only one month after
having 5cc's of blood drawn. We went back 12/26 to have another 5cc's
drawn based on her high PCV and general malaise around that time.
Immediately post-phlebotomy, Puff obviously felt better, although we can't
necessarily attribute that improvement to the phlebotomy. We went back
today for a post-phlebotomy PCV, which spun out at 80%. The vet was
absolutely positive it was an accurate reading. We also had a CBC done
after the phlebotomy; those results came back entirely normal (I may post
them when I get a copy).
Since Puff's PCV continues to go up despite the phlebotomies, we're
baffled. We'll continue to treat her apparent condition - taking blood in
quantity when necessary to help her feel better - and take PCVs regularly
to try and monitor her RBC production in order to see if it's fluctuating
at all. My vet speculates Puff's RBC production may be rising and falling
and our samples aren't representative of possible variable cycle.
If anyone has any new (or old, as I may have forgotten some) insights,
we'd be glad to hear them, although I expect that we've heard most of it
already. :)
Thanks for all your help,
Melissa