Our Own Little Hurricane Ike

Our "Ikey" has really settled into a nice pattern this summer ... sleeping & eating in his room every morning and coming downstairs to hang out with me and the boys each afternoon, while I work. His health had been very stable since the last stomach flare-up and you'd never know he has no teeth.

Unfortunately, the last few days he hadn't been himself and so we headed to see Dr. Garrow, since Dr. Rose isn't in the office on Saturdays. He seems to have an upper respiratory infection and his blood panel didn't provide good news.



Although we've struggled with his WBC count from the beginning, we've never had low RBC or HCT readings. This time, they were "off the charts" low.



It's possible that he'll bounce back, but it's also possible that the FIV has progressed into the bone marrow and he is no longer producing the red blood cells he needs. We did fluids, which we'll repeat daily for a few days and then get on a weekly schedule, and we also added a shot of EPO (Epogen) to boost RBC production. We'll do two shots this week and check his blood again in 10 days.



Time will tell - he's a tough old cat and already seems stronger today after spending Saturday on the sofa with Jerry.