Feline Leukemia (FeLV)

Question:

I have a 5 year old male cat that has leukemia. I had beed giving him Lysine 500mg once a day, crushed in moist food. He has decided not to eat the moist food anymore, so unfortunatly he has not been on the lysine for quite sometime.  He is also on 1ml of interferon (roferon) once a day.  I was just looking for a herbal supplement to help his immune system since winter is fast approaching. What are your recommendations for FeLV?

Answer:

1. Work on his diet if at all possible.  Dry food is not a good diet for cats, especially those with a compromised immune system.  Try as many different canned foods as you can to find one or two that he will eat.  Better yet try some home-cooked chicken or salmon as a tasty treat to get his supplements in him.  You might find Dr. Siegler’s article about pet foods to be of interest: What You Need To Know About Your Pets Food. Many guardians of finicky cats have had great success in using freeze dried treats crumbled over the food to entice them to eat canned or raw food.
2. Only Natural Pet Store carries a number of herbal/neutraceutical immune support supplements. Some of the most popular are:
   • Feline Immune Support Formula by Genesis Resources is a good nutritional supplement to help build the immune system.  It is a tablet that can be crushed and mixed in with canned food.
   • CAS Options by Genesis Resources or are two immune building options that contain a blend of Reishi, Maitake and Shiitake mushrooms along with other herbs that have been shown in numerous studies to be potent immune enhancers.
3. In addition to one of the immune support supplements above, I would recommend supplementing with a product that has DMG (Dimethylglycine), which comes in a liquid for easier dosage.
4. You may also want to consider long term supplementation with an immune support supplement like Only Natural Pet Immune Balance.  These supplements can help to modulate the immune system over time and help the animal become less vulnerable to viral diseases.