Can chicken liver boost red blood cells for my anemic cat with lymphoma?

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Mellow. This would only help if the anemia is due to an iron deficiency. This is not that common though. Most cases are due to an immune mediated disease. Kittens though can be affected with parasites leading to anemia. It is best to work with his veterinarian to determine the source of the anemia so that most appropriate treatment can be started. I hope this information helps!

Hi there. Unfortunately, it's not likely that liver or any other food will make much difference in his red blood cell count. Anemia in chronic kidney disease is due to the body not producing erythropoietin, which is the hormone that drives the production of new red blood cells. This type of anemia can be treated with erythropoeitin injections, so I would recommend talking to your veterinarian about this option. I have had several kitties with chronic kidney problems and anemia who responded well to this treatment.

Hello, thank you for your question about Ammosh. Ideally Ammosh should be eating a diet that is designed to help with the management of renal disease. Renal diets are generally low in protein which is helpful in management of progression of kidney disease. Kidney disease, however, can also make pet's nauseous, which could be contributing to Ammosh's symptoms. If Ammosh does not like this renal food (they are known to not be very palatable diets) you could try offering him other diets or forms of food as the ultimate goal is for him to continue eating. Liver has not been shown to be beneficial in renal disease, but you could try other things such as boiled chicken or hamburger. Hope this helps, good luck!

The best diet for a cat with chronic renal failure is a canned-only, low-protein diet - this won't help with the anemia, specifically, but is the best option to help slow the progression of her kidney disease in general. You can try supplementing her with an iron supplement designed for cats such as Pet-Tinic - this can be ordered online without a prescription, and has dosing instructions on the label based on your kitty's weight.

I’m sorry to hear fluffy is dealing with this. A small amount of chicken or chicken baby food is likely ok to offer her, as of course it is important to get her eating. Without knowing the details of her lab work it is hard to give specific nutritional information. So I would suggest getting in touch with her vet when you can. If her liver is failing we do need to be more careful about the amount of protein they are consuming.

If the anemia is from parasites then his bone marrow should make new red blood cells and the anemia will resolve with time. If he is severely anemic he could die before this can happen. If the anemia is from a viral infection or cancer then even a transfusion would be a temporary fix. You can continue to keep him warm and tempt him to eat, but if he is having trouble breathing or seems to be suffering euthanasia would be the most humane option.

An RBC of 7 is seriously low. It will take quite some time (around three weeks to get a normal RBC count) for your kitty to make new blood, so it is important that it eats and drinks. I would actually feed it canned food only, and even add some minced beef (hamburger) to it to make sure it has enough iron and moisture to make new blood. He should get a little bit better every day. Such severe anemia weakened your kitty and that is why he is so lethargic.