Question:
My cat Sebastian is almost two. He has been sick for six months and my veterinarian doesn't know what's wrong with him. I've taken him into the vet about twenty times and have spent thousands of dollars. His platelet and red blood cell count have been really low. Steroids used to help, but don't anymore. Antibiotics don't help. He never swallowed anything toxic that would be causing this. He had minor weight loss, bruised ears, blood in his mouth. His bone marrow is producing the cells just fine. Something else is killing them. He's otherwise perfectly happy and active. He's going to have an ultrasound done next week to check on his spleen.

Answer:
i hope that you find something that can cure him. Good luck and best wishes for a healthy recovery.

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I recently met (and became friends with? ^^) Sebastian's owner (^.^) and have posted the OP and this for them in an attempt to gather information and learn. Upon researching into the realm of veterinarian practices and pet health care, searching for clues relating to Sebastian in an attempt find a cure or remedy to relieve the pain and to make my friend happy, I came across the sad story of USDI ( http://usdislife.com ). It was very heartfelt and touching, and I could relate considering the similarities to Sebastian. Further research and reading replies to my original post (posted on several forums) I became worrisome about the potential outcome considering others' experiences and noticing subtle similarities. I took notes and prepared some information I felt would be informative to make aware to my friend the next time I had the opportunity. Little did I realize, I was too late. I share the following notes (compiled as a checklist) as a reference for anyone who is interested:

_ make sure your veterinarian is officially licensed
_ ask for a "patient information sheet" which includes detailed descriptions of each drug, usage and storage, administration, signs of possible overdose, possible side effects, possible drug interactions, possible food interactions
_ un-monitored steroid therapy is deadly
_ initial treatment may be the cause of continued sickness whereas without treatment to begin with, deadly sickness would not have resulted i.e. money-making scheme for vets
_ vets may not know how to administer drugs safely
_ your veterinarian (like anyone else) is not trustworthy by default
_ 30 years of experience as a vet does not make a veterinarian trustworthy/reliable/honest by default
_ confirm by researching on your own (wikipedia is a valuable resource) if a drug or operation makes sense
_ if your vet doesn't know what else to do, they may have been greedy and caused more suffering or even death for your pet at your expense (hence your continued returning to them)
_ a diagnosis should be the first thing a vet/doctor should do which consists of at least a blood and urine test (if necessary, this step is usually overlooked and forgotten)
_ in addition to diagnosis/tests, the results of such a diagnosis should be made available in no more than 24 hours
_ always question any medication administered by your vet if uncertain
_ never assume anything
_ if your pet is on any type of steroid therapy and hasn't been diagnosed/tested, demand these tests no matter how much you trust your vet
_ drugs administered to your pet may be the cause of continued or new diseases

Shortly after informing my friend of my research, here's what she said:

February 23rd
I feel I should inform you of Sebastian's current situation. At 2am I took him to the kitty ER. He wasn't in critical condition as far as I could tell, but he just wasn't acting normal at all. when I got there, the doctor told me that he needed fluids and another blood test done and to stay overnight for observation. Then a different doctor called me this morning at 9 saying that Sebastian's blood levels were super low, and if he didn't get a blood transfusion he wouldn't make it for very long.
So I agreed to that, obviously, and the doctor said that Sebastian's abdomen ultrasound that was scheduled for Wednesday would be done today instead. He called me back after that saying that all of his organs look fine, but he has several enlarged lymph nodes that they're going to biopsy.
He's currently in an incubator because his body can't stay warm on it's own. I haven't heard from the doctor since his blood transfusion. His blood test is going to be sent to Colorado for further testing I guess. The doctor guessed he would be contacting me again between 4-6. I'm getting very anxious. It's after 6 now.
This has been the most expensive day of my entire life....

February 24th
Sebastian didn't make it. The doctor called at around quarter to 2am saying that Sebastian went downhill since I left, and that they were losing him. i went there right away, but he had died only minutes after the phone call. I'm going to have the biopsy looked at and he's having an autopsy and then he's getting cremated.

Answer:
I am so sorry to hear about Sebastian. Please let us know what the autopsy says. It sounds like leukemia/cancer.

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your little angel is with my angel and if i know my girl she is right there playing with him right now are i type this again i am sooo very sorry for your loss

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My heart goes out to you! I am so sorry. Atleast your wee man is at peace now.
I guess Rainbow has is summed up in her signature.

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Sorry to hear about your loss.at least he's peace and not in any pain

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I'm so sorry about Sebastion. It's horrible not knowing what's wrong with one of your babies.

I'm going through basically the same symptoms with my cat, Snickers. Low hematocrit, has lost 1/3 of her body weight, and has lost lots of her hair. Until about 5 days ago, her white count was normal, but then it went up extremely high. For a while her bilirubin was very elevated (indicating the destruction of the red blood cells), but now it back down to normal. She's been tested and retested for everything in the vet can think of - even things it couldn't possibly be, and everything has been negative. The vet has consulted with the veterinary college a couple of hours away, other local vets, you name it. Snick has had ultrasounds of her abdomen, and even a liver aspirate (we get the results of that today).

She's on prednisone, she's on 2 different antibiotics. She's even gotten Epogen to try to up her RBC's. We may do a bone marrow biopsy later today. I'm an RN, so it helps that I speak the 'language'. I guess I'd better go get cleaned up so I can take her in when we hear from our wonderful, caring, patient vet.

I'll be thinking of you. Please know that you did what you could for Sebastion - sometimes the vets just don't know what's wrong! We've been at this for more than 2 and a half weeks, and it's killing Dr. F that she can't find the cause, and she's the finest vet I've ever known.

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