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Treatment

Your veterinarian will start treating your cat immediately after a confirmatory diagnosis has been made. Your cat may need to be hospitalized for a few days to be monitored and treated. There are a number of problems to deal with when treating aplastic anemia; supportive therapy will be started to provide the required nutrition and energy to your cat. If required, whole blood transfusions may also be recommended for severely anemic patients. As this problem is mediated by the immune system, the primary treatment involves suppressing the immune system with drugs like cyclosporine A. Cyclosporine and other related agents suppress the bone marrow’s over-response. Drugs supporting the bone marrow functions are also recommended for these patients. Antibiotics are given to treat ongoing infections as well as for prevention of further infections.

Living and Management

During hospitalization, your veterinarian will monitor your cat's progress on a daily basis. Blood tests will be repeated to determine the current status of the problem. In some cats, bone marrow sampling may need to be repeated in order to see if the bone marrow is responding normally or not. Unfortunately, in aplastic anemia few patients survive despite extensive care and treatment. Young cats have a better chance of survival, but even if initial recovery is attained, it may take several weeks to months for complete recovery.