Anemia is defined as a low red blood cell count and can be caused by a number of different processes, including blood loss, red blood cell destruction, and inadequate red blood cell production.
The aforementioned categories of anemia can be caused by trauma, cancer, immune-mediated disease, which is a disease in which the body attacks its own cells or organs, infectious disease, toxins, genetic defects, inflammatory disease, iron deficiency, drug reactions, kidney failure, and generalized chronic (long term) illness.
Because there are so many different types and causes of anemia, there is no gender or age predisposition for anemia. Individual disease processes may be more common in certain age groups and breeds, so it is important to characterize the type of anemia present.
This morning, we thought Karen was doing fine…she seemed to be taking the syringes and pills well enough. But in the end, it wasn’t enough to jumpstart whatever failure was causing her anemia. Thanks to everyone at SouthPaws for being so thorough and understanding.
Karen and JTT, two wonderful cats who died recently and very suddenly, were the best of pals at times, as you can see in this Flickr set. Other times, they were not so close, as seen in this, the confessed worst video on all of YouTube (outstanding review: “This sux butt!!!”). But they were always totally awesome, and we will miss’em a lot.
OH MY GOSH! I am so, so sorry to hear this.
Karen was a little trooper and an awesome little friend. She’ll be missed.
Sorry to hear about Karen. She was the most photogenic cat I ever saw. My heart goes out to you and Mele.