News from Attila! :)

[Marta78]

Hello there!
Do you remember me? Or better: do you remember Attila's story?
I posted on this board about a month ago, telling the story of a cat named Attila, who suffered from a rare and dangerous disease caused by a fungus, asking for help and information about a possible therapy to save him.
Well, we have great news: we found the right therapy and Attila may be getting better!
We had big help from a researched from the University of Sidney, who suggested the right therapy and we started it 3 weeks ago. This includes very very expensive drugs, Noxafil and Ambisome. Both are not available in Italy and are incredibily expensive, but we magaed to buy them abraod and many generous people donated what they could to make it possible... and so, here we are. Attila is right now in Milan, being examined by his team of veterinarians and in a cuople of days we should have all tests results, to confirm that the fungus is really getting weaker and that the therapy is working. We will continue this therapy until the fugus is totally gone and Attila will be safe and healthy again! The therapy has saved him from going completely blind, in fact only 2 months ago we believed that he would have lost his left eye, too, and that would have left him blind. Instead today we can say (but not too loud...!) that his eye is not in danger any more...
The road is still long and hard, above all because the therapy is just too expensive for his family to bear it, but we made it this far... we're not going to give up now! Attila is not "just a cat", as many say scornfully when they hear what we are doing to save his life: Attila is a wonderful creature who is teaching us all what the power of love and the desider to live can do...
Please, visit his website to know more about his story, to see his pics and if you wish, you can leave a message for him and his family on his guestbook.
Also, there is a small poster that can be printed and given around to let more people know about this disease and that it can be cured, and we are accepting donations through paypal, in case someone is so kind and generous to help us... a small drop may be insignificant to you, but many drops make an ocean and can really help us save his life!

Thanks for reading! Attila's website is here: www.attilathecat.altervista.org

If you wish to receive Attila's newsletter in the future, please sign up sending an email to attilathecat@libero.it

[Traci]

Thanks for posting an update, Marta, it sounds like good progress, I hope treatment is truly successful!

One thing that concerns me however, is reinfection, for example, letting him outdoors where the mold/fungal spores could be circulating in wind/dust or other aspects of the environment (grass, hay, straw, soil, infected building and mold spores in the home, even in his food, etc), have all these things been investigated to prevent reinfection?

[Marta78]

Hello Traci,
no actually I don't think that was invistigated... in fact, now that I think about it, it sounds right... I'm going to ask about it to the Australian vet who is working on the therapy. She's had other cases of aspergillosis in cats and she must know if we must not let him out again...
Unfortunately the results of the tests we made yesterday were less good than we tought... the fungus hasn't become smaller in his head, but on the other hand it's good that it hasn't spread more and the eye actually looks clearer... we'll knoe more when we get a responde from Sydney, we are sending the tests results there to be checked. Hopefully we will run another month of therapy and we'll see if it brings better results with time.
The fact that Attila is free to go into his garden (being watched, he just sleeps on the grass and hunts butterflies...) may be related to the fact that there hasn't been a response as good as we expected to the therapy? Maybe... I'm going to discuss about it with the vets... thanks for the hint!

[Auntie Debbie]

That's good news that it at least isn't getting worse. I hope the vet will be able to clarify a few things for you. Atilla is in my prayers to recover from this and be his old self again. Please keep us updated.

[Traci]

If he wasn't immunocompromised BEFORE he aquired aspergillus, then chances are, he was infected via something from the environment, whether that was indoors or outdoors, I'd be for investigating that right away. Most healthy adult cats resist this infection, those cats who do aquire the infection are usually immunocompromised (i.e., already have a viral disease or are compromised in some other health issue), or are infected via the routes mentioned above. I'd also try to rule out other infections (sinus, mycobacterials affecting sinus, nasal, opthalmic or even herpesvirus, since any other existing, untreated infection can exacerbate another infection and hamper treatment.

[Marta78]

Sorry for taking a bit long to reply, but I was waiting for the vet to rpely to the question raised by Traci.
Attila was immuno depressed before he got the aspergillosis, he was tested for FIV and he was negative, but the vets said that his immunitary system was very very low. That is why he got the aspergillosis, his system wasn't strong enough to fight it back like 99% of healthy people and animals usually do.
I asked whether it was safe to let him go out in his garden, because we were afraid that we could be more xposed to the aspergillus. The vet replied that the aspergillus can be everywhere, not only in the garden but inside his home, wherever there can be dust for example, or even in the air. It's not a fungus living only outside, in grasses and woods, but it's everywhere. So according to her opinion, Attila isn't safe inside his home than outside in the garden. Considering that he loves sitting outside in the sun, she said that she wouldn't deny the chance to do it because it's not more risky outside that it is inside.
Apart from that, we had a very bad week.
Last week Attila had to do a CT scan and a rhynoscopy to see if the fungus was reduced. They had to make him an anesthesia and when he got home, he was feeling terrible, he was blind and couldn't walk and he kept crying.... After 2 days the sight had come back, but his legs were stiff and he complained when he had to walk... so the vet came home to see him and said that his body isn't able to bear more anasthesia... he is too weak, he's had a few anesthesias lately (they did that to do the endvenous infusions he needs, it's 3 times a week and each lasts 2 hours...) and his body cannot recover quickly and well... the vet said he might not have awaken... it was scary...
So we must avoid anesthesias from now on... I don't know how we will be able to continue the therapy, that will start again on Monday after 2 weeks off, but somehow we will manage... Plus, his vets are considering to change the therapy and use voriconazole and caspofungin -but they were never used on cats as far as they know, so we're afraid of what might happen...
Will there ever be peace and good news for Attila??

[Traci]

What are the specialists saying about the medication/treatment? Is he frequently tested for other health issues? (i.e., bloodwork to monitor his vital organ function, yearly immunological testing to catch any newly developing viruses, etc).

I don't understand why anesthesia has been given for intravenous therapy. I am assuming he is on an IV catheter, fluids run through the catheter, and the medication is added to the fluids, or injected through a port, anesthesia is not necessary for that! Is the IV catheter in the front leg?

Despite the fungus being everywhere, my original point was to rule out WHERE it could be....for example, in the home, is there obvious mold? Is there high humidity not being addressed? Is there humidity builiding up in certain rooms, not cleaned properly? (i.e., a solution of bleach and water can help prohibit mold growth during cleaning areas you see it) Has contamination of food been ruled out? (i.e., imported foods, oftentimes are not shipped with quality measures, so there could be mold in dry foods and dry goods, cereals, grains, etc). My point is to identify likely areas in the home, if possible, and remove the offending sources. You could also have someone come into the home and check for, test for, mold accumulation.

Keep him away from wet or humid areas outside, near soil, etc. If he is to be allowed outdoors, keep him away from pollens, dust, soil, plants and grasses, plant soil, planters, anything that can accumulate moisture and grow mold. Provide a clean soft blanket on the porch or deck or other area for him to lay on etc, but the less he is exposed, the better for him.