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Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - 1 year old Pug with AIHA - Help!
| Hi Everyone, My 1 year old pug, Riggins, has been battling IAHA since the beginning of April. All of a sudden he did not want to eat and could barely stand, so we rushed him in to the vet. His PCV number was 18 at the time, and they put him on prednisone and an antibiotic. His PCV number has been slowly improving, and they have added an immunosuppressent drug also. The last blood test put his PCV at 31, and he seems much more playful and alert. The problem is our vet is not happy with how slowly his number is improving. She says that all the cases of IAHA she has seen have either seen the dog decline very quickly and die, or improve very quickly and go into remission. His number have been hanging around the high 20's and low 30's for a while now, and I think she is out of ideas. We recently did an abdominal x-ray, but it didn't show anything abnormal. She keeps trying to push us off onto a specialist, but the costs are just too high for me. He is losing muscle mass from being on the steroids, and I'm worried about other side effects that we can't see. So my question is, what is the next step? My vet says she "isn't really comfortable" treating him anymore. She says unless they can find a cause of the IAHA, then she doesn't know how to treat it further, but from what I've read there often isn't a specific cause. Has anyone else been in a similar situation where your dog's numbers were improving but not improving super quickly? Has anyone tried any homeopathic or alternative remedies? Thanks! Jen |
| Jen California |
| Jen, I am glad you are here. You are in the right place. I am sorry it took so long for you to find us, but there is still time and hope. Please gather together your last two CBC's complete blood count and chemical screen. If you can scan them into your computer do that now. Write an email to Dr. Jean Dodds at hemopet @ hotmail .com (remove these spaces to use this address). Briefly describe what you have just written to us and attach the blood workups to the email. If you do not have these reports now send the email anyway and ask your vet for copies as soon as possible. Please trust me on this. I was where you are and a friend told me to do the same thing. I thought she was nuts and there would be no way a complete stranger of such importance would even answer a phone call from me. The call went to voice mail and I started to leave a message. Within seconds, she answered, breathless and started asking me all kinds of questions I could not answer about the blood work. She told me to fax it immediately. Within a week my dog was on a new protocol and within 3 months we knew he was going to live. I can assure you that she cares about your dog and that she wants to help you. Keep your email brief and include the medical details. You do not have to pay Jean now if you can't afford it. In the future you can donate to her non-profit organization if you wish. my best patrice |
| Patrice NYS |
| Hello Jen, I am so sorry you have to go through this with Riggins. but you certainly came to the right place for support and advice! Please be assured, that you are not alone in this, there have been many dogs that have survived and lived a long and happy life after this dreadful diagnosis. Please go to Joanne Dickson's webpage, Meisha's Hope for more information and most of all hope. Please read as much as you can and make sure to visit the success stories: http://www.cloudnet.com/~jdickson/index.html What happened to ma was actually very similar. Our vet treated Kahlu fairly successful and then it all came to a halt. The vet said that she needs some guidance. She wanted to send me to a specialist 150 km plus a 2 hour ferry ride away. This was not an option for me. I was sure the stress would not be good for my dog and the cost was also a consideration. On advice of this board I started to read about Dr. Dodds in California. She is "THE" expert in this disease. My vet was very exited to consult with her and learn more. I think this was the point when things really started to turn around for us. I commend your vet about admitting that this is over her head. She acknowledges, that it is most important that you have a vet treating your dog that knows more about this disease. To find the cause of the of the IMHA would be great, but not many people can say for sure what it was. Don't loose any sleep over it, you need your strength to fight this battle. Please post the dosages of all the drugs you are giving at this time, Riggins weight and age and possibly all the values of the last CBC. From now on ask your vet for print outs of all the results. I know there are people here that can explain and give you more insight. What are you feeding? Are you giving any supplements? There is one thing you will learn with this disease, you have to be patient! This is not a 100 meter dash, but a marathon! There are usually ups and downs but you have to be positive and stay hopeful! I would strongly recommend your vet or you get in touch with Dr. Dodds at hemopet as soon as possible. She does phone consultations for a very reasonable price. You could also send your next blood sample to her lab and get it analyzed by her. Please keep us posted and keep your chin up! Best wishes to you and Riggins, Brigitte & the poodle boys |
| Brigitte BC |
| Jen, Sorry you didn't find this board sooner but better late than never. I admire your Vet's honesty about being uncomfortable treating Riggin's further which unfortunately is her loss. She needs to learn more about this supposed rare disease because I am sure she will see a lot more cases in her career and it would be helpful to both her and her clients if she learned dogs don't just die or go into quick remission. Aside from all that Dr. Dodds can help you so much and anything you have questions on you can post here and undoubtedly someone will have already experienced whatever condition you are seeing in Riggins. We are all just concerned pet owners/lovers who have taken the time to learn as much as we can. It is an emotional roller coaster but it can be beat. Take care Penny |
| Penny Lytle Creek Calif |
| Jen - hi, I am sorry you are dealing with this - IMHA is always difficult and sad but I think especially so with such a young dog. I feel for you in your vet situation - I've recently encountered something similar before. I would say one of the most important things you can do for Riggins is to have a vet that is experienced with this disease AND willing to work with you. I'm not sure a specialist is always necessary but they may be able to get you on the right track more quickly, thereby saving you time and money. Regardless, if it is a specialist or not, I would find another vet asap. Diagnostics are helpful to rule out certain causes of the anemia (i.e., tumors) but many dogs are disgnosed with "idiopathic IMHA", meaning no cause is known - that doesn't mean you can't successfully treat the anemia. And, I'm not a vet and I know every dog is different but my experience was different than your vet's. My dog's PCV remained in the low 20s for several months before it began to rebound. And, once it started, it climbed slow and steady to the mid 40's where he remains four years later. Low 30s is not that far off normal - Riggins is so young, did you even have a baseline PCV for him before he became ill? I completely understand your feelings about the side effects of the meds but, typically, once you can back off the pred, those side effects will abate. What other med is he on and how long has he been taking it? As you probably know, some take longer to kick in. If he is acting well, I would work on finding another vet and keep fighting. And, I echo others' recommendations about contacting Dr. Dodds - her $45 fee for a consult is the best money you will spend (it is ironic to me that her fees are 1/2 my regular vet and she is a regarded expert on this disease and will usually get back to me personally within a day or two while I can wait 3-4 days to hear from my regular vet). Take care - please let us know how Riggins is doing. All the best, Bonnie |
| Bonnie Chicago |
| Jen, any news on Riggins? I think it's time to find a different vet cause this one is clearly an idiot!! Not comfortable treating it anymore??? UGH Johnny & Tessy |
| Johnny |
This thread was discussed between 15/06/2011 and 18/06/2011
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