Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - 2 year old dog and booster vaccinations

Hi Everyone, Almost 3 years ago I lost my beloved Josh, who was a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel to AIHA, which came on very quickly after annual vaccinations, he did not respond to the meds. and died within one week. I now have another Cavalier, who is 2 now, and I have just had a card from the vet to get him booster vaccinated, I just don't know what to do, he had all the usual vaccines when he was a pup, and then all again one year later, now I am supposed to get him booster vaccinated again, what do you think? I in my own mind want to do nothing this year, but I have already had a heated conversation with the vet back in the summer when I said I did not want to vaccinate Ollie again this year! All they say is that it is necessary to keep up the boosters, and that there is no proof of vaccines doing any harm! Any advise would be most gratefully received. All the best Mark Channing

Mark Channing Lynmouth Devon U.K.

Hello Mark, in my experience w/many animals, I've never encountered vaccine side effects. However, many others may have. Where I live, I've seen some small wild animals and unvaccinated cats, so I've allowed my dogs to be stuck. I'd suggest a web search to see if there's any documentation that supports not allowing vacs.

Al Florida

Mark, Please read Dr. Jean Dodds vaccination protocol for 2007. She has 40+ years background in this. Also see my post about the Rabies Vaccination Challeng posted saturday. http://www.itsfortheanimals.com/DODDS-CHG-VACC-PROTOCOLS.HTM Patrice

Patrice New York State

Also: http://www.itsfortheanimals.com/VACCINE1.HTM

Patrice New York State

Hi Mark, I will be in the same situation in August of next year. We lost our Georgie in July this year after she became ill 2 weeks after her vaccines. I have managed to get some money out of the vaccine company to help with the bills we ran up over 6 months. However, they gave it as a gesture of goodwill with no admission of liability. I needed the money so I had to sign before they released any funds. However, I have read you can get single vaccines spread over several months rather than the multiple vaccines given in one shot. This may only be in the USA though. I intend to contact the specialists who treated Georgie to see if they can help. They said whilst Georgie was ill that she should never be vaccinated again and when they realised we lived in North Wales they said, off the record, that she would be unlikely to contract any of the illnesses dogs are usually vaccinated against. They did advise us to keep her away from public places as tourists could bring dogs who were carriers with them. The only sticking point could be pet insurance. We now have two pups who have had their initial vaccines which in itself had me neurotic for weeks afterwards. Hope this is some use to you. Steph

Steph Wales

Mark. Is this the same vet that treated your first dog? Regardless if you have to get into heated discussions then I think you need to change vets. My Vet is the same as far recommending what I feel are unnecesary vacs but does not push when I say no. It is up to us to be our pets voice and try to educate their caregivers on things that have changed since they got out of school. I would print out Dr. Dodds protocol and present it to your Vet. She is world renown not just in the states. Good luck! Penny

Penny Lytle Creek Calif

Mark, You might want to check out this Web page http://www.aahanet.org/PublicDocuments/VaccineGuidelines06Revised.pdf of the American Animal Hospital Association. Lots of good info here

Joanne MN

PROCEED WITH CAUTION!!! Read about it and make an informed decision. I have had two dogs with vaccine induced AIHA. They were both a quite a bit older than yours. (8 and 9). I believe age (more yrs of vaccs) is a factor.

Allison TX

Dear Mark, I am sorry that you lost Josh to IMHA and I understand your concerns about vaccinating Ollie now. My dog Benson's IMHA was caused by the combined vaccination again parvovirus, disptember, adenovirus, etc... Benson survived it but I will not vaccinate him again. My second dog McKenna received her vaccination as an adult at the age of 8 months. She will not receive the combined vaccination again but unfortunately yearly vaccinations against rabies are mandated by law. My vet has given me his reasons for recommending the combined vacciation and I have explained my concerns. We may not agree but he respects my decisions and choices regarding my dogs' health. Other knowledgeable members of this list have recommended websites with info about vaccination - there is a lot of info out there. Your vet should listen to you and, if you feel that the vet is not listening to you or shrugging off what you say, you might want to make some calls about finding another vet. Very best to you and Ollie, Aden

Aden Jerusalem

Hi Mark, My 2-year old Aussie, Lola, was diagnosed with IMHA on September 1 (Labor Day holiday here in the states). For the past three months we've been trying to get her blood levels stable and it's looking like she'll be on meds for a very long time (prednisone and azathoroprine). I wanted to see if there was anything out there I could do for her in the area of supplements and possibly acupuncture, so I went to see a vet in Minneapolis that specializes in alternative therapies. He told me not to vaccinate her again until 2010. And, like others have posted here, not to do it all in one shot. Acutally, Lola's breeder gave me the same advice. We don't know for sure if her vaccines triggered her IMHA, but we don't know that they didn't. He also gave me the Chinese herb Qing Ying Tang and suggested that I put her on a lower-carb diet. She is currently on ProPlan, but suggests trying Innova Evo or Core. Best to you and your boy, Ollie! Connie

Connie St. Paul

I stumbled on this site when researching "pale gums" for my 1 year old Border Collie Mix. His appetite hasn't been good for the last week and he just seems like he doesn't feel good. I decided to look at his gums and they are pale. He is going to the vet tomorrow, but after reading everything here, I'm very nervous. He had his shots on Nov. 7th so I'm wondering if this is all connected?

lisa austin

Lisa, Glad you found this board. If he is diagnosed with AIHA you will find a lot of support and information here. You might want to start a new thread so more people will see your post. A lot of things can cause pale gums so I will keep my fingers crossed that it is not serious. Keep us posted. What is your boy's name? Penny

Penny Lytle Creek Calif

Hi Lisa, There is a thread here all about pale gums, you might find it helpful. Like Penny said, many things can cause pale gums. Good luck with your Border. Love those herding dogs! Regards, Connie and her Aussie, Lola.

Connie St. Paul

just my 2 cents, my pup will never be vaccinated again, ive read too many horrible stories of health hell that follows. esp having any kind of history with AIHA/IMHA, vaccines could be a big problem

josh california

I will start a new thread. Thanks for the advice! His name is Jack and he is wonderful! We have his brother Oliver. They are border collie mix, light on the border collie! Jack looks like a shephard and his brother looks like a black/white great pyranese!!! I will keep you posted!!

Lisa Austin TX

are cats at risk for this also?

lisa austin texas

Mark, Jasper had all his neccessary vaccinations for the first 3 years and then we didn't get him done again. We have always firmly believed that they don't need to be given boosters..........rightly or wrongly!!!Probably opening up a can of worms here! We have 2 kids, they have had ALL their child hood innoculations right through to present day and they are nearly 17 and 14 but they don't have to be boostered every year do they... ! When we have another dog ..... Whenever that will be, he or she will have to have their INITIAL vaccinations and knowing what I do now I will be very nervous about it, but it is neccessary and vital to have them, but we will probably do the same as with Jasper. Jackie and Jasper

Jackie pembrokeshire; west wales; uk

Perhaps you should do Titers testing. And make sure thst you give only one shot at a time. The vets seem to like to give "gang" shots all at once. At least that is what happened with Emmy. We lost her six weeks later. Proceed with caution. Become informed and ask questions.

Jack NH

Hello everyone, Thank you all for your comments about vaccinations, it is a tricky subject, I will have a chat with the vet first, but I sure am not going to keep booster vaccinating Ollie every year like I did Josh. In my opinion its just a way for the vets to make loads of money out of us all! Thanks once again, this sure is a very caring group of people who post on this site, although I have noticed a few inappropriate spam messages appearing from time to time, hastily removed also! Happy Christmas and New year 2008 to everyone Mark Channing

Mark Channing Lynmouth Devon U.K.

Mark; My kid is Sam (I am). He was diagnosed w/AIHA this past summer. He is a 5 yr. old Cocker. He also has epilepsy, hypothyroidism, adrenal cancer and mast cell tumor. His AHIA came after vaccines. My vets are fantastic. They said they would NEVER vaccinate Sam again. You can always have titers done to get the rabies tags. I would be looking for a new vet if I were you. Good luck w/your kid. Becky and Sam (I am)

Becky San Diego

Jack passed away this morning. We took him to the vet yesterday and after running tests, it looked like he did in fact have AIHA. His liver function was 643 and the RBC was at 16.4 and his platlides were at 82. He was also running a fever of 104. The vet game him a shot of Dexamelthzone, Baytiol, B12 and Diperon. With instructions to take 3 preds at 20 mg twice a day and also put him on tetracycline. Last night he ate a few bites of chicken and went to bed. This morning he was up at 5:00 and walked downstairs to go out to the bathroom. He drank a lot of water, then went back upstairs and went to sleep. When I came home about 8:45, he was breathing very fast and heavy, not panting just breathing fast and seemed very weak. He did wag his tail and raise his head when I came in the room so that was promising. I called the vet to see if this was normal and should I bring him in because I didn't think it was. The receptionist told me to wait until the doctor came in a call back. So I waited the 15 minutes and called back. The vet said to bring him back in to recheck his blood count and wanted to check his stomach to make sure there wasn't any internal bleeding. I managed to get him down the stairs and with my neighbors help into the car. He started gasping for breath once in the car and passed away on the way to the vet. They are going to do an nercospy to see what happened. I'm sorry to go into details, but I'm in complete shock and just rambling on. We should have details in the next few hours. One thiing I wanted to pass on was that my vet says the cases of AIHA are on the increase. Several years ago he might have 4 or 5 cases a year, now he is having about that many cases a month. I don't know if waiting those 15 minutes to talk to the vet made any difference. Jack was only 1 1/2 years old and he was such a loving, happy, funny boy. I can't believe he is gone.

lisa austin tx

This thread was discussed between 03/12/2007 and 07/12/2007

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