Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - Annie - My Plott Hound

Hello? I am new to this forum. My dog, Annie, is a Plott Hound and for two months we have been fighting this scary disease. The vet is wonderful and tells me that it is IMTP, with Anemia. Her platelets have dropped below 7,000 in recent weeks. We are up & down and at the vet every 3-7 days. She has been hospitalized twice due to the severe bruising, the fear of her bleeding internally. Her pcv is 25 right now, but platelets are up to 157,000....she is very tired. We also had to have her x-rayed and there are some thoughts about bone cancer. Rough two weeks, as we also lost our 14 year-old Dalmatian Pongo on 9/24. Any insight to my Annie's condition would be greatly appreciated! Amy

Amy Ohio

Amy, I am sorry you have had to join us. I am also sorry to hear what a terrible few weeks that you have had. My condolences on your loss of Pongo. If you haven't read Joanne's site yet be sure to as there are lots of answers to your questions. What drugs do they have Annie on? Keep us posted. Penny

Penny Lytle Creek Calif

Amy, Sorry about your loss of Pongo. This is such a terrific site for support and resources. I am fairly new to it as well. My dog is Sam, who's blogs are online here. He has lots of issues beside the AIHA, so we have a long way to go with him. Use this site to educate yourself. And knowing you aren't going through this alone really helps. Hang in there. It can be a bumpy ride! Becky

Becky San Diego

Penny & Becky- Thank you for your help. We are going to do everything possible to keep Annie stable. She had a CBC tonight, results tomorrow. Liver enzymes test Wed. She has developed a heart murmur now too. Annie is on Imuran every other day & Prednisone (80mg day) down from 160mg ! Plus a few others- Cipro in case the issue in her spine is a bone infection & not bone cancer. Carafate for stomach. I am worried she went downhill out of nowhere, my goal though is to educate myself to hep her. She is IMTP/AIHA dog at this point accordeing to the vet. I will check out your blogs as well. Thank you- Amy

Amy Ohio

sorry about your loss of pongo :( how big is annie? that is a really large prednisone dose! i hope her cbc comes back with good results

josh california

Our springer Cody was diagnosed 13 months ago and, at that time, was found to have a grade II-III heart murmur. As time went on, we were able to gradually wean him off all the meds, fought multiple infections ( including a blood born staph which caused spinal problems ) etc. He's been off the meds since April and when I took him for titers in Aug., our vet found all heart sounds to be NORMAL.... no more murmur. I hope you have the same result. We're pulling for you!

Betty Dallas

Josh- Thank you. Annie is an 86 pound Plott Hound (supposed to be about 65-70 lbs), but the pred has made her so heavy, plus she was 5-8 lbs overweight anyway. This has been going on for 2 months now. CBC came back she is at 27 (up from 25 last week). Her platelets for ITP are at 165,000 !!! No tapering of the 80 mg day pred yet, she is too unstable. Betty- Thank you for your thoughts too. Glad to hear Cody's heart murmur went away! I didn't realize a heart murmur wasn't a permanent thing? Do you both have threads about your dogs in here? Josh what is your dog's name?

Amy Ohio

Amy, the heart murmur can result from oxygen deprivation. Annie's system is compromised and her vital organs are effected. When Annie becomes more stable her heart sounds will change. My Choe hovered in the 20's for 4 months before increasing into the 30's. Don't give up hope. It's a battle that we have all experienced/are experiencing. Wisging yu and Annie the best. Jan

jan philly

Amy, I hope Annie is doing better. At the start of our IMHA journey, we took Murray to the emergency room following a collapse episode - they picked up a heart murmur and suspected a cardiac problem. Those diagnostics didn't prove out and a week later after many additional diagnostics, he was diagnosed with IMHA at the level of the marrow. They told us the heart murmur was likely due to his body trying to compensate for the lack of adequate red blood cells. As Annie stabilizes and her red count improves, hopefully the murmur will disipate. Take care and let us know how Annie is doing. Bonnie

Bonnie Chicago

my dogs name is sway

josh california

This thread was discussed between 08/10/2007 and 10/10/2007

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