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Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - Azathioprine
| Something I have always wondered since I lost my little dog. If Azathiopine supresses bone marrow and my dog produced no new red cells at all, did the vet do more harm than good by putting my little dog on it. I know it is too late to ask this, but I will always wonder. He was also on pred and nothing worked. It is a almost year since I lost him and it is a sad time for me right now. |
| Julie Australia |
| Julie, I don't have any answers regarding that, but we are thinking of you during this difficult time. I don't think it really ever gets easier after we lose our furkids. I'm so sorry for your loss, thinking of you and your lost pup. melissa and tiggs |
| melissa slc |
| Julie, Firstly I am so sorry for your loss. I don't know if this answer will help you or not but my Keiko (7 pound dachshund) was diagnosed with IMHA in June 07. She has been on AZA since the very beginning and is still on a low maintenance doze now at 3 days a week. She will remain on AZA for the rest of her life. We are one of the lucky ones here and Keiko is healthy, although we watch her WBC as it has been very low. It has climbed a little since the AZA went from EOD to 3 times a week. Keiko was also on pred from June 07 to Mar 08. These are the only 2 drugs she is/was on. ((hugs)) Jess and Keiko |
| Jess B |
| Julie, Every single medication has side effects for some people or animals. Just because a side effect is listed that does not mean that every person (or in the case of animals), animal will have that side effect from the drug. I personally do NOT think that your vet did your dog more harm then good by putting him on azathioprine. I have seen azathioprine work well for countless dogs. And this study http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15934255?dopt=Abstract confirms that Azathioprine does work well for many dogs. I truly know the pain you are feeling now and the second guessing you are doing because we all tend to do that. But know that you did the very best you could for your dog because you did. May that knowledge give you peace and comfort. |
| Joanne MN |
| Julie, I am so sorry that a year has passed since you lost your dog. It is so hard to wonder for that long about the things that might have been done differently. Dogs that have non regenerative autoimmune anemia have a much tougher time than dogs that have regenerative autoimmune anemia in general. It is certainly more difficult to treat and the length of time for the treatment to work may be more lengthy. I know we waited several months for Chance to become regenerative. In the meantime he survived with transfusions. He deteriorated from high doses of prednisone. I wish there was a specified treatment for dogs with non regenerative autoimmune anemia, but as with AIHA, the treatments are different from clinic to clinic and vet to vet. The literature is sparse and somewhat conflicting. But for sure, the causes for non regenerative anemia are usually broken down into 1. difficulty with production of red blood cells in the marrow and 2. difficulty maturing red blood cells. Within these two categories can fall numerous contributing causes. I think many vets, when posed with non regenerative anemia, tend to think of some type of cancer of the bone marrow. In my conversations with Dr. Dodds, I understood that in many cases it can simply be autoimmune destruction of the red blood cell precursor cells that are in the bone marrow. Treating it similarly to AIHA can be very appropriate and successful. Without a bone marrow biopsy, this would be a good start. I suspect that your vet knew this and possibly has treated other AIHA dogs with this med and was successful. Why this happens is unclear as far as I can determine. So anecdotally, vets may know about autoimmune destruction of the red blood cell precursors, but not understand the mechanism by which this starts. Honor the memory of your dog by learning more about this disease and helping other owners who need support during the most difficult times of this particular version of AIHA. my best patrice |
| Patrice NYS |
| Thank you all for your advice. It makes me feel so much better. I think not getting closure as to why in this disease is the most difficult part. When you don't have definite answers you want to know more. I will always live with some regrets that in hindsite things could have been done differently. But at that time it was very stressful. I guess we all want to know why our furkids are healthy and playful one day and then suddenly what has gone wrong and why? I think the advice given out on this board is what keeps us going when it does strike. The vets would have done what they believe to be the best treatment at the time. I have another dog now. His name is Snoopy. He is a maltese x shih tzu too who loves to play with a ball. He has been of great comfort to Seth our pittie x who actually whimpered and cried when Scruffy got laid to rest. Both dogs are now inseperable and very healthy. Thank you all. |
| Julie Australia |
| Julie -- Like so many others here, I understand how you are feeling right now as you mark the one year anniversary of your sweet Scruffy's death from IMHA. I think it is incredibly hard to handle loss of a dear dog to IMHA, because there always are so many unanswered questions. In nearly all cases, we don't know why our dogs came down with it, and many of us wonder why particular treatment regimens didn't work for our dogs when they seem successful in so many others. Intellectually, we know that each case is unique, but we don't understand why. And we always wonder if we were too trusting of the vets or whatever. And we always wonder if there was something else we should have done or if we should have noticed something sooner. The "what ifs" can go on forever. I hope it helps you to know that there are so many of us here, like you, so we understand how you're feeling. Please remember that you shared a wonderful life with your Scruffy and know that you did all that you could do with whatever resources you had at the time. One thing that has helped me is to think that I would rather have had the ten years I had with my Wiley than never to have shared my life with her at all. I also continue to find comfort here with friends on the forum -- it's hard for others to understand the grief from this disease, but people on this board know and try to help. And I try to support the Meisha's Hope Fund so that veterinary research can someday find a cure for this horrible disease. Please take care. It sounds like Snoopy and Seth also are there to help! |
| Brenda VA |
This thread was discussed between 16/06/2009 and 18/06/2009
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