Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - Baby Girl

I am moving Marti's post so more people will see it. Penny Marti, Texas My dog, Baby Girl, was diagnosised on Friday, August 1st with AIHA. We really don't know what to expect at this time. She is lifting her head and moving around a couple times a day. She is on prednisone 10mg daily, doxy, val syrup, and an iron supplement 2x a day. We also feed her liver and rice 3x a day. However, she doesn't like it. We have to add water to the mix and put it in a syringe to feed her. The vet recommended the liver because of the high iron content. Does anyone have any recommendations on how to make this meal more pleasurable? Also, from ya'lls experience, what can I expect with this disorder? I was reading what others had posted and noticed the high prednisone prescription. Should Baby Girl be on a higher dose? Thanks, Marti

Marti

Marti, I hope you don't mind me moving your post. It is really important to have a Vet that is well versed on treating this disease. Preferably an internal medicine specialist. Be sure to read up at Joanne's site it will answer a lot of the questions that you have. What kind of dog is Baby and how much does she weigh? The drugs correspond with the weight. I am sure more people will be along soon to offer their input. You have come to an excellent place for support. Penny

Penny Lytle Creek Calif

I am sorry for your pain during this difficult time. Hang in ther and please follow Penny's advice of a good vet and cloudnet.com for support and answers. My Brandy's prediagnosis diet consisted of a cooked chicken tender and kibbles. Since diagosis, she wanted a different flavor of the same dry food (Blue Buffalo brand - no preservatives or artificial anything) She still eats the chicken every meal. In addition I cook up some ground turkey breast, add some water, oatmeal, organic baby food carrots and chicken and rice. she loves it. I also make a mix of plain non-fat yogurt mixed with organic baby food carrots and the chicken and rice. I give that alone, with kibbles or mixed with the above ground turkey mix. For variety you can cook ground beef instead of the ground turkey. Also found some organic treats at the store, one is also vitamin fortified. Anything to keep up strength and keep bowels and tummy in good working order. So far we are blessed with that. hugs and keep blogging..........it helps!

sharon pa

Thank you so much for the feedback! I don't really know how much experience my vet has with this type of disease. We moved 2 years ago, so the vet we have is fairly new to us. He actually told us that he thought Baby Girl had about 2-3 days left, and that was 4 days ago, so my family and I now have more confidence that she is fighting it! Also, we really can't afford to see a specialist. We would love to take her but, we were told that it would cost anywhere from $2600-$6000 for the visit. And having 2 kids already, that is just out of our budget. I wish we had animal insurance! I am definently going to try adding veggies and oats to her food. She has not had a bowel movement since Friday. I have attempted to call her vet but he was in surgery and will call me back. I do appologize if it seems like I am rambling. It's just really nice to know that there are others out there that I can talk to and who understand what I'm going through. To answer Penny's question Baby Girl weights 12 pounds and is a mix between a shih tzu and maltese. Thanks, Marti

Marti Texas

Marti, I posted this on your "looking for help" thread. But since everyone else has posted on this thread I will repost my comments here and delete the other thread to avoid confusion. Marti, I am so very sorry to hear that your most beloved Baby Girl has been diagnosed with AIHA. If you have not read my Web site on AIHA/IMHA as yet, you might want to do so when you can. The URL is http://www.cloudnet.com/~jdickson/ Be sure to follow the links on the first page to many other sites on AIHA/IMHA that will be very helpful to you and do read the SUCCESS STORIES pages. They will show you what has worked for other dogs in terms of treatment options as well as give you a lot of HOPE. In regard to your question as to whether Baby should be on a higher dose of pred on not that depends on what her weight is. At the onset of the disease a dog should be on at least one mg of prednisone per pound of the dog's weight each day, divided into 2 doses, one dose to be given in the AM and one dose to be given in the PM. This is the least amount of prednsione that should be given. Some vets will give even a higher dose. So if Baby is more then 10 pounds your dose is too low. It should be noted that it can take 5-7 days for prednsione to start to work and in the mean time the PCV can continue to go down. If the PCV drops too far vets can give blood transfusions to "buy time" until the prednsione and other drugs start to work. AIHA is NOT a iron defeciency anemia and so liver will not help the disease, in fact too much liver can be a problem. It might be very wise for you to seek a second opionion from a veterinary internal medicine specialist or at the very least have your vet consult with such a specialist. While dogs CAN and DO surive AIHA/IMHA it is very important they be treated by a vet who is very knowledable about the disease and has a lot of experience with it. Prednsione is the cornerstone for the treatment of AIHA/IMHA but many times another drug is also needed to get the dog into remission. IT is so important that the vet be up to speed on all these treatment options. Be assured you and your dear Baby Girl are in my thoughts and prayers during these most difficult days.

Joanne MN

Marti, am praying for your pup!

josh california

Thanks again! What kind of specialist would I take her to? And what exactly is PCV? When Baby Girl went in the hospital her PCV was 23. What is the normal level? Marti

marti tx

Nevermind! :) I just found the information on Joanne's website. Thanks again. Just to let ya'll know I have an appointment with another doctor on Thursday for a second opinion about treatment. I'll let ya'll know how it goes! Thanks for all the support! Marti

marti tx

Hi Marti, We used Hill's A/D canned food for the first couple of weeks until Tiggs appetite improved. Then we began mixing it with a little dry food to make it palatable. Now thanks to Pred, he is pretty much on his regular diet of 2 cups of dry food twice a day. The A/D is a high fat/high calorie food, and it was essential to get some calories in him and get his meds down him. Good luck, we'll be thinking of you. Melissa

melissa

Melissa, How did you have to feed your dog? Baby Girl doesn't ever want to eat. Thanks, Marti

marti tx

Yes, we had to get tongue depressors and kind of scrape it onto the roof of his mouth for about a week and a half. Also, you can get little syringe plungers, and try to squirt it in their mouth, but we had better luck with the depressors and just kind of feeding it to him. He had zero appetite, plus some nausea and vomiting. He also needed a shot of a nausea med one night and then later switched to Cerenia, a pill form of another nausea med for a few days so he could keep food down and calories in him. Ask your vet if this is a good idea for Baby Girl, but the A/D with the tongue depressors really worked well for Tiggs. Good luck, we'll be thinkng of you guys! Melissa

melissa slc

This thread was discussed between 05/08/2008 and 06/08/2008

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