Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - Beautiful boy Sammy

Reading all these very sad and heartfelt stories of others losing their beloved dogs to this awful disease is strangely slightly comforting for me because since I lost my beautiful boy Sammy a 11 year old English Springer Spaniel just before 6am on the 21st October 2007 I have been blaming myself, thinking that I must have missed the signs and symptoms of the onset of this disease. Sammy was his normal bouncy self on the Thursday evening; by the time Friday evening came Sammy went off his food which we put down to a tummy upset as he had been slightly sick and lethargic. Sammy was no better on the Saturday so we took him to the vets, he was kept in over night where they tested and treated him his pcv 23;but sadly his heart gave up and Sammy sadly died peacefully early on the Sunday morning. The vet had told us that this disease had a sudden onset, and there was nothing which could of previously alerted us to its onset; but despite this I still blame myself. One thing that we are grateful for is that Sammy never experienced any pain, and we never had to make the hard decision of letting Sammy go to sleep. Thank you for the support and reading my sad story about Sammy. My heart goes out to all those families who have lost and those who are fighting this disease, and I wish you all the best, my thoughts are with you always.

Emma emmy@olverman.fslife.co.uk

Emma, I am so sorry you have lost Sammy. You have described exactly what happened to Jasper. Jasper is 11 too....... and is a springer spaniel/ collie cross. He had exactly the same symptoms as Sammy. He stopped eating suddenly, but then collapsed an hour later. We called the vet after hours and took him to the vets where he was kept in and put in an iv drip. We racked our brains as to what could have caused it and really still don't know now. Having spent the night in the vets we had actually decided to bring Jasper home to say goodbye and ask the vet to come to the house to put him to sleep. They had initially diagnosed an enlarged liver and probable liver failure having scanned and x rayed him. The vet who had scanned him on the friday said it wouldn't be fair to keep Jasper under those circumstances. There was a different vet on saturday morning and he said to wait for the blood tests before deciding anything. It was later on Saturday afternoon when his blood tests came back they diagnosed AIHA. As you have done, we too did everything we could for Jasper. I even phoned the vet on the Sunday to ask him if I was being fair to Jasper as I didn't want him to suffer. He told me to give Jasper a chance on the medication, as it takes a while to start to work. We are still fighting this nearly 8 weeks in and take every day as it comes. Please don't blame yourself, there would have been nothing more you could have done for him. The vet explained it can sometimes just happen with no prior warning. Please take care, remember the good times you shared.........our thoughts are with you, Jackie and Jasper

Jackie pembrokeshire; west wales; uk

Thank you for your kind reply Jackie, I'm so very pleased for you that the vets are able to treat Jasper, and I will keep my fingers crossed for you and Jasper in the hope that he will fight and beat this awful disease. My thoughts are with you and my fingers are crossed, please keep me informed of Jaspers progress. Emma

Emma Devon Uk

Emma, I have to say that reading your words yesterday reduced me to tears, because I felt all the pain and distress of that awful weekend when Jasper collapsed and was in the vets. It brought it all back as the circumstances are identical. I know how you are feeling because we as a family went through the prospect of losing him. We had decided to let him go on the Saturday and I don't think I have ever cried so much as I did over that week, especially explaining it to the kids. We are lucky as we still have him. Sammy will always be in your thoughts and memories. I know there is a huge void there. My mum lost her dog at the end of July and she misses him dreadfully. I know its no consolation, but time is a great healer. Please take care, Jackie

Jackie pembrokeshire; west wales; uk

Jackie, I found this website yesterday, and after reading all the sad stories of how people had lost their beloved dogs or are trying to fight AIHA I thought I should share Sammy's story, as a sort of tribute to him. I have read all the back dated files about Jasper, and hopefully there is light at the end of the tunnel for him, he seems to be responding well to the treatment.So I will keep my fingers crossed for you both and your family. Like you have previously said there is a huge void in our life now, but in time we will be able to remember the great times we shared and all the silly things he used to get up too. (Like jumping off cliffs to getting his head stuck in the stair banisters.) Thank you so much for letting me share Sammy's sad story with you, and I wish you all the best with Jasper, and thank you for sharing Jasper's story. Please let me know how Jasper gets on. Emma

Emma Devon Uk

Emma, I am so sorry for your loss of Sammy - your story is so touching - your love for him is very clear. Personally, I understand your feelings of there must have been something you could have done but, the sad truth is, often there isn't anything anyone can do and that, unfortunately, seems to be the case all too often with IMHA which can strike quickly for no known reason and is something most people haven't heard of. Take care of yourself and know you did all for Sammy that you could - most importantly, loving him so much. Bonnie

Bonnie Chicago

my thoughts are with yall, Rest in Peace to Sammy

josh socal

Emma, I am so sorry for the loss of your beloved Sammy. As Josh said, Rest in Peace.. Jess

Jess BC

Emma, I'm so sorry to hear about Sammy. I have a 6 yr old English Springer named Spencer so any Springer stories are near and dear to my heart. Spencer is one of the lucky ones so far and has managed this disease for over 2 years. My thoughts and prayers are with you during the very difficult time. Kim and Spencer

Kim NY

This thread was discussed between 24/10/2007 and 26/10/2007

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