Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - Benny Newly diagnosed

I'm starting a new thread for Jane's post Joanne Posted 19 July 2008 at 14:08:21 UK time Jane, Nambour Australia, Hi, I am sitting here with tears streaming down my face as I read these messages. Yesterday my beautiful 9 month old Maltese pup Benny was diagnosed with AIHA - It has all happened so fast and I cannot stop crying. He is in a critical care unit in a specialists Vet hospital and had a blood transfusion last night. His initial count was 16 and now it is 26 and has stayed at that for about 18hours now. The hospital is 1 1/2 hours drive from my home and I feel so far away from my Benny. I am hoping that he is one of the lucky ones who comes through this. I just wanted to say my heart goes out to all of you as this is truely heartbreaking.

Jane Nambour Australia

Jane, I am so very sorry to hear that your most beloved Benny has recently been diagnosed with AIHA. While AIHA/IMHA is a very difficult disease, dogs who have been diagnosed with it CAN and DO recover and go on to live happy healthy lives. If you have not read my Web site on canine AIHA/IMHA as yet: http://www.cloudnet.com/~jdickson/ you might want to do so when you can. 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. I truly do know how hard this is so please be assured that both you and your dear Benny are in my thoughts and prayers during these very most difficult days.

Joanne MN

Welcome, Jane. I'm am sorry that your Benny has been diagnosed with AIHA. Like Joanne said, there are success stories! Sometimes when it looks the bleakest some of our amazing dogs somehow pull themselves up...with the help of experts and lots of love. Clifford finally turned around after 4 weeks and 3 transfusions. He is not out of the woods yet, but just seeing his eyes twinkle again has made the journey worthwhile. Please keep us updated as to how he is doing. Janice

Janice Newnan

Jane, I am so very sorry that you have found the need to join us here. I think we all know how scary the initial days/weeks - sometimes months, can be. There is so much great information here, and on Joanne's website. I would encourage you to take the time to look it over. There are also so many wonderful people on this forum, so I can say that you have come to the right place. Matilda was diagnosed March 17 of this year, and was so lucky that she only needed one blood transfusion. Her PCV was down to 11 before the transfusion, and went up to I believe 26 or 27, and held. It only dropped one or two points a few days after the transfusion, and then has been slowly but steadily climbing since then, so I do know that this disease can be turned around. We will keep you and Benny in our thoughts and prayers. Take care of yourself through the strain of this ordeal - it will do no good for both of you to be sick! And know that we are praying and thinking of you both. jeanne & matilda

jeanne texas

Hi Jane, I am so sorry to hear about your Benny. And such a young pup too. My Boogie was diagnosed on March 4th of this year. It took 4 transfusions and until April 24th before she started to turn around. Even after that, she had reactions to some of the meds and that was touch and go too. For about two months now her count has been in the 30's and 40's and, best of all, she has the twinkle in her eye and the wag in her tail back. I am so fortunate. So no matter how bleak things seem, don't give up hope. You never know when things will turn around. And keep in mind that you're not alone. We all know exactly what you're going through. Take care. Sue

Sue Moorpark

Hi Jane, and everyone else. We too just had our baby Tiggs, a happy go lucky pit mix, diagnosed on Wednesday, July 16. Our hearts hurt so bad and we are so exhausted from the stress and worry. Tiggs was diagnosed when his PCV was somewhere between 10 and 13 (two different labs had two different readings). He was transfused and we have been treating it as aggressively as we can. He is so tired it's scary- his eyes keep rolling back and he needs help to get up to go to the bathroom. He won't eat a thing, even after four days of high doses of Pred. Even bacon and ground beef can't seem to interest him. We go to the vet 2-3 times a day to check his blood, and the dread and anticipation I feel each minute we wait is paralyzing. I never knew a number could have such an impact on our life. Last night, and this morning he has held steady at 27. We will leave soon for an evening test to see where he is at. I plan to tell anyone and everyone I know who has a dog about this horrible and scary disease. We never even heard of it before and we didn't know what to look for. Best of luck to Benny, we will send you love and good wishes and please send some positive thoughts are way too. Melissa

Melissa Salt Lake City

Melissa, I am terribly sorry to hear about your Tiggs. I know how awful it is waiting for that number. I too had never heard of this incredibly awful disease until Boogie came down with it. She went through the same things--no appetite whatsover and such weakness, I didn't think she would survive. It was the worst three months of my life. But she's so much better now. So please don't give up on Tiggs. This disease can take a long time before remission sets in. And 27 is a good number! I hope Tiggs holds onto that. I'll be thinking of you and Tiggs and sending good thoughts and prayers your way. Sue

Sue Moorpark

Thank you to all for your thoughts and prayers - My daughter and I have just returned home today after our visit with Benny - the vets are positive and are very pleased with his progress - his count is remaining steady at 26 and he managed to give us a little tail wag today - We were thrilled. I also had never heard of this dreadful disease until Friday and with Benny being our first ever pet I am completely devastated. I have been reading (and crying)and reading as much as I can and feel like at least I have a better understanding of it now. We were told today that if Benny's count remains the same in the morning (day 4) then they will try and remove the fluid IV - we may be able to bring him home on the Tuesday. I can't believe the support I felt when I checked back on this site - thank you all again. Jane, Samantha and Benny of course!

Jane Nambour Australia

You baby is so young to have this horrible disease. I think most of us here had never heardof it until it dog was diagnosed. My golden retriever, Hunter was diagnosed on Oct. 9, 2003 and I lost him Oct. 16,, just 8 days later. We know his was brought on by ProHeat6, the 6 month heartworm preventative. It also damaged his lver and he could notovercom both the liverdamage and the anemia. He had just turned 4. But many dogs do survive and livelong lives and i believe hd my hunter only had to battle the anemia he would have won and you little one can win. Never give up hope. I am sure yo are reading al yo can about this horrible isease as we all hav done. About all I have o add is try to avoid all vaccinations of any kind from here on out. They can cause a relapse. I see you are i Australia. Down there proHeart SR12 is used--12 monh heartworm preventative. DO NOT USE IT. PorHeart6 caused a high number of cases of AIHA here and i was pulled from themarkt oSept. 3, 2004, and is just now being allowed back with a long list of warnings which includenot giving it to dogs with any allergies, including foo allergies, underweight dogs, sick do, orwithin a month f any vaccination. That many warnings only says it is sill dangerous. By he way, I ws born in Perth. My Dad was stationed there during WWII. Mom and I joined him after the war whn i was a yea ol so i remembe nothing o 'donw unde' but still hve many kin there, som that i am in contact with.

Sandra Texas

Hi All, Well it's Monday morning here in Aus and I am feeling a little brighter - I have received emails to my personal address about Benny and it just gave me so much hope. Melissa, we are thinking of you and Tiggs and all the other beautiful people and their beloved pets. I am off to visit with my Benny again shortly and fingers crossed he has had a good night and remained stable. Jane

Jane Nambour Australia

Dear Jane -- glad to hear your sweet Benny is responding. I am hoping that your love, his determination, and the vets' expertise will restore him to good health so that he can go back to doing what puppies do and then grow into a wonderful dog whom you'll have in your lives for a long time. Please take care and please let us know how all of you are doing.

Brenda VA

Hooray for Benny, it sounds like he is doing as well as he can be. I'm sorry you have to be so far away from him. Tiggs had what seems to be his best day yet as far as his outward signs go. He was more alert, got up to go outside to pee a few times, at 3 cans of A/D high calorie food, plus a about a half cup of some beef and bacon I cooked up for him. His urine even looked a little more like, well...urine, instead of blood. Despite all of this however, his PCV was at 24 tonight, down from 27 yesterday and 25 both last night and this morning. We are confused at how he could look so much better, yet the number is lower. We are trying to focus on the positive- that he did look so good, and even gave a paw and a tail wag. They have said they would consider a second transfusion if he got to 20 or below. We have heard good things about the synthetic oxyglobin. Has anyone else used this?

Melissa Salt Lake city

Jane- Sorry to hear about Benny's diagnosis. keep the faith, plenty of dogs do pull thru. just give him the opportunity to and take it day by day. i am on 13 months now with my dog sway... and i hope that doesnt scare you, i mention it to show that she has lasted this long and i am planning on many years with her in the future. wouldnt have anyone tell me any different.

Josh California

Jane, I am glad that Benny is hanging in there! How heart breaking that he is just a pup. Our 3 year old Austalian Terrier, Crosby, was diagnosed with Pure Red Cell Aplasia at the level of the bone Marrow on Friday, June 20, after a bone marrow asparate. He just had his 3rd blood transfusion last Friday, July 17. The first transfusion got him through 3 weeks, the second only held for a week. When he was first diagosed his PCV was 16. His lowest has been 13. His meds have included - Initially an Antiobiotic in case of tick born illness, he is now taking pred, cyclosporine, Pedcid AC for his tummy and an anti vomiting med as the Cyclosporine upsets his tummy in the AM. He has only been on the Cyclosporine for about 12 days. This whole time his eating and drinking habits have not been effected. Such a roller coaster. We are really hoping to see results this Friday on his upcoming blood work. His platelet were also low last week, hoping this has resolved as his bruising has disappeared. Sorry for rambling, this has just been tearing our hearts out. We simply love Crosy so much and had never heard of this horrible disease until he was diagnosed.

Rebecca Maryland

rebecca, i know how you feel (we all do if we are on this forum, right?), it just rips your heart right out. tiggs is also on quite the cocktail...2 antibiotics now since his white cell count was elevated, pred, imuran, pepcid, cerenia for nausea, etc. And to see their personality disappear is almost unbearable. the roller coaster is unbelievable. it's hard to think that we might be on that ride for the rest of their lives...which will hopefully be long and as healthy as can be. hang in there, much love to Crosby! hoping we all have good days ahead! We'll be thinking of you. melissa

melissa slc

Rebecca, I am so very sorry to hear that your most beloved Crosby has recently been diagnosed with PRCA. While PRCA is a very difficult form of AIHA, dogs CAN and DO survive it as they do other forms of the disease. If you have not taken a look at my AIHA/IMHA Web site as yet: http://www.cloudnet.com/~jdickson/ you might want to do so when you can. 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. Two stories that I would urge you to read are Macy May, 2006 http://www.cloudnet.com/~jdickson/archives16.htm and Kobi, October, 2006 http://www.cloudnet.com/~jdickson/archives17.htm Both of these dogs struggled with PRCA and are now doing very well. I know this is so hard so please be assured you and your dear Crosby are in my thoughts and prayers during these difficult days.

Joanne MN

Jane, So glad to hear that things are looking a little better for Bennie. It is so heartbreaking, but it sounds like he is a real fighter and well loved. We will continue to keep you in our prayers! Melissa So sorry to hear about Tiggs, but glad he is hanging in there! We will keep you and Tiggs in our thoughts and prayers as well. Rebecca, I am so sorry to hear about Crosby. It sounds like your ordeal has been quite drawn out and I am sure you are just exhausted. We will keep you and Crosby in our thoughts and prayers. Here's to a good report on Friday! And take care of yourself. jeanne and matilda

Jeanne Texas

Hi Everyone, It's now Thurs night here and we brought Benny home on Monday night with a count of 30! Wow, I was so happy, he has been going along alright and then today we had to take him back to the vet only to find out that he has pancreatitis now as well... He is now on antibiotics as well as his prednisone and antacid for his tummy - so we will see how this all turns out. One great bit of news though... his PCV was 35 today. Dear Rebecca, I agree with you on how heartbreaking it is - I am trying not to get my hopes up after reading all these stories it seems that even when you do get a good PCV it doesn't necessarily mean all's well. I will be thinking of your Crosby and of course Tiggs as well - Surely all these positive thoughts and prayers across the globe can be a powerful thing... Also to dear Josh - what determination you and your Sway must have - keep battling and I wish you both well. Jane, Samantha and Benny xxx

Jane Nambour Australia

Hi Jane Thats is such great news. I hope the pancreatitis will be ok soon. Your vet sounds like they are doing good things, especially protecting his tummy too with the Pred. We are sending positive thoughts from WA... Hugs Lisa and Bertie(IMHA)

Lisa West Aust

Jane - good news reagarding Benny's PCV! Hoping the pancreatitis is under control. The actacid and antibiotic hopefully will do the trick. Crosby had pancreatitis at age 1, since, he has been on a Low Residue prescription diet food. He also would take Pepcid AC at flare up times. So, this can definitely be controlled. Joanne - thank you for the encouraging words and website links. Your website is so informative and encouraging. Thank you! We are really hoping to see Crosby's PCV go up today. Not once in the six weeks since his diagnoses has his PCV increased, just slowly or quickly decreased after his transfusions. Hoping the Cyclosporine starts to work - the Dr. were cautious in starting this as he has had pancreatitis since he was 1. Although, through all of his meds in the past several week his pancreatitis is under control, we are thankful for that! Melissa - Hoping the best for Tiggs. Yes, seeing their personality change is just heart breaking. Crosby was always to energetic. He was called "Super Dog" for his boundless energy. We are hoping to see some of that back soon. Keep looking for the positive with Tiggs - that little tail wag makes us smile too! Thanks to all. Rebecca

Rebecca Maryland

jane- 30 is excellent, keep fighting the good fight and i will pray that it just keeps rising for benny

josh california

Dear Jane and Benny, 30 is a great number, definitely hang in there! My minischnauz Kent also had pancreatis while recovering from AIHA and he is doing great overall. It is One year and 7 months since his first diagnosis, and it has been a rollercoaster. Like Josh said, it goes to show they can and do survive and recover. Recovery is a roller coaster for some dogs, but it sounds like Benny is doing GREAT! Yippee! Christine and Kent

Christine Fl

This thread was discussed between 19/07/2008 and 26/07/2008

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