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Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - Brandy needs your help
| Hi, My dog Brandy was diagnosed with IMHA about 2 1/2 weeks ago. Her counts were at 14. She was given prednisone however her counts continued to drop. She was transfused twice and then also given cyclosporine. She started to get better and her counts came up to 35. Unfortunately, her abdomine has filled up with fluid and her liver counts are up to 800 instead of the normal 100. The vet doesn't have an answer. They are going to do an ultrasound tomorrow to check for a liver tumor. Other than that, he told my husband that we may have to make a "difficult" decision. Is there anyone who can offer any helpful suggestions? Deb |
| Deb Grand Rapids MI |
| Regarding the liver being 800, I have read of dogs being much higher than that, usually caused by the prednizone. My Wylies was over 600 due to the prednizone. She dropped dramatically when her pred was reduced and she was on denosyl which is a great liver cleanser but for me caused other problems. I would check with the vet on that As for fluid several people have posted here recently about that. Can you do a search for fluid and see if something comes up that would help. Good luck with Brandy Laurie |
| Laurie CA |
| Deb, Oh dear. The thought of being told to give up on Chance when his liver enzyme alk phos was 8680 (high normal 212)is absolutely overwhelming to me now since he is healthy and alive today. You do need to see a specialist who understands this disease. For several MONTHS last summer Chance's liver was so swollen he could hardly tolerate lying down anywhere, he groaned and shifted his weight all day long. He was unable to sleep on the couch or the bed. This morning he got up on the bed with me and was cuddling for an hour. I am not defending that you should allow your dog to suffer, but it's important to know that treating this condition involves a cocktail of drugs and a whole bunch of supportive drugs to help deal with these side effects of the immunosuppressive drugs. The liver is regenerative and given support, can recover from insults like this. I am not sure if you are seeing fluid in the abdomen or if it is just that the liver is enlarged. Prednisone also will create a potbelly look from the decreasing muscle tone in the abdominal area. At least ask your vet if they will prescribe Denosyl or Denamarin for the liver and see if it will help. Reducing the prednisone slowly but surely will reduce the stress to the liver as well. You should maintain the dosage of the cyclosporine and gradually decrease the prednisone. I just spent the whole day Saturday at a seminar by Dr. Jean Dodds. She mentioned her Liver Cleansing Diet in passing and here is a link so you can try this highly successful diet with Brandy. http://www.canine-epilepsy.com/Liver%20cleansing%20diet.htm Please reconsider taking to heart what this vet has said to you and take hope from the rest of us that you can succeed. my best patrice |
| Patrice NYS |
| Here is a little more detailed explanation of the liver cleansing diet: http://www.canine-epilepsy-guardian-angels.com/liver_cleansing_diet.htm |
| Patrice NYS |
| Deb, If you haven't visited Joanne's web site yet please do. It will give you hope and a firm grasp on what you are up against. Don't forget to check out the success stories. http://www.cloudnet.com/~jdickson/ Thinking of you and Brandy. Penny |
| Penny Lytle Creek Calif |
| Deb, I totally agree with Patrice and would encourage you to consider a second opinion with a vet who truly knows this disease. Elevated liver counts are part of the territory for many of these dogs but are only a transitional part as they go through treatment. If you have a university vet center close to you perhaps you could go there...or there is always the possibility of a phone/email consult with Dr. Dodds in Santa Monica, CA (a veterinary hemotologist with extensive experience and a canine blood bank that can ship blood products for transfusions at your vet). You can find her contact info at the Hemopet website. Glad you found your way to this board for more information. Keep us posted. Cheryl (and always Barkley) |
| Cheryl Medford |
| Thank you all for your comments and support. Brandy was seen by a different vet at the same practice this morning who did the exploritory ultrasound of the liver to confirm that there were no other problems. This vet told us that what is happening is not uncommon due to the drugs she is taking. They put Brandy on a diuretic this morning after the ultrasound. They just called and told us she is acting like a new dog. My husband just left to get her. Apparently they are also going to send her home with a drug for her liver and a drug for her heart (it is not pumping the blood like it should). There is talk of lowering her dosages of the other drugs. I do have another question.....I was out on line last night and found a whole food holistic product that has alot of success stories with IMHA. It's called BioPreparation. Sold by Optimum Choices LLC. Has anyone heard of this or tried it? I ordered a bottle to see if it would help. Thanks again!!! Will keep you posted. |
| Deb Grand Rapids MI |
Deb, if you go down further on the board, you will see I asked about this product and this is what Rhonda from S Cal had to say. .Even though the vitamin A is in carotene form, these still can be some risk of toxicity with long term use. The body converts the carotene to Vit A. As a fat soluble substance it can be stored in the liver and has the potential to build up to toxic levels. 25,000 IU ~ 4,166 RE of retinol vitamin A. As someone who has taken 25,000 iu beta carotene daily for almost 8 months, over time, I watched my liver values begin to creep up month after month to slightly above normal at which point I dropped back to twice a week supplementation and liver values fell back in line within a couple months. (I have monthly bloodwork done monitoring a current health issue.) If I were to use a product with this level of carotene for my dog , I'd do a liver panel before beginning use and also after a couple weeks and on a regular basis thereafter. I would be worried using this product since her liver values are already high. I would try the denosyl and milk thistle first |
| Laurie CA |
This thread was discussed between 03/09/2008 and 05/09/2008
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