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Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - Charlie newly diagnosed with IMHA
| My foster dog Charlie was diagnosed with IMHA on October 10, 2010. He had to have a blood tranfusion on October 25, 2010. This has been an emotional roller coaster. I'm so stressed out. He is currenlty taking prednisone, azathioprine, cyclosporine, metronidazole, pepcid, and sucralfate. Tried to decrease the cyclosporine and his RBC went down so he was started on it again. We went back to the vet this week for blood in his stool/vomit and they think he might also have inflammatory bowel disease/or the prednisone is causing it? He was started on a diet for IBD dogs, to early to tell if its working. His red blood cell count over the past week has been staying steady at 22. His white cell count has increase slightly. Does anyone else have an IMHA dog with IBD? Or has anyones dog with IMHA had this reaction to prednisone? |
| Elizabeth El Reno |
| Elizabeth, I am so sorry to hear about Charlie being ill. The prednisone, aza and cyclosporine are certainly harsh on his stomach. Are you giving the sucralfate 30 min. to an hour before the other medications? I am not 100% sure anymore, but I think an hour would be better. We only had cyclosporin for a few days, but I remember giving the pred and aza with food. What kind of IBD diet do you feed Charlie? I would recommend cooking your own food. The food they sell at the vets is not very good at all. Cooking your own would be better for the IMHA and IBD. For both he should not have any grains. Here is a link to DR. Dodds liver cleansing diet: http://www.canine-epilepsy.com/Liver%20cleansing%20diet.htm I would also recommend you go on Joanne's website: http://www.cloudnet.com/~jdickson/index.html You will learn a lot about the disease and if you go to the success stories, they will give you a lot of hope! Maybe you could look into giving Charlie some supplements. Discuss this with your vet. Dr. Dodds recommends Vitamin B, Iron and Folic Acid. They would all be in a product called petinic. I would also ask your vet to have Charlie's thyroid checked. Adding a thyroid supplement has turned many dogs around. I would want to add these things as soon as possible. IMHA is not a sprint, but a Marathon, but you are still at the beginning of this hard journey. Try not to stress out, I know it is hard. Charlie needs you to be his rock right now. Your stress will stress him out too and that is not a good thing. Take it one day at a time and know that there is always hope. Many dogs have survived and lead a happy healthy life after this horrible diagnosis. What breed is Charlie and how old is he? Please keep us posted! There are a lot of people here with valuable knowledge and insight into this disease. Best wishes, Brigitte & the poodle boys |
| Brigitte BC Canada |
| Brigitte, I'm not sure of Charlie's age. I rescued him for a hoarders house, where he was crated 24/7 for 2 yrs. I think he might be 4. He is a neutered pit bull. We are giving the sucralfate 30 minutes before his medications are given. All medication is given with food. He is currently taking pettinic, immuplex, and parotid PMG as supplements. I'm cooking fish and rice for him. I'll look at that those websites and have the vet check his thyroid again. You are right, can only take it day by day. Thank you. |
| Elizabet El Reno |
| Elizabeth, First bless you for rescuing Charlie! We are all familiar with the roller coaster ride you feel you are on. You might want to look back through the archives and read some of the questions people have posted and read the responses. I lost my dog a month into treatment so can't help much other than to offer my prayers and thoughts. Hopefully you have gone to Joanne's page and read up there and of course reading the success stories will help you believe that dogs in worse shape than Charlie have been able to turn it around. It is a wicked disease you have probably never even heard of before Charlie was diagnosed. Know that you can post any question here and you will get responses. This is a very caring board with people that have walked in your shoes. Take a deep breath and take time for yourself so that you can help your dear boy. keep us posted. Penny |
| Penny Lytle Creek Calif |
| I just did a quick check in the archives and I am sure the posters that originally posted will check in as well. Go to the top of this page on the right and you will see archive click on that and in the search type in metronidazole. From other responses that may be what is causing Charlie's blood in the stool? Hugs Penny |
| Penny Lytle Creek Calif |
| Hi Elizabeth, I am so sorry to hear about Charlie's diagnosis. It is quite common for dogs with IMHA on these drugs to have diarrhoea. I experienced it often with my IMHA dog Millie. These diarrhoea bouts also conincided with Millie refusing food - even more stressful! Canned pumpkin (or in my case pumpkin baby food), worked really well to settle Millie down. I just kept her food consistent, as I found that changing it up also bought about changes in her bowel movements. The drugs are so hard on their stomachs, perhaps Charlie has an ulcer and this is causing the bleeding? I agree with Brigitte in giving the sucralfate one hour before meals, just to be sure it does not interfere with absorption of the drugs. How is Charlie doing now? Best wishes, Sam & Millie. |
| Samantha Geelong |
This thread was discussed between 12/11/2010 and 16/11/2010
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