Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - Good News/Bad News

Hi guys, Today is my Golden Retriever Angelo's TWO YEAR ANNIVERSARY after being diagnosed with Evan's Syndrome! He is 12 yrs and 7 months old. I am so very proud of him as he is a strong handsome old man :-) Unfortunately, I will be bringing him to the hospital this morning. He is in discomfort and I'm not sure where it's stemming from so we'll have a check-up and bloodwork done. His back legs have always been a concern but he has not needed any pain meds until this time. I don't know if I am looking for something now but he also looks swollen on one side and will not lay on his side. If anyone on this list is giving their dog a NSAID and have had luck with it could you please jot me a note. I know that he will now be needing one. Please join me in celebrating his remission from this awful disease and if you could throw some prayers in for him I would really appreciate that. My prayers also go out to all who are still fighting. Jeanne in New Jersey Goldens, Angelo & Archie

Jeanne New Jersey

A big congrats on the 2 year mark! I am so sorry it is tinged with the trip to the Doc. Have you considered accupunture? I am hoping that you find it will be something that can be addressed easily and of course will keep you and Angelo in my prayers. Penny

Penny Lytle Creek Calif

prayers to Angelo...hang in there my friend! congrats on 2 yrs...that is great :)

josh california

Thanks guys! His PVC came back at 43 which is GREAT but those damn platelets...they were only 155,000. The rest of the bloodwork is being sent out. Our Vet feels that it is not an internal thing. It's definitely pain from arthritis in his legs and back. I am cautiously starting him on Metacam tonight for his quality of life. I will bring him back to the hospital in 1 week to re-check his platelet count. And as always, look out for any Petechiae spots on his belly and/or gums. I have not done any accupuncture or aqua therapy with him yet. I did look into the aqua therapy but the animal hospital that does that only has daytime hours and no weekends. This is the first time he has shown actual pain so we are going to take it a day at a time and hope for the best with this medication. Please continue the prayers for him and thank you for the congrats! Jeanne in New Jersey Goldens, Angelo & Archie

Jeanne New Jersey

Hi Jeanne. Good news about Angelo's two year anniversary and great PCV reading! Hooray for Angelo. Just wanted to let you know that I have had one of my other dogs (not Duck) on Metacam with good results. I have a little Yorkie who ran full tilt into a door screen. That gave him a stiff neck. About two hours after his first dose of Metacam he was running around and acting totally normal again. Hope you get good results with it. I agree that the dog's quality of life is so important. deb and Duck

Debbie BC Canada

Jeanne, It is so good to mark this wonderful anniversary of success with Angelo! I am glad to hear that he is responding well to treatment! Please humor me with these questions. He is, as Chance is, a male and of a "certain age." Did you weigh Angelo and was he at the same weight as past visits? Did the vet do a "really good" manual feel of the abdomen where you said it looked swollen? Does it still look "heavy?" patrice

Patrice New York State

Maybe look into a product called "Dog Gone Pain". A friend told me about it but as My cocker wasn't having issues with the deramaxx I stayed with what worked. I was thinking of trying it should MIssy every need something though. Mary

Mary TX

I am a member of the k9nutrition group on yahoo. We recently (aug) had a long discussion about Dog Gone Pain. It was quite heated. In short, some posters said that it contains ingredients that are not listed on the bottle and that the company will not release this information to users. Some owners whose dog's health is compromised in some way found this questionable. I can't say one way or the other. I have not used it. There was a long article about it in The Whole Dog Journal about 2 years ago. We have also discussed NSAIDS at length, Metacam among them. It's a really good group and well moderated. Anyone interested in general nutrition, supplements for dogs or special nutritional needs for dogs with health conditions will find a wealth of information. Mary Straus' website, dogaware.com, has a special page just devoted to arthritis and treatments. See: http://www.dogaware.com/arthritis.html Bookmark this page as a reference for all pain meds. Patrice

Patrice New York State

Patrice, Yes, Angelo has maintained the same weight for some time now give or take a lb or two. My Vet checked him really good and could not feel anything. He was scanned 2 years ago and was clean. I really think that I was being paranoid because since his back hurts...he often stands crooked and it makes one side look bigger than the other if you know what I mean. Mary, A while ago I looked into DGP because I had known of some people that said it worked for their dogs. I requested literature from the company...it was very extensive. As soon as I read where you have to be careful giving it to dogs with blood disorders I tossed the paperwork. I had also asked the specialist at the University of PA about it and he never heard of it so I never looked into it again. Thank you both for your suggestions and Patrice, thank you for the link and info on arthritis. Jeanne in NJ Goldens, Angelo & Archie

Jeanne New Jersey

Jeanne, Congratulations on Angelo's 2 year anniversary. And yes he is a handsome boy. I still like to call him a boy rather then an old man, HA! Either way this is wonderful news on his two year anniversary, just so sorry that he seems to be in pain and hopefully it will not be serious. Prayers from me and hugs from Holly! Linda

Linda Sapphire

Hi Jeanne, Great news about Angelo's second anniversary. I hope that the Metacam helps him and that his platelet count will stabilize where it should be. My IMHA boy Benson has had a lot happen since the dreaded disease hit. He is currently paralyzed in the hind. He walks in a doggie cart, bearing his weight on his front paws. He does have pain due to arthritis and strain (he weighs 70-75 pounds). I have been trying to find pain relief for him for months. Benson has been receiving acupuncture every week for the past 8 months. I believe that Benson has been as comfortable as he has been because of the acupuncture. If Benson was walking, I would certainly look at gold bead implants if his condition indicated. I am leery about using an NSAID on him and am trying various things. I am taking a course in Reiki to keep him more comfortable. I do massage and gentle stretching with him. On Dr. Dodds' recommendation, I have been giving him DGP for 10 days. No change yet. After discussing it with my local vet, I decided that if DGP does not work, I would order Metacam from overseas (of course, it is not available in Israel). Metacam's literature seems less scary than other NSAIDs. Jeanne, please let us know how Angelo does on Metacam - I hope that it helps him. Very best to you and Angelo, Aden

Aden Jerusalem

Jeanne, I am reluctant to mention this about Metacam, because I don't know where I read it and there is a lot of misinformation on the web...but decided to report it, at the risk of being alarmist or misinformed. It has been suggested that some NSAIDs, specifically diclofenac (which I take for osteo-arthritis myself), but also Meloxicam (Metacam) could be a possible trigger for IMHA/AIHA. My Border Collie, Boy, had been on Metacam for arthritis for about a year, and it did help him a lot. He didn't seem to have any side effects from it. He had to discontinue it as soon as he was diagnosed and started Pred, and I understand you cannot combine any NSAID with it. Dr Dodds would know, of course, and it seems she has approved Metacam for Aden & Benson, see above. Good luck, Hilary

Hilary Hampshire

Hi Jeanne Congratulations on the 2 year mark. I know how much it means to you, Bertie is close to his two year mark also. He currently has some problems with his paws so is also heading to the vet. Big hugs to Angleo from us Down Under. Lisa XX

Lisa West Aust

Thanks Linda, Aden, Hilary and Lisa! Aden-I am sorry that Benson is having similar problems. Angelo has been on Metacam since Tuesday night and is sooo much better now! I have not seen any evidence of bleeding due to his low platelet count but we go back to the Vet next week for a CBC to be sure. The Vet called me and all the rest of his bloodwork came back normal yippee!! so hopefully he can remain on this medication. Lisa-How is Bertie? PS...I added some more photos on the bottom of page three and all of page four on my website if you would like to see some current photos of my Angelo: http://www.photosbyjeanne.com/gallery/2584058 Jeanne in New Jersey Goldens, Angelo & Archie

Jeanne New Jersey

Oh Jeanne, They are so adorable, makes me want to go out and get one just like them! Not sure Bertie would approve of sharing me though! I was happy to read the bloodwork came back normal. That is really good. I hope the CBC goes well next week, will be thinking of Angelo. Bertie is doing really well. The last pcv check he was 46% and Im going to get another one done in the next couple of weeks as I have to go interstate for Christmas and leave him and that always scares me. I dont want to leave him, but my Nana cannot travel so it was up to me this year. Anyway, I look forward to hearing the CBC results. Lisa

Lisa West Aust

Jeanne, Lovely pictures of Angelo! The perfect end to a nice day. He does look grand doesn't he? I love the smile. It's hard to ever see Chance smile because of the Schnauzer beard, LOL. Chance and I have both been trying something new. It's glucosamine and chondroitin but in a specially blended formula called Arthro-Joint and Muscle Relief Factors by Country Life. I found it for a good price at Vitacost. I have spent quite a bit of time researching exactly how I was going to give both of us these supplements and finally came upon what I feel is a perfect blend for us. I took a pt seminar on arthritis earlier this year and the presenting physician highly recommended the use of glucosamine and chondroitin. Since they are not drugs, you will never see the FDA come out on them. But studies are now being done in quantity. Chance, of course, cannot tell me how he feels yet. :-) He had a great blood workup today and we drew blood for his yearly titers. I am going to try to have him register for TDI again and hope that sometime in the future he will be back at the nursing home. I have noticed feeling less achy and sleeping better. I have no idea if this supplement is the cause of that or not. We will continue our experiment. I have used Metacam cautiously for both Chance and Cassie.... My feeling was (from what I have researched) that it is a good short term NSAID, but I didn't feel comfortable using it for more than a few days. I used it in both cases after surgeries. My best to you and your "lover boy" Angelo Patrice

Patrice New York State

Hi Jeanne, Aww, such good news about (wonderful pics of!) Angelo! I am glad to hear that his bloodwork came back normal. And I hope that his next CBC shows an improvement in his platelet count. Thanks for the update on Angelo's good results with Metacam. I am very glad to hear this too. FInally, Benson has been showing some good results with DGP and Reiki. I hope that this is not a fluke and that he will continue to run on his cart outings. Will keep you posted. A hug to Angelo and Archie - they looked so happy in their costumes and at the beach. Take care, Aden

Aden Jerusalem

Patrice... Last study done at University of California, published in the Feb 2006 New England Journal of Medicine didn't show any difference in pain relief between patients using Glucosamine, Chondrotin, or both together as compared to placebo. Double blind study with 1582 patients. http://repositories.cdlib.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3995&context=postprints

Ron B San Mateo

This thread was discussed between 20/11/2007 and 26/11/2007

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