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Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - Itsy - Bonnie's sister
| I posted this is the previous thread <BOTH girls are negative for haemobartonella canis/mycoplasma haemocanis! Still does not explain why Itsy was anemic... We have an appt for her on Wed for a new hematacrit When vet called on Sat he had us put her on doxy (200 mg twice a day- she's 67 lbs 22 1/4" tall) just because his gut said we should and I agree. Rob however thinks the doxy is part of what caused Bonnie's death or at least her ulcer and non eating. The vet thinks it was the pred though........... So far Itsy has had 5 doses of Doxy with a Pepcid complete 1 hour before meal and doxy (started Sat) and so far so good. Bonnie puked the very first day> New to this thread: I got the mail today and now have the actual bloodwork values for her and I am puzzled RBC and HCT are low which = anemia MCV and MCH are high which often = a vitamin deficiency or? The dogs eat the same base kibble (Healthwise chicken) that they have eaten their whole lives. In June I did switch the grain free portion (they eat 50/50 regular and grainfree kibble) from Evo which had gotten too pricey to a mix of Acana Wild Prairie and Nature's Logic Chicken (these two are mixed equally together in a bin and Itsy eats 1/2 Healthwise and 1/2 grainfree. She also gets Vit C daily and salmon oil and Vit E 3 times a week Since her bloodwork last week she has NOW been also getting B complex twice a day and 1 chicken liver a day Her bloodwork reads as follows RBC 4.43 m/ul (normal range 5.50 - 8.50) HCT 34.1% (37.0 - 55.0) HGB 14.2g/dl (12.0-18.0) MCV 77.1 fL (60.0 - 77.0) MCH 32.09 pg (18.5 - 30.0) MCHC out of reportable range (30.0 - 37.5) RDW 15.7% (14.7 - 17.9) % retic 0.4% Retic 15.6 k/ul WBC 8.45 k/ul (5.50 - 16.90) % neut 76.5% % Lym 13.9% % mono 7.1% % eos 2.3% % baso 0.2% neu 6.47 k/ul (2.00 - 12.00) lym 1.18 k/ul (0.50 - 4.90) mono 0.60 k/ul (0.30 - 2.00) eos 0.19 k/ul (0.10 - 1.49) baso 0.02 k/ul (0.00 - 0.10) plt 193 k/ul (175 - 500) mpv 6.45 fL pdw 24.5% pct 0.1% Vet's handwritten note says in part "Itsy has a below normal red blood cell count and hematocrit. She does have large eyed RBCs with increased hemeglobin content and is regenerating new RBCs" We go back in tomorrow to have a tech draw blood JUST for a new hematocrit and the vet will call me later that day with the results Diane and Itsy |
| Rottlady NH USA |
| It should say "large SIZED RBC" NOT "large eyed" LOL my skills at reading cursive had deteriorated! |
| Rottlady NH USA |
| These selected values from the CBC below indicate to me that Itsy had, at the time of this CBC, very moderate anemia (HCT 34.1%). In fact, since the hemoglobin is in the normal range, it would be by some standards not anemia. The M values below are descriptions of the size of the RBC's and the hemoglobin content. These values are indicating that there is some moderate regeneration of new RBC. These newer RBC tend to be larger (MCV at high range = mean corpuscle volume, or the size of the cell). Reticulocytes will undergo a process over a period of days where they still maintain the RNA inside the cell, this makes them larger and this will push that number up to the maximum. MCH tells us the average amount of hemoglobin in the cells. This is at a high point too. I am not particularly impressed with the reticulocyte values, but then again this is a very very moderate anemia. These numbers in a normal human or dog should be around 1% and 60,000 and should increase when there is anemia. These would be the numbers I would look at carefully on the next blood panel. It is impossible to tell what is driving this right now. But if the anemia is still there then these numbers should be higher. But your vet is correct that there could be a tick disease taking hold and this could cause these odd numbers. The body will fight the tick disease, and in many cases can do so by itself if the immune system is strong. If there is tick disease inside of RBC's then the immune system will try to get to that by destroying the RBC. This often happens in the spleen and is part of the normal behavior of the immune system. Doxy is not a particularly dangerous drug. At least as compared to prednisone. Prednisone affects all body systems. Doxy is an antibiotic that has interesting effects at different dosages. The main problem with Doxy is that it is hard on the stomach. It can often cause inappetence. Dosing it with food and using stomach protection prior to meals is important. If there was an ulcer, though, I would have to say that it would be the prednisone that was the main culprit and the doxy just irritated it further. RBC 4.43 m/ul (normal range 5.50 - 8.50) HCT 34.1% (37.0 - 55.0) HGB 14.2g/dl (12.0-18.0) MCV and MCH are high which often = a vitamin deficiency or? MCV 77.1 fL (60.0 - 77.0) MCH 32.09 pg (18.5 - 30.0) MCHC out of reportable range (30.0 - 37.5) RDW 15.7% (14.7 - 17.9) % retic 0.4% Retic 15.6 k/ul "Itsy has a below normal red blood cell count and hematocrit. She does have large sized RBCs with increased hemeglobin content and is regenerating new RBCs" post the new numbers when you get them my best patrice |
| Patrice NYS |
| Had a redo of her hematocrit this AM Started her on Doxy, B complex and added a smidge of liver to her diet and today re ran the test SHE IS AT 40 ! Which means she most likely is fine and perhaps just had a touch of some tick illness. So we are keeping her on the Doxy, B complex and liver plus adding Pettinic for a few more weeks and she should be just fine Itsy does not know what the fuss has been, SHE feels just fine!!!!! I DID email my info to Dr Dodds yesterday and bless her heart she replied again She said Itsy's anemia last week was low grade and in regards to the MHC and MCV numbers being high she said "it just means that her Mean Cell Volume and Mean Cell Hemoglobin are high because there is a regenerative anemia, although the reticulocyte count was low -- likely because her anemia is too mild to generate more stimulus to her bone marrow.. The MCHC is an artifact when high and is seen in regenerative anemia when low(value not given) " She also suggested continuing to give the Pettinic for a few weeks just because You all here have been wonderful and I pray I never need to come here for an ill dog again My prayers to all the currently ill dogs |
| Rottlady NH USA |
This thread was discussed between 31/08/2010 and 01/09/2010
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