Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - Jacob's mama (old time poster)

Hello All, Wow! It has been a very somber week here on the forum. I rarely post anymore but pop in almost daily. My Jacob is the October 2003 Success Story: http://www.cloudnet.com/~jdickson/archives11.htm He passed away January 2, 2008. He was still in complete remission from AIHA. He ended up in complete kidney/liver failure. Most likely it was caused by the long term pred use. He was one that had to remain on pred for the 6 years that he had AIHA. With that said, I would NOT have changed a thing. Without the pred, no doubt he would not have survived. This past Sunday we had to say goodbye to Jacob's non-litter brother Rocky. He had a condition called Laryngeal Paralysis which he successfully had surgery for back in July 2009. LP is actually a "symptom" of a bigger neurological condtion that can also affect the rear limbs and eventually the front legs. Rocky had weakness in his back legs prior to the surgery. Being that he was 13.5(not bad for a 100lb boy!) at the time of surgery, he did have the typical senior dog arthritis, a little incontinent, sometimes seems a bit senile, etc. But all in all he still loved life, his toys, his walks, eating etc. Over the weekend he took a hard fall on the kitchen floor trying to get out to go to the bathroom. He never seemed right after the fall....very stiff when walking to reluctance to even try walking as the day progressed.He also showed very little interest in food. We took him to the vet the next day. After a very painful examination by the vet, they also weighed him. He had dropped 12 lbs in a very short time. He was just in a great deal of pain so we said goodbye. He was ready and slipped away ever so peaceful, just as Jacob did. It was a difficult choice but clearly the right choice. My big guy lived to the rip old age of 14. I find tremendous comfort that my boys are together again. Play hard my boys! To all of you with recent losses, I feel your pain. Allow yourself to grieve. It takes time but it will get easier and one thing that will never die is the wonderful memories...... Teresa ( and my angel boys Jacob and Rocky)

Teresa va

Teresa, I am sorry that you have had to say goodbye to Rocky. I am sure that he has found your Jacob and is telling him about all the things that have gone on at home since he left.

Penny Lytle Creek Calif

I am sorry for the loss of your Rocky. I'm thinking of you. Poor pup....

Mardi Northern Calif

Teresa, I am so sorry to hear of the loss of your dear Rocky. May your happy memories of both Jacob and Rocky surround you during these most difficult days.

Joanne MN

I am so sorry to hear about your wonderful Rocky. I love your advice. I just lost my beloved Coco on Wed and can only hope it gets better...Many prayers being sent your way ...Kelly

Kelly Redding

Dear Teresa You have dealt with so much with your dogs and I will definitely read Jacob's story. Im sorry to hear about Rocky and his pain - I know you must have some amazing memories of both Jacob and Rocky. I agree with Kelly, thank you. Best wishes to you. Silka

Silka Melbourne Australia

Teresa, I'm so sorry you had to say goodbye to Rocky. I have no doubt at all that he and Jacob have found each other and are running and romping around. Your post really hit home with me - we, too have an almost 14 year old 100 pounder, a black Lab with bad hip dysplasia. The week after Christmas Trajan hurt himself playing with our younger Lab and literally wasn't able to walk for a week. My husband carried him in and out for better than a week, and he's getting better but still not quite right. We're over here hoping he makes it throught the winter, which is when all of our other dogs have died, but we know we're in the home stretch now. Your post just made me cry. Hang in there, and hugs to your family from mine. Elizabeth

Elizabeth Baltimore

Teresa, my deepset sympathy to you and your family. Rest assured your two precious boys have reunited running together pain free with all the other angels over the bridge. Effie.

Effie Melbourne Australia

Hi Teresa - I remember your posts from when I first came on the board. I am very sorry for your recent loss of Rocky - no matter what - it's always, always such a difficult decision. It's good the knowledge of your boys being together again brings you comfort at this time (as it does for me with my first two boys). Please, when and if you feel up to it, would you post the name of Rocky's neurologic condition? It sounds similar to something my IMHA dog is going through and while we've seen two neurologists, no one has linked the two. I would like to learn more. Thank you and take care- Bonnie

Bonnie Chicago

Hi Bonnie, What kind of symptoms is your pooch experiencing? Rocky was never given one set diagnosis. His problem started actually with "knuckling" of the rear paws when walking. It seemed to be more pronouned on his left side. Knuckling is when they sometime walk on the top of the paws. Its almost like they forget where to put their footing. Sometimes the rear legs will kind of criss-cross. Rocky's all in all wasnt as bad as I had seen in other dogs. Moving forward......we noticed that Rocky's bark was kind of hoarse and he panted a lot. Being a very hairy big boy and the fact that it was getting into the summer months, the vet said it was just him getting older. Well, Rocky's breathing progressively got worse. We limited his time outside and while he was in the cold house, no problems. It got to a point,however, that one day immediately upon letting him out to do his business he when into serious respiratory distress. We sprayed cold water on his paws, just as the vet suggested to cool him off. Nothing. He went beyond turning blue....his tongue and mucous membranes were grey. By the grace of God, we got him into our truck and took the 40 mile trip to the er vet. By the time we got there he was fine so they basically just did the "old age" spill with us again. I told them I had done my research and I thought, without a doubt, my boy had larygneal paralysis. Well, they gave me a referral and he had the surgery one week later. At the time of the consult with the internal med neurologist, he mentioned the link between the rear leg weakness and his LP. He went on to say all the symptoms are just a bigger part of a neurological disorder, not really giving a percise name for it. I do know, however, that it can present itself in different ways to even include megaesophagus, facial paralysis, etc. Basically, I was told, just like in us humans, when dogs age they can get things that are just like MS and other neurological diseases. I hope this helps you. I could go on and on....a lot of info on the subject. Please let me know if I can answer any other guestions.

Teresa va

Teresa, I am so sorry for you loss of Rocky, he is now over the bridge playing pain free with Rocky now. I have a 13 ear old lab and have never heard of Laryngeal Paralysis until last month when I had Jake in because he is breathing heavily, out of breath and coughs when he is on his back or gets excited. he has done the coughing on and off for years, and they could never find a cause, Dont know if at the time they ever looked for LP The vet mentioned last month about LG, but when the xrays came back, he has an enlarged heart and the vet said this is porbably the cause it may be just his heart, he has an enlarged heart. Elizabeth I hope Trajan gets over this hump, Jake tore his ACL last year an dwe opted not do surgery and has done quite well, and now this along with Wylie my AIHA dog in remission who is 12 years old. Laurie

Laurie CA

Hi Laurie, The very first thing they told me is that it was possibly heart issues with Rocky. I was told the only true way to diagnose LP is by scoping the back of the throat. The way the specialist normally handles it is by putting them under to scope and if its a positive diagnosis then they continue on right then and there with the procedure. Rocky had a unilateral tieback. His breathing was like night and day after the procedure. Not to scare you but from what I understand labbies seem to get it more often and the yahoo forum I am a member of it seems most of the pups are labbies around 10 and up. Of course, it can happen in any breed. Rocky was an australian sheph/german sheph mix. They have come a long way with procedures and meds for heart problems. I wish you and your Sweet Boy Jake the best. Teresa

Teresa va

Teresa, The vet that mentioned the LP was the there filling in while mine was on vacation. I just heard back today from my regular vet and said the enlarged heart was minimal and since Jake was also Just diagnosed with Hypothryriod from that same visit he thought that could be some of his symptoms. Darn, I wished I had loooked up the LP before, I just now looked up Lp and it sounds like a text book case, for Jake since he has many of the same symptoms for a very long time, the coughing when excited it gets real bad on his back, heat intolerance, panting,these has for a few years and now the the hypothyroid which is also a symptoms of it. He was checked for Cushings last year but that came back negative. He goes back in two weeks for a hypo-thyoid check up and I will talk to my vet about about the LP Laurie

Laurie CA

Laurie, Good luck and please let me know how his visit turns out. If it is LP, it is easily treated with the tieback and honestly its like having a new pup again. Its only after the surgery you realize what a difference it makes. After the surgery, even in 90 degree weather, Rocky barely panted at all going out for walks or potty breaks.For an old boy (13.5) at the time of his surgery, he did very well, very minimal down time and a 24 hour stay post-surgical. The surgery is around $1500....well here in Virginia anyway. We got the Care Care with zero financing for 12 months. It was worth every cent.

Teresa va

Teresa - There are some commonalities between what you (and Laurie) have described and what Murray is experiencing. He has sporadic coughing episodes - either appearing like he has a piece of food caught in his throat. The internist thinks he is losing some motility due to age (she has never mentioned LP). It also happens sporadically when he's on leash and gets excited (he's on a harness not a neck collar but it still happens). Last week he saw some deer and got so worked up he started coughing and then fainted. I talked to both our regular vet and the cardiologist (he has a heart murmur) and both said it happens and wasn't anything to worry about at this point. He also has tremors which have advanced over the past couple of years. I haven't seen him walk on the tops of his paws but have seen the criss crossing you described. His back paws will sometimes scrape the pavement when he walks or he'll be standing and his legs will tremor and he'll stumble. We've seen two neurologists and both ascribed his tremors to (most likely) essential (degenerative) tremor syndrome. Interestingly, like Laurie mentioned, he is also on thyroid supplementation. No one has mentioned LP or a possible link between the coughing and the tremors which is why your post caught my attention. I was wondering if there was a name for the condition that I could research further. Thank you for replying so quickly and I hope you are doing okay under the circumstances. Bonnie

Bonnie Chicago

Bonnie, look this up, Laryngeal Paralysis. I didnt' save the links tha mentioned hypothyrpidism, but this one does. I found nothing about it causing other neurologival problems so hopefully Teresa can comment on that part share someinfo http://www.vet4petz.com/articles/laryngeal_paralysis.htm Laurie

Laurie CA

Hi Ladies, First, I would like to clarify something. A dog can get LP and not exhibit signs of the rear leg weakness. However, when they do have the rear leg weakness along with the LP they classify it under a "polyneuropathy" syndrome. Most of my info came from a neurologist on a yahoo group for LP (unfortunately files, not webpages). If you google LP and rear end weakness, you will be able to find lots of info on the connection between the two. The only one that I did save is: http://www.labmed.org/labmednews1002.html Scroll down and read Maverick's Story. His story is very helpful and it does talk about hypothyroid and its association, along with rear end weakness. Teresa

Teresa va

Teresa, thanks for your link Laurie

Laurie CA

Sorry to hear of your losses of Jacob and Rocky. Run free together at the bridge Jacob & Rocky. Johnny & Tessy

Johnny

Teresa & Laurie - Thank you so much for your help and sharing all this information. Many thanks, Bonnie

Bonnie Chicago

This thread was discussed between 14/01/2010 and 22/01/2010

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