Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - Mercedes and Jean Dodds

Hello Everyone, Well I finally have the results of the bloodtests etc. from hemolife. Dr. Dodds called our home twice, on Sunday morning, and spoke with my husband. (I was away at an agility trial with the other two poodles!) Dr. Dodds was very concerned about Mercedes liver as the numbers are very high. She says there is serious "liver dysfunction". She recommended that the prednisone be reduced immediately from 70 mgs to 50. That to be followed with a further reduction one week later to 30. She has also suggested that thyroxine, pepcid AC, Denamarin, and Pet Tinic, be added to her daily meds. This is exactly what I expected to hear, so there were certainly no surprises. My vet has had to "special order" the denamarin so I am awaiting its arrival. In the meantime I have purchases milk thistle capsules and am giving Mercedes 1/2 tsp. twice a day, and will increase it slowly over the week until she is getting 2 tsp. per day. Hopefully the denamarin will arrive in the next few days. The Pet Tinic is a real problem as it is unavailable here. We have ordered it on-line. It is inexpensive in itself ($11.00) however they are charging me $30 to ship it!!! I have a friend in Washington state trying to find it for me, but she has been unable to find it at pet stores or the vets down there. Anyone got any suggestions on where I can get it without having to pay exorbitant shipping fees??? As far as diet goes, she didn't want Mercedes to have food with corn, wheat, soy, etc. She is currently on a very high quality kibble made with deboned chicken, (no animal byproducts)lots of fruits and veggies, grain free, no wheat,no soy, no gluten, no additives/preservatives etc. so we will stick with that. We have decided to withhold the "presciption canned" though, as I noticed it had "ground corn" in it. Mercedes seems to be doing okay, at the moment. She is alert and active. Hopefully the reduction in the steroids will allow her liver to heal, and her bone marrow will begin to start producing more of those important red blood cells. The other concern is that Mercedes should be having her first heat cycle soon, which Dr Dodds feels, could further complicate things! Dr. Dodds left her phone number and asked that I call her. She is leaving for Europe on Wednesday, so I hope to speak with her tomorrow, sometime. My husband said she seemed like a very lovely person, on the phone, so I look forward to discussing some of my concerns with her.

Maureen BC Canada

Maureen, A lovely person indeed, that she is! Fantastic, that you get to talk to her tomorrow. Ask her about giving the supplements that are in the petinic separately. That is what she recommended we do. Kahlu was on 250 mg B12, 150 mg iron and 5mg folic acid. You will need a prescription for the 5mg pills. Johnny might have an idea where you can get the petinic, he is in Nova Scotia and I know he used it. Kahlu's liver values did not get significantly better until he was down to 5mg with the prednisone and 25mg eod with the azathioprene. So it takes patience to see this happen, but it will! I am looking forward to see you at the Regionals in Abbotsford, I just got my confirmation. Best wishes and a special poodle cuddle from Brigitte and the poodle boys

Brigitte BC Canada

Can you order from amazon.com in Canada? Amazon has pet-tinic. Good luck.

mardi Northern Calif

Hi Maureen. I was never able to find Pet Tinic in Canada and have always ordered it through amazon.com. If you live close enough to the US border, you should be able to have it shipped to a mail drop off point in the US and just pop down to pick it up. Doing this saves a lot on shipping. deb and Duck

Debbie BC Canada

Can you get Lixotonic in the UK? I have heard it is similar to pet-tinic but have not done a side by side comparison. Cheryl & Ginger

Cheryl & Ginger Pineville PA

Hi Everyone Thanks to all for the suggestions re: Pet Tinic. I "think" I have resolved the problem via my friend in Bellingham Washington. She has ordered 2 more bottles of Pet Tinic for me from a supplier in California, who guarantees 2-3 day delivery. These two bottles, she will drive across the border and ship express pkg. with Greyhound. After that I will order the product myself and have it shipped to my friends house stateside. She will then mail it to me from Bellingham, or drive across the border and mail from Canada. This should save me a lot of money in shipping. Isn't it wonderful how folks will go out of their way to help you out, when you have a sick puppy!!! Picked up the "denamarin" from the vet yesterday. Bridgette, you were quite right, it is very expensive ($82), but if it does the job, well worth the price. We will continue to decrease the prednisone, and plan to draw blood at the end of next week to see how Mercedes liver numbers and PCV are. We will also send another sample off to Jean Dodds in about four weeks time to do another T5 and make sure the thyroxine is doing its job. So I guess now, it is just a waiting game. On a positive note, I was able to take my other two standard poodle girls, to an agility trial last weekend. My husband (a retired "advanced life support paramedic) stayed home and took very good care of Ms. Mercedes. It was a much needed mental health break for me, and a real stress reliever. The dogs did extremely well, qualifying in 7 classes each, and Kalli, (Mercedes mom) earned her "Agility Trial Champion of Canada" title as well. This week it is back to the daily care of Mercedes. She is on so many medications, and they all have to be given at different times and under different conditions----empty stomach, full stomach, one hour before dinner, four hours after a certain drug. It was all getting very confusing, so I found I had to do up a daily schedule to be sure that each med/supplement was given at the appropriate time. I know you have all been through this before, and it is only now, that I can truly appreciate how much time and care you have all devoted to your dogs. It truly is a 24/7 job!! I don't mind as we love her so much, and are just thankful that she is still with us, to fuss over. Thats all for now. Thanks again everyone, for your time, advice, and well wishes.

Maureen BC Canada

Hang in there and take care of yourself...those mental health breaks are really important! I know how stressed out I was when Riley was sick and it's partly because I didn't allow myself those breaks. It sounds like you are doing all the right things for Mercedes, keep up the good work!

Jennifer

Hi Maureen, I remember those days of living by the hour, when to give what medication, just all too well. I don't think I could have managed without a daily planner, since I was also very sleep deprived. I think it is fantastic that you have the help of your husband and also the chance to recharge, while he takes over. To care for an AIHA/IMHA dog is all consuming! Sharing the task sure makes it easier. I am glad you got your hands on some petinic. That and the thyroid supplement will probably improve Mercedes PCV fairly soon. The liver values will take some time to come down, but that is ok. The liver is an amazing organ with the ability to heal itself. Also, be prepared for Mercedes to loose hair. I know for a poodle owner, this is a weird and scary experience. This too will take time, but the coat will come back, guaranteed. I can't wait to see you run your poodles at the regionals! Congratulations on your success last weekend. Ripley and i just started to work together after Kahlu died in January, so we are still working on becoming a team. I don't have a lot of expectations for the regionals, just to have fun and become more connected with him. I am sure you can give me some tips on how to run a poodle! Best wishes, Brigitte & the poodle boys

Brigitte BC Canada

Jennifer, thanks for the vote of confidence!! We will continue to try to do all we can to help Mercedes beat this awful disease. Bridgette, Looking forward to seeing you at Regionals next month! I hope that Mercedes will be well enough to come along. If not, hubby will stay at home and babysit. We have already encountered the hair loss. Mercedes was in full show coat when this all began. After a couple of weeks onthe steroids her hair began to come out in handfuls. Since there is no point in showing her, I simply cut her down. She still continues to lose a lot of hair. She has a very profuse coat, so it is not really noticeable. We are having blood drawn at the end of the week to check PCV and liver values. Will update everyone then. Again, thanks to all for your support!!!! Maureen and Mercedes

Maureen BC Canada

Maureen, that's awesome to have Dr. Dodds on board! Isn't she the greatest! I figured she would recommend these things. Did you get the denamarin yet? This will work wonders but it will take time. You could always consider switching to the liver cleansing diet ... also created by Dr. Dodds. I've had Tessy on a modidifed version of this diet for over a year now and the liver has been doing great, along with the milk thistle. Good to hear you found the Pet Tinic. I order mine from "Allivet . com" and usually buy a few bottles at a time...shipping I think is usually around $20. Did Dr. Dodds send the full results to you? A pathological report? I'd be interested in hearing these if you have them...and got the time. I'll keep Merceded in my thoughts and prayers. Johnny & Tessy

Johnny

Hi Johnny Yes we got the denamarin on Tuesday! The Pet Tinic arrived yesterday. So we are good to go with all the meds/supplements. Re: Food. Dr. Dodds inquired about what we were feeding ("GO" Natural by Petcurian) and she was very happy with that, felt it was a very high quality food, and suggested we just continue with it. We decided to do that, as I don't want to upset her gut anymore than it has been. (We also don't want to deal with that awful "diarrhea" again!!! LOL!) I do have the numbers from Jean, and will post them for you when I get a few minutes---maybe later this weekend. Thanks for your concern, and well wishes----also for the contact for PetTinic. Will see how much it ends up costing via my friend in Washington state, and go from there. Maureen and Mercedes PS-Great to hear Tessy is doing well. How long has she been in remission???

Maureen BC Canada

Tessy wasn't doing too well these past few days. I had to hospitalize her as she came down with pancreatitis out of the blue! She doing good now ....no more treats for her which is driving her bonkers! It was scary and nerve wracking for sure though.

Johnny

Hey Johnny Gee I was sorry to read about Tessy! What caused the pancreatitis?? You mentioned treats----were they really high fat/protein??? Glad to hear she is doing better. Maureen

Maureen BC Canada

Not overly sure what caused the pancreatitis to flare up. She had an icecream cone a couple days before and she gets timbits sometimes but other than that there's not a whole lot she gets other than the occasional bone or beef jerky. I'm always so carefull with what I feed her! Guess I'll have to be EXTRA carefull from here on in. How's Mercedes been doing lately?

Johnny

HI Johny, Tessie, Maureen all - Kent had AIHA and was in remission, then got pancreatitis, and the AIHA came back along with ITP. I then learned that the medication they take for the AIHA, on top of being 'purebred' breed had put Kent more at risk for pancreatitis than he would have otherwise been. With AIHA it does not take too much to trigger this if the breed is already prone to it. There are some very yummy biscuits out there for treats, and you can also try to make your own. I could look up some of my old recipes if anyone is interested. Also, the canned dog food that is really low fat from Hills or the other prescription ones - they are so thick that you can pull it out of the can, slice into treat size pieces and bake on a cookie sheet (325 for around 20 minutes but watch them) and voila - appetizing dog treats. Carrots and apple slices are nice treats too, and frozen low fat low sodium chicken broth with little chicken pieces. Christine

christine florida

Hey Christine What a great idea for the Hills canned dogfood. I'm going to give that a try. Thanks for sharing. Maureen and Mercedes.

Maureen BC Canada

This thread was discussed between 11/05/2010 and 21/05/2010

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