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Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - My 2nd Dog with AIHA
| I have just left the hospital where I left my best friend. Simon is a 7 year old male neutered Standard poodle whose mother was diagnosed with AIHA and passed away within 2 days 3 years ago. Simon showed signs of depression yesterday and his gums went grey this morning. My heart just fell I thought this could not be happening to me again! I let him out to go potty and watched as his urine was red.. My husband and I rushed him to the hospital. His levels are: HCT 17.3 PLT 49 PCV 18 HCT 17.3 His mood is good but tired. Nothing like his mother was when I lost her. They discussed a blood transfusion and I declined after all I learned the first time around with this. I am hoping to see improvement in the morning but don’t know what to expect.. Any advice would be greatly appreciated at this point. |
| Suzy and Darrell AZ |
| Suzy, Standard Poodles are such beautiful and intelligent dogs. I have always admired them. I am so sorry to hear about Simon tonight. You seem to have some experience with this condition. It's hard to say whether this is something genetic or if it is just circumstance. But in any case, it is treatable with excellent care from a specialist who is experienced in treating AIHA. It is good that they were willing to offer a transfusion. You may still need one or more in the future. If this is Simon's first transfusion, there is no need for cross matching as the first one is "free" for dogs. We ended up giving Chance 3 transfusions during his worst times. They were called Fresh Whole Blood and were extremely beneficial to helping him survive. We did have to have the second two cross matched. It must be very hard to sort out what to do when you have been through this before with your other poodle. Please know that there is great hope with this disease. There are powerful drugs that can be used that can turn the tide of the destruction. Many of us here have a lot of experience with them and can help you understand the side effects and how to deal with them. There is always someone here to help you. There may be a period of time before you will see some progress. Some vets can be very discouraging at this time and you must know your own mind during this time to choose the path YOU want to take. I was very determined to do everything I could. We were very successful and surprised the vets! It was an expensive process, especially in the first weeks. Please let us know how Simon is in the morning. My best to you, Patrice |
| Patrice New York State |
This thread was discussed on 07/01/2008
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