Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - My little Daphne - Need someone to talk to

Not even sure where to start, but was so grateful to come across this page. I have a 6 year old Mini-Dachsund named Daphne. Some background on her - She hurt her back in March/April, doctors said it was the onset of degenerative disc disease and that she needed strict crate rest for 6 weeks, which I did. Hoping that the rest did her some good, I was expecting to see her a little back to normal. Bringing us to May - she wasn't acting herself. She started chewing on rugs, licking dirt, etc....things she never used to do. She seemed to get weaker and weaker and of course, I assumed the weakness was from all the crate rest she had gotten. Not once thinking it was her blood. After doing some research online one morning(May 19), I just knew that it was Anemia. I literally left work, went home and checked her gums....they were white. I was upset thinking that I should have known sooner. I rushed her to the hospital where they ran blood tests. Her PCV was 14. They did a transfusion that afternoon. They also did x-rays and an ultrasound to make sure nothing else was going on. After the transfusion her count went up to 42, which was unheard of in that office. She got started on Prednisone, cyclosporine and aspirin. They also put her on Doxycycline to rule out any tic born diseases. Every few days I was bringing her in and her numbers were good. Staying in the 40 range. They had done a Retic count to see if her bone marrow was producing any new red blood cells. At that point it was so low, they said it was non-regenerative. Her last good blood test was on June 7th. The internal medicine specialist said we could wait a week or two to bring her back in. June 23rd.....I had brought her in and she had dropped to 18. I was told to keep an eye on her, but she could go home. That night, at 9:41pm...she stopped breathing. I performed CPR on her and was able to get her back. I rushed her to a local animal hospital where they stabilized her and then I drove her up to the other one. They did a second transfusion that night, which brought her count up to 27. 3 days later it was at 28, then it dropped down to 25, 23, then 20. Her count of 20 was just this past Tuesday. I had an appt again on Thursday, but last night, I could tell something wasn't right. I brought her back in and she dropped another 3 points in 24 hours. Now she is on transfusion #3. Her count is up to 29 and they are now going to do a bone marrow test. They did do another retic count on her a couple days ago and the number did go up to the point where it's regenerative....which is a positive sign. I feel so lost. I want the best for her. I am not ready to give up on her. I see too many stories how dogs can pull through this. I was so happy to know that I am not alone with this. Any suggestions would be so much appreciated. God Bless, Kelly :)

Kelly Massachusetts

hi kelly, so sorry about your pooch, this disease is very draining on both owner and canine. i don't post very often as i am an old timer on this forum and no longer have the sick pooch. joanne started this forum about the mid 90's as her meisha had this disease, it was not well known in those days and the options were very few. it is a very time consuming and expensive disease, usually the vets will make concessions because they feel for the owners, who are struggling to keep their pooches alive. you have found the right site as everyone here is walking in your shoes, the links and info are usually very accurate and nothing off the wall, but be sure you pass anything about treatment past your vet, as he or she is the one to be kept in the loop. take care and hugg your girl closely. Bev

Bev

Hi Kelly....do not give up hope. You have found the right place here , there are a lot of people that can advise you on this awful problem. The first person you should contact is Dr Jean Dodds, an amazing woman that has helped thousands of people, including me and my dog Matilda, in your situation. Her email is hemopet@hotmail.com . Let her know exactly what you have written here and send her the test results Please contact her straight away. Daphne can pull through this. Sending you and Daphne lots of love, and I'm sure you will get lots of replies to your post. best wishes Lola xx

Lola London

Hi, Kelly, I'm just joining this group, as my Pom has just become ill with this. I don't have answers, but just wanted to say I hope your Daphne improves. My Bentley had the bone marrow check....I hope you get some positive answers from it. Like you, I'm so glad to know I'm not alone with this! Bentley and I send big HUGS to you and Daphne.

Sally Louisiana

Hi Kelly (and Sally), Happy you were able to find us here, sorry that you had to. I certainly wish you the best in your fight and will try to help where I can. Dylan and I are relatively new to this disease, but I will help if I can. Having been through hell like the rest of the caring people who frequent this list, we all know having someone to talk to is important in getting through this and getting Daphne (and Bentley) back to health. A couple of quick notes: Stomach protectant is a must. Prednisone, Cyclosporine and aspirin are hard on the stomach. Pepcic AC (famotidine) at the least and many recommend sucralfate (brand?) or similar stomach protectant to bind to ulcers if they occur. And long term use of these drugs makes that likely at some point. Everyuone will agree, enlist Dr. Dodd's experitse. She really cares about all dogs and always helps. Pet Tinic is a supplement of Iron and Vitamin B for building red blood cells and hemoglobin. I bought mine online, but some vets cary this. There is also the liver that can have issues processing the drugs, destroyed red blood cells and higher intake of food thanks the prednisone. Most recommend Milk Thistle, or denmarin (sp?) - I am sure someone else can speak to these. It will help if we also know more about your dog - weight, overall health, any health issues, weight, skin, behavior etc. Knowing your exact doses and frequency of the drugs taken. More info will help those here provide better advice. Blood work results. Get the results from your vet and post them. There are people here who can help you interpret them. This can help for both short term and long term care. Hopefully your vet has experience with this and is happy to answer your questions and discuss your dog's condition with you. One thing that is for sure here; you are not likely to find people who will give up on your dog and everyone will support whatever decisions you make. This is hard disease to fight and there are no right or wrong answers. Mostly just people who really love their dogs and all dogs. Good luck and always feel free to ask anything, Richard and Dylan (AIHA survivor - 110 days :-)

Richard Burnaby

Hi Kelly, Hopefully the transfusions can buy enough time for the drugs to take effect and the body to build red blood cells. Knowing the doses of drugs in her treatment is important for us to help. Hopefully you continue to see a rise in reticulocytes and PCV. In the short time I have been here, I have seen battles gainst AIHA/IMHA and battles against the drugs used to treat the disease. There can be too much as well as not enough. Richard

Richard Burnaby

Kelly, Sorry that your Daphne has been diagnosed with this awful disease but glad you found this site. It sounds like you have found some Vets that actually know how to treat this. Don't beat yourself up for not noticing things sooner. Most of us had never heard of this disease prior to diagnosis even though it has been around for over 50 years. I cant't offer too much advice because I lost my dog a month into treatment but I stay here to try to support others in any way I can even if it is just in the way of prayers and positive thoughts. Penny

Penny Lytle Creek Calif

Kelly, how's Daphne doing lately? Any change in the counts? It sounds to me like something's going on at the bone marrow level. I'd love to see a record of the recent (and past) blood results if you have them or can get them. Have they done xrays and ultrasounds? Checked for Tic diseases? Ran a full thyroid panel to check for hypothyroidism/autoimmune thyroiditis? Was she on drugs to treat the back issues? Do add a hematinic like pet tinic and it may be a good idea to ask them to use an injectable B complex shot just in case there's absorption issues occuring. Ask them to check iron levels as well as B12 levels. Blood may have to be sent out for these. Please do keep us posted on how Daphne is doing. I'll keep her in my thoughts and prayers. Johnny & Tessy

Johnny

hi Kelly, any news? Lola

Lola London

Kelly~ We are praying for you and your precious pet, Daphne. Please keep in touch with us and ask any question you mat have, as one of us may have had the experience you are your pet is having as you now seek recovery. Many dos have recovered, and you are just starting this often confusing and overwhelming journey. Take a deep breath, stay as calm as you can and love on your pet often. They most likely are not feeling any pain from what I understand, but are so weak and due to the low oxygen, lay around alot. Some of the meds cause panting and often urination. When the meds kick-in you will see slow, but usually improvement overall. Many on this sight are very knowledgable and Dr. Jean Dobbs is highly reccommeded to consult with you and your vet. We were blessed to have vets that are up on the treatment of AHMA and IMHA ( which is what our mini poodle Tori has, but is 11 mos into recovery and back to her old playful happy self. There is hope. We are here for you as you nurse your Daphne with the best possible loving care. She is blessed to have an owner like you! Blessings, CIndi & Tori

Cindi PCB

Hi Everyone! I apologize for not getting back sooner. I would have thought that your comments would be sent via email, but they weren't. I will start a new thread just in case you are not able to read this. Well, I have some very good news. As you all know, Daphne went in for her 3rd transfusion last Wednesday/Thursday. All went well. She also had a bone marrow test done to see if there was anything like Cancer,etc. Well, I brought her saturday to get her pcb's checked and it went from a 26 up to 32! Now I didn't want to get my hopes up too high, since it's not at all common for her count to rise so soon after a transfusion, but I was pretty happy. Monday, her doctor called and said that the bone marrow test came back negative of any cancer, or disease. It showed that her bone marrow is in fact producing which is a very good sign. I brought her yesterday(Tuesday) to get her pcb's checked again, and it jumped another 5 points....up to 37! I did a happy dance right there in the front lobby. The doctor came out and hugged me too!! We both feel and hope that she is on the right track..and that her bone marrow needed to heal, so it could start working again. The cyclosporine she was on in the beginning was a generic drug that was spun so I could administer it in a liquid form. For some reason, we seem to think that it wasn't working that well, so we started her on Atopica 25mg pills twice a day. It's been a little over 3 weeks since we switched, so who knows! And to answer your question, Richard,...yes she is on pepcid twice a day. I also had brought up Vitamin B12 shots last week before even seeing the info on here, and her Dr. thought that was a great idea. I will try to answer all of you individually, again I apologize for not getting back on here sooner. Thank you all so much for the support and love. It means the world to me. Please feel free to use my personal email as well to share stories, questions, etc. Love you guys! Give kisses to your fur-babies. :) Kelly

Kelly Massachusetts

This thread was discussed between 07/07/2011 and 14/07/2011

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