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Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - My Sunny,,,, a few questions
| Hi, I am thankful that you are here. I am so relieved to have someone to talk to. I am desperately trying to learn everything that I can about AIHA, because my dog Sunny is fighting for his life. Sunny is a six year old American Eskimo/Border Collie mix. We began noticing that Sunny was not as playful as usual about two months ago. We thought that he had finally gotten over the puppy stage. In hindsight, now I know that something was going wrong. On Monday, June 23, he had orange vomit and stopped eating. On Tuesday morning, he had blood in his urine, so I rushed him to the vet. He had pale gums and his PCV was 25. The vet suspected AIHA, but needed to send blood to a lab overnight, so started Baytril in case it was a UTI. The next morning, due to the lab results, the vet started him on IV fluids and the following injections: Famotidine, Anti inflammatory, and anti emetic. I was told to give him carafate one hour before 20 mg prednisone twice daily. PCV count was now 23. Thursday, PCV count was 20, more iv fluids. Added azathioprine 50 mg and pepcid once per day. Friday, PCV count was 15. He had a 1 unit transfusion which brought the PCV up to 24. Saturday, PCV was 25!!! What JOY!.... but it was premature joy because on Sunday I could tell he was going down hill. Monday AM the PCV count was down to 20. Today, 20 again. Finally, my questions. First, should Sunny be taking something to keep his blood from clotting? Second, does having the blood taken for the PCV test daily worsen his condition? Most importantly... how will I know if he needs to be taken to the emergency hospital for a transfusion? He lays down all the time, and his breathing seems shallow and faster than normal. We does get up to drink, eat and urinate. I am torn between not wanting to wait too long for a transfusion, and not wanting to put him thru going to the hospital. Any advice on what symptoms and severity will merit a trip to the emergency hospital? My daughters and I will be taking turns watching him all night and we need your advice. Thank you! |
| Leslie Oceanside |
| Leslie, I am sorry that Sunny has been diagnosed with this awful disease. You have come to the right place for comfort and support. If you have not found your way to Joanne's site yet please check it out. http://www.cloudnet.com/~jdickson/ You will find all kinds of answers there and also give you questions for your Vet. Be sure to read the success stories too. The most important thing is to have a Vet who is well versed in treating AIHA and does believe it can be beat. The small amount of blood required for the PCV shouldn't affect anything. The tiredness/ shallow breathing etc. are all from the lower levels of oxygen in his blood due to the destruction of the red blood cells. I am sure others will be checking in and giving their input. We have all been where you are so know that you are not alone in your fight. We are just a keystroke away. Penny |
| Penny Lytle Creek Calif |
| Hi Leslie. I'll try to answer your questions based on my experience with my dog but you should always check with your vet. Blood clotting in the early days is a very real danger. My dog was put on medication to avoid blood clots because he had been showing signs of pulmonary embolisms which was very scary. We were lucky it didn't kill him. In the early days we were giving him subcutaneous injections of heparin and then he was switched to a portion of a child's aspirin. Now that his medication doses are lower and he is in remission, he no longer takes the aspirin. As far as having daily blood tests, I wouldn't worry that they draw enough blood to worsen his condition. Getting those daily readings is so important in case Sunny needs a transfusion. I asked the internists at Washington State University when they would want to administer a transfusion and they said they would want to do it if Duck's PCV got to the mid to low teens. Fortunately after the second transfusion he started to climb and never needed another one. But, all dogs are different. The transfusions will buy time while the medications have a chance to kick in and start doing their job. Is Sunny on prednisone? The fast breathing could be due to that. Also he is anemic and that is going to make him very lethargic. Hang in there. This is scary but there are many dogs who have recovered and go on to live happy and healty lives. Please keep us posted and if you have questions, this is a great place to post them. Take care. deb and Duck (my dog!) |
| Debbie BC Canada |
| My dog needed one transfusion, she was on prednisone, then cyclosporine (still is on the cyclo). It's been just over 5 years. I noticed rapid breathing in the very beginning (on pred) but it persisted well after she was off the pred and up to now (though she has also been diagnosed last year with chronic bronchitis). Other friends I know also experienced rapid, shallow breathing while on pred and some even afterwards. I think for dogs whom destruction is ongoing (those that don't get off meds) and/or whom had a very severe battle to get back to normal, it may be simply an aspect of compensating for the rbc destruction (less efficient oxygen transport to the tissues) and possibly, though this is jmo and not verifiable in any way whatsoever, that there may be some residual tissue damage in the little air sacs of the lungs when the dog was in crisis. I don't think you have to worry about the amount of blood taken for blood tests. Has your vet tested for tick-borne disease? Erhlicia and Babesia and probably a few others can cause hemolytic anemias also. Doxycycline is often prescribed preemptively until those tests come back negative. To note how crazy this disease can be and how different each case is, Sierra has not at any time had a problem or concern with clotting issues (knock wood). It may be different because she also has ITP - destruction of platelets too. Anyways, call the vet hopsital if you are worried. The emergency facilities that are open all night are open all night for just that reason. Are you able to take Sunny's temp? Each dog is different, but if it helps at all, my basic parameters for a vet trip basically are: high fever, stumbling, blood from any orifice or red spots on belly, persistent vomiting or heaving, bloody diarrhea, diarrhea that lasts more than a day - or diarrhea that seems extreme (projectile), acting in pain, hot spots that I can't get under control (infection issue for her), eye changes, difficulty breathing (different from normal - it takes awhile to know what normal is when you are dealing with this and sometimes what is now decidely not normal, becomes a new normal, but it takes a while to get there). All that said, if I just felt something wasn't right or was feeling nervous, I've also gone in just because. Usually those trips were not necessary (except for my peace of mind, which actually was helpful in the long run). Sorry that Sunny is going through this. Will keep good thoughts for him. |
| Ronda So Cal |
| Thank you all for your helpful suggestions, insights and prayers. Sunny actually wagged his tail when he saw me this morning so I know he is feeling a bit better. We'll see what the blood test reveals today. |
| Leslie Oceanside |
This thread was discussed on 02/07/2008
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