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Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - My sweet Muffin
| Hi, I have a Cockapoo named Muffin she is about the sweetest dog you could ever meet, I was told about a month ago she has AIHA. One day she started to pee coke colored and pooping blood, and her gums and insides of her ears were white and she quit eatting or drinking, so I took her to the vet and she ran abunch of blood work and said she has AIHA and she didn't know if muffins would make it or not. So they kept her in the ICU on IV fluids . Her HTC was at 8. So they started her on Prednisone 40 mg,Famotidine 20mg, Azathioprine 50mg. After 3 days in the ICU her HTC was up to 16 and the sent her home with all the meds and after about 2 more weeks her HTC was up to 39 and she put on alot of weight. So the vet cut her down to 20mg of prednisone and after about 1 week he HCT dropped to 30 and she started running a 103 temp so they raised her pred back up and waited another week and she was back up to 34, but she still has the temp of 103 so they have decided to put her on a strong antibotic starting this afternoon, sorry don't know the name of it till I pick it up, they have to have it compounded. So anyway she started out at 14 pounds before she got sick and now it up to 30 pounds and seems really tried and not feeling well at all and the vet said they do not know the cause of the fever, and if the anitbotics do not work in 2 weeks to bring the fever down they want to run alot of test to try and figure out the cost. I don't know what to do anymore. Muffin is just laying around and every time I look at her in the face she lookes like she wants me to do something to help her and I don't know what to do. If you could give me so idea to what to do for muffin it would be great. Thanks, Muffin and Joyce |
| Joyce Wyoming USA |
| Joyce, I am so very sorry to hear that your most beloved Muffin has been diagnosed with AIHA. While AIHA/IMHA is a very difficult disease, dogs who have been diagnosed with it CAN and DO recover and go on to live happy healthy lives. If you have not read my Web site on Canine AIHA/IMHA as yet, you might want to do so when you can. The URL is: http://www.cloudnet.com/~jdickson/ Be sure to follow the links at the bottom of the first page to many more sites on AIHA/IMHA that will be very helpful to you and do read the SUCCESS STORIES pages. They will show you what has worked for other dogs in terms of treatment options as well as give you a lot of HOPE. It sounds like Muffin was on the right path until the vet cut the prednsione in half. That was a really big drop so soon. It is recommended that that prednsione only be dropped by 25% when cuts are made. Please keep us updated on how Muffin is doing and be assured you and your dear Muffin are in my thoughts and prayers during these most very difficult days. |
| Joanne MN |
| Hi Joyce, I can't offer much advice - but I can sympathize. Last week the vet and I raised my Indy's dose of prednisone to 30mg per day (from 20) and it seems like all of a sudden he just really feels like crap. He looks and feels (when I carry him) like hes gained about 5 lbs in the last week. He also lays and sometimes just looks at me and whines. It is heartbreaking. At least he is still eating (and LOVING it I might add)! The pred makes them get really hot. My old Indy used to love to get bundled under covers for hours - now he just wants to lay on the floor. I would say to try and keep Muffin as cool as possible - fans, lots of ice cold water, maybe even one of those neck cooling things. Definitely keep the AC on. In terms of dosage, it seems the pred was really working well for Muffin - Indy's about a month out as well with a starting HCT of about 12% and hes only up to around 16% because (in my mind) of too low of a dosage of pred and taking no other drugs. He's now on a higher dose and we added 18mg of imuran (azathioprine). It really is a trade-off. Before the higher dose, Indy seemed mostly like himself but a little more tired - but his RBC was (and still is) very low. From what I've read, it seems that you really have to ease off the dosage of pred - a drop in half from 40 to 20 may have just been too much. Maybe you could ask your vet about trying dropping 5mg a week or every 2 weeks? Hopefully some others can chime in with some more medical type advice! Sending good thoughts your way -- Lindsay and Indy |
| Indysmom Pittsburgh |
| Joyce. Sorry to read that your Muffin has been diagnosed. Hopefully they can figure out what is causing the fever soon. It is terrible to watch what the steroids do to our dogs but keep in mind that AIHA in itself is not painful what you are seeing is the affect of the low oxygen levels in her blood. The cuts do sound like they were made too soon and too much which caused the relapse. Because you are supressing the immune system it is not unusual to have to start fighting infections. How experienced is your Vet in treating this? Read up at Joanne's site and you will find a wealth of information and everyone here will help you with any questions you still have and lend a shoulder to lean on. Keep us posted Penny |
| Penny Lytle Creek Calif |
| Dear Joyce, I am so sorry to hear about Muffin's diagnosis. One thing you do need to be careful of is the rate at which you reduce the Prednisone. Your first reduction was 50%, and it is the general feeling on this board (and of my vet also) that this is too much of a reduction in one hit. This may have caused Muffin to "relapse" as her PCV dropped back to 30. I would reduce no more than 25-33% of the dose of one drug at a time. Always follow up with a PCV test a week later. It is also important to check that there are no spherocytes in Muffin's bloodwork before reducing (Spherocytes are damaged red blood cells that signal destruction is still happening). One of the side effects of prednisone is increased hunger and thirst. My Millie became a vacuum cleaner and put on 33% of her body weight. It is normal for dogs to be tired and lethargic with IMHA, especially with low PCV's, as Penny mentioned above. Give Muffin lots of love, cuddles and let her rest. This is just as important in the healing process as the medication, in my opinion. My Millie was exactly the same. It is hard, but Muffin has already shown she has the ability to recover. Stay here on this board for advice and support, it truly is a lifeline. Samantha & Millie. |
| Samantha Geelong |
| Joyce ..how's Muffin doing? That's a large amount of weight to gain in such a short period of time! What are you feeding her? I'm thinkin that you should alter the either the food you feed her OR limit the amount. An dog that is overweight can cause several undesirable results that one should try to avoid. Hope to hear back from you soon. Johnny & Tessy |
| Johnny |
This thread was discussed between 31/08/2010 and 03/09/2010
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