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Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - Neapolitan Mastiff & Promeris & IMHA
| I have been a breeder of Neapolitan Mastiffs for 15 years. I have a hobby kennel in Indianapolis, Indiana. My dogs have been my life for all of this time and there is proof of that in their care and my reputation as an exhibitor and a breeder. For the first time ever, after taking in several rescues, this year I battled with fleas. I never realized what a persistent little parasite they were and with 8 dogs, 7 Neapolitan Mastiffs and 1 Pug, I found that nothing was working. I tried the natural way, diatomaceous earth and nematodes, then flea baths, the popular topicals & monthly pills, then bombs, cattle dips & yard sprays, and finally professional exterminators. Nothing was working, I had the invincible flea. I was continually seeking advise from other breeders, my vets, online, etc. I was at my vet one day when one of the techs suggested Promeris, a new topical that had different ingredients that may be more potent. I was ready to try anything, my poor dogs were being plagued by fleas and I had spent hundreds and hundreds of dollars trying to be rid of them. A couple of them had started to develop staph infections from itching and were spotty and balding. On 9/21/10 I bought 9 doses of Promeris, 7 for dogs 88-110lbs (for the Neos) and 2 for dogs 11-22lbs, one for the Pug and one for one of the Neos that was well over 110lbs. I dosed the dogs that evening on 9/21/10, everyone but the Pug. That very night I got online and started to read about Promeris. Unfortunately this was AFTER I had treated them. The information I was reading was about a lot of negative reactions to this topical. Many different symptoms and many different breeds. I became concerned and refrained from using it on my 15lb Pug until I knew more. I repeatedly checked on my Neos throughout the night, watching for any symptoms that I had read about. Neapolitans have proven to be more sensitive to a lot of things, so I hoped I had not just poisoned my entire kennel. I myself was quite nauseous and very tired, but attributed this to the placebo effect and told myself it was all in my head. By morning everyone was still alive, I was feeling better and aside from a little disorientation displayed by one of my females, everyone was up and chipper, with good color and no vomit. I continued to keep an eye on the dogs & I noticed some were not eating, and suddenly starting to look very thin in the waist. I was supposed to be doing a breeding with a female and wondered if the strong smell and toxins from the Promeris application would have an effect on that. I drove to St Louis to do the breeding regardless, I had been planning it for the last 8 months. The next morning 9/23/10 when I went out in my kennels I saw that my 18 month old male Neapolitan was laying in his kennel in a heap and was not responding as the other dogs were with barks of excitement like they did every morning when I came out to take care of them. My heart raced and I screamed his name repeatedly while running to his kennel, I was sure he was dead because he hadn't moved an inch. Once I swung his kennel door open I saw him move ever so slightly and realized he was still alive but even though he is a black dog, the skin around his eyes and his gums were white as marshmallows. I called my vet but rapidly started to become concerned that he may die before I got there since they were an hour away. As I raced to the vet I thought about the possibilities of what was wrong with him. He was obviously very anemic and I wondered if it was possible that the fleas had caused this. It was very sudden but I really had no idea what else could do this. He had been a healthy dog his whole life. Once I got him to the vet they helped me carry him in and they started examining him and pulling blood and checking vitals. He still had fleas on him and they administered a double dose of capstar while we discussed what might be going on. The vet did not think a dog of his size could be so greatly affected by fleas that he would crash that fast. He wanted to give him Antisedan which was some kind of a reversal for toxins or drugs? They mentioned they suspected that the Promeris could have triggered this reaction and all the info that I had read about online came rushing back to me. From that point on I didn't understand or question much. I let the vets do their work and they hooked him up to IVs and started transfusions. His Hematocrit was at 17%. He had lost 17lbs. I left him there after an hour or so in critical care, wondering if he would make it through the night and feeling such guilt thinking that maybe the fleas had literally sucked the life out of him or I had poisoned him with this toxic experimental topical. He was at the vet for quite a while, while they tried to bring his blood levels back up and waiting for the tests to come back to know what was going on. They let me know that the blood tests confirmed what they had suspected that he had IMHA, Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia, this was causing his immune system to attack his own red blood cells and that's why he needed multiple transfusions. Apparently this was a life-long disease that could have certain triggers that he may recover from and he may not. I did not understand the severity of this condition until I picked him up at the vet on 9/27/10 and researched this more online. There was a 30-58% mortality rate, a 15% relapse rate, and several other scary percentages that really woke me up to his dismal prognosis. Some sites suggested genetic links in addition to reactions to vaccinations and even some forms of cancer causing this. Although my young male did not fit the usual criteria of diagnosed dogs, who were commonly aged and neutered or full of cancer, I assumed he must have always had it and I just never knew. I had owned & produced his father, his mother's father and his father's father. As well as owning his great grandmother and had had several siblings, cousins, aunts & uncles. The ones I didn't keep were purchased by clients that had kept in touch with me throughout their dogs lives and never had anyone in his very large family tree been diagnosed with this or had anything even remotely like this.. I decided to remove him from my breeding program ultimately because of fear that there maybe a chance I could be perpetuating something. Thankfully I have never had pups sired by him. He was on such heavy doses of prednisone that he was aggressive and always bloated, he was going blind very quickly and constantly drank till he was near exploding and I had to limit his water intake and he urinated on himself several times a day. He ate ravenously but never gained weight and soon this was eating into his muscle mass as well. He had been such a noble and beautiful dog and now he was wasting away in front of me. Some friends and fellow dog-people saw him and his descent and suggested maybe I put him to sleep. He relapsed and had another stay at the vet. Finally after 2 months of the meds I decided that they were going to kill him faster than the disorder. I took him off all of his pills other than his supplements and waited to see what happened. Slowly but surely he got better, and he peed less and drank less and became his docile self again. His eyes started to clear up and he looked as though he was gaining weight. When my handler came out I got his opinion and yes he confirmed it wasn't just wishful thinking on my part, he looked much better. He has been off the meds for almost 4 weeks now. He is full of color and life and I have more than a sliver of hope that he will recover and I might be able to place him in a pet home that will be a more conducive environment for him since there are so many triggers that he must avoid now to stay well. We will have to see. I was recently at another one of my vets and a conversation started about Promeris and he said not to use it and that he has pulled it from his clinic. I asked why and he said there was a patient that had a very bad auto immune reaction to it, and guess what it was...IMHA. Suddenly I realized that there had to be something to this completely healthy young dog ironically coming down with IMHA within 48 hours of his exposure to Promeris. Again I researched online and found other cases of IMHA toxic reactions to Promeris. Many people that post their concerns are on this topic are rapidly torn down by others that argue there is no clinical proof and their concerns are unfounded and their stories are exaggerated or produced. I must say that I am not a scientist a doctor or a vet, and that I have NEVER posted on a public forum pertaining to anything like this. My story is not exaggerated or made up, or induced by boredom or hypochondria, it's the facts as they happened, unbiased and without solid blame. I am a concerned owner, breeder and lover of my dog that has been healthy and now is ill. I believe that the Promeris had a great deal to do with this and I hope that at least one person will read this and think twice about using it. I have not contacted the maker of Promeris, Fort Dodge, I don't think that the energy spent would be worth it. I have however let every vet, breeder, puppy buyer, and dog owner I come in contact with not to risk using it. Maybe by reaching out I can find other Neapolitan Mastiff owners that have dealt with this or that will deal with this. Sincerely Cassandra at il Drago Neapolitan Mastiffs |
| Cassandra Indianapolis |
| Cassandra, I am so sorry to hear about your significant trouble with this product. I am glad to hear that your young dog has recovered. That was due to your diligence and care. You are a good breeder and dog owner. I wanted to give you some of my thoughts to peruse that might give you somewhat of an answer to your questions. Promeris contains two active ingredients. One of them, amitraz, is not a benign insecticide. It is very effective against ticks, but it is usually dispensed in a collar that is worn (Preventic), not spread as a topical on the body. These collars are well known for being the best protection against ticks that you can provide. But after being on many dog lists for a long time I know that the caution in multi-dog households is if they play together and mouth, don't use the collars. That is because if this ingredient is ingested it will cause severe illness. Owners are cautioned clearly on the label to make sure the collars are well secured, the extra end is trimmed off and that the dog not be allowed to chew on it. In addition, this ingredient is hazardous to aquatic marine life, so if a dog goes into a body of water, the collar will "weep" and poison fish etc. Also the dog could ingest the amitraz from the water as well. Pretty strong labeling. All vets should know this like the back of their hand. I would think that any vet dispensing this to a household with multiple dogs would advise the owner of these cautions I have mentioned. There are also some collie breeds that are very sensitive, genetically, to many of the ingredients currently used in flea and tick meds. Those owners should be warned of this by their vets. Is this happening? Unfortunately, many of these can be bought off the shelf, thus bypassing a vet's advice. The owners use "just a little more to be safe" and overload the dog with product. Why is amitraz still on the market and being dispensed? Good question. Because in some places around the world, ticks are a constant and life altering, (if not life threatening) problem. I am on a tick list and I often read emails from dog owners who live where their dog will pick up hundreds of ticks just walking out the door. They want to protect their dogs from deadly tick disease and the Preventic collar is the best way. The collars don't apply the amitraz directly to large areas of the skin and are great at catching ticks that like to migrate towards the neck and head. Do I use Preventic collars? We don't have ticks in quantities like that where we are. I have two dogs who play together rough and mouth each other's heads. I have a pond in my back yard with fish. All good reasons not to use them. I would never put it directly on my dogs. That is the mistake that the manufacturer of Promeris made "in my opinion." They were responding to customer desires to "kill everything on my dog" with one product. Nothing in life is easy and this is one of those things. My breeder told me that if I want to eliminate fleas and ticks, start with the environment around my home FIRST and then the final step is to protect the dog. She said simply, "don't use your dog as the only way to kill the fleas." You are looking for good sources to find information and one of the best ways to sort something out like this is to look at each ingredient's safety information. Here is what I have found for you to look at. http://www.pesticideinfo.org/Detail_Chemical.jsp?Rec_Id=PC32824 Note near the bottom you will see that amitraz is suspected of being an "Endocrine Disrupter." Having spent some time around Dr. Dodds I know that this is a code word for anything that disturbs hormones of the body. Ask any number of folks on this forum about the dangers of hormones and AIHA IMHA and you will find that hormones, like estrogen, can play a big role in the abnormal activation of the immune system which can lead to autoimmune disease. Here is an excellent paper written by Dr. Dodds, that I often reference, that details the many things that can disrupt the canine immune system. It certainly is a very complete, but not exhaustive, list of things that can trigger the immune system to go haywire. Take the time to read it over carefully and ask any questions about things you don't understand. http://www.canine-epilepsy-guardian-angels.com/ImmuneSystem.htm I am sorry you have had such a disturbing incident. It is doubly hard when you do something a professional advises you and find out later that maybe they should have given you more information and let you decide first. Remember, most pet owners don't care to know the details and just want the services rendered. Or if they are told, it goes in one ear and out the other. I had this conversation just this morning after doggie training class. One of our really cool instructors, who I have known for a very long time and consider to be one of the smartest dog owners I know, related this story to me. Her Weimaraner puppy was vaccinated a little over a week ago. The vet dispensed the leptospirosis vaccine with the other boosters. (I gasped when she said this.) Later that puppy got into a bag of groceries in the car and chewed on a bunch of fragrance free dryer sheets. Within a short time this puppy had a severe allergic reaction that required veterinary intervention to save his life. Why did this happen? The lepto vaccine is very potent and along with all the other boosters, sent the immune system into high alert. The dryer sheets, benign as they are, were the trigger to set off life threatening anapylactic shock. Now we can't take dryer sheets off the market because they can cause this reaction. But we can, as owners, study very carefully about the pros and cons of vaccinations and parasite preventatives and make an educated decision. Her hindsight was that she should not have allowed the vet to dispense the leptospirosis vaccination that day. I have had to refuse it multiple times from my vet, who knows how adamant I am about minimal vaccinations. Your job as a breeder is doubly difficult. You have many owners with all levels of experience purchasing valuable puppies from you. They may have difficulty with simple house training their puppy while another owner may ask you a dozen questions about vaccinations. How do you educate all of these people clamoring for information? I certainly don't envy you and that is why I leave breeding up to the folks that know what they are doing. They must learn so much veterinary science to do their jobs, but also have the street smarts about caring for little tiny puppies. My breeder told me he can sort out each pup just by the particular sounds it makes. Well, damned, that's pretty good. What you say does count. You are a good breeder and you have strong influence on hundreds of dogs' lives. Things just haven't seemed right to you and you want to know the real details behind what has happened. It seems like you are willing to put forth the effort to really study this and have a full understanding. Now if I were in the market for a Mastiff..... or not. I am dealing with a 5 month old Giant Schnauzer right now. That's "big" enough for me. LOL. my best patrice |
| Patrice NYS |
| Cassandra, I am so sorry you had to find out the hard way about things that are prescribed to our dogs as "wonder products" only to bring them to deaths door or sadly through it. I will not use anything produced by Fort Dodge as I don't feel they are a responsible company. Just my thoughts based on many stories relayed by other pet owners. This board is made up of people just like you who had never even heard of this disease before getting the awful diagnosis. We have all ridden that roller coaster of fear and hope trying to save our dogs. There is nothing in your story that sounds exaggerated at all. Thank you for being a concerned and responsible breeder. My life and home is filled with abandoned/rescued dogs so the only way I will ever own a Mastiff is if I find them dumped along side the road. LOL! Thank you for your message it may help a lot of other people. Penny |
| Penny Lytle Creek Calif |
This thread was discussed between 04/12/2010 and 05/12/2010
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