Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - Need help

I hope someone can help me. Lindy has been in remission for a little over two years from AIHA. She is currently on 25 mgs of Azathioprine EOD. She was finally weaned off of pred sometime late summer of 2007. At the end of October, she developed a swollen foot. We thought she had a sticker from the Tammy bushes in our front yard. The local vet suggested soaking it in Epsom Salt, which didn't seem to help. We took her in two days later and he x-rayed it, but didn't see anything. He did go into the swollen area and scrape it out. Our specialist at CSU wanted her on antibiotics, so she suggested Keflex 250 mg, 2X daily. Lindy recovered from this, but sometimes limped. At least she would put weight on it. When we first noticed it, she would not walk on it at all. On Christmas day, she would not walk on it. I examined it and noticed that the same toe was swollen on both sides, instead of just one. We took her into the vet the day after and he suggested we try soaking it again, which we did for two days. This time it opened up and was seeping a clear fluid. The vet went in once again to try to find what might be in there, but found nothing. He put her on Keflex again and suggested we soak it in hopes that whatever was in there might come out. Yesterday my husband and I both remarked how good her foot looked and she was for the most part walking on it without a limp. Last night she started holding it up and would not walk on it. On close examination, I noticed that the toe next to the one he operated on, had a red bump on it. I soaked it again, twice before we went to bed. Towards morning she was shaking in bed, so we covered her with a blanket. This is unusual, as she is usually always too warm. When we got up this morning, her foot is swollen not quite twice the size of normal and she refuses to walk on it. I really am skeptical that anyting is in there at all. She is an inside dog and the tammy bushes are only out front, so she isn't around them, typically. Now both the specialist at CSU and the vet who treated her foot are out of town. Has anyone else had this type of problem with their dogs? All of the time she was on prednisone, cyclosporine gengraf and azathioprine, she never had any type of infection. I am so worried! Thanks, Nancy

Nancy CO

Nancy, Have they done any kind of biopsy and pathology on this? I would ask them to do that if it were me. You would want them to rule out any kind of tumor at the very minimum. I am surprised if they did not do that already? Patrice

Patrice New York State

Dear Patrice, No, no biopsy was done, as my husband thought Lindy had a tiny thorn in her foot. I called the local vet this morning in a rather distressed state..that is, I cry easily. :-( They said to bring her right in. The vet who cut into her foot on the 26th is out of town, so we saw yet another vet. He said because of the swelling, he didn't want to cut into it again, so sent us home with a burst of pred. Dr. Bayliss did return back to CSU yesterday and called after we returned home from the vet here. We are taking her to Ft. Collins tomorrow, as she wants to do an x-ray to see if she has a bone infection and then a biopsy. There is some form of cancer, but her symptoms are contrary to what they should be with this type of cancer, so I am trying to be positive. I am amazed that the local vet wants us to soak the foot and allow her to lick it, while Dr. Bayliss says to let it dry out and if she licks it, she can keep re-infecting it. This makes perfect sense to me, so we will wait and see what happens when we take her to CSU tomorrow. Thanks for the response! Nancy

Nancy CO

Nancy -- sorry to hear about this complication with Lindy. I'll keep you and Lindy in my prayers. Thank goodness you have a wonderful veterinary school nearby with Dr. Bayliss. Please keep us posted.

Brenda VA

Nancy, I am glad you are getting Lindy into see Dr. Bayliss. I am sure that will help your mind set a bunch. Isn't it funny how you can get advice from two Vets that go to the opposite end of the spectrum? Hopefully you will find out what is really going on soon. My nest to you all. Penny

Penny Lytle Creek Calif

Hi, Thanks for your words of help and concern. Lindy spent all day having x-rays, a needle biopsy, blood work, etc. The good news is she doesn't have a bone infection or cancer and her blood work was all normal. We are still waiting on a culture to come back, but Dr. Bayliss believes it to be bacterial, as there were a lot of white blood cells when they did a needle aspiration in one of the swollen areas. She put her on Baytril as the Keflex doesn't seem to be killing off the bacteria. For some reason, Dr. Bayliss went off on a tangent about Lindy having allergies. She prescribed antihistamines, some special soap and conditioner. I have no idea where that came from, as Lindy never scratches or sneezes or has watery eyes. They sent us home with this HUGE cone so she won't lick her foot. Lindy wouldn't even try to move. We decided to cover the foot loosely with gauze and shelve the cone for now. Today she is putting her foot down and walking on it.. some, so she is definitely better. Yay! I opted not to give her the antihistamine, but will probably use the soap and conditioner beings I paid good money for the stuff. Yes, Penny, it does baffle me how two vets can give totally opposite advice on how to treat our pets. I am still trying to figure out where the allergy thing came from. I didn't say anything, as the senior vet student was standing there and I didn't know how to say it. Dr. Bayliss is going to call on Monday to see how the antibiotic is working, so I will ask her then. Nancy

Nancy CO

Hi Nancy, So sorry to hear that Lindy is having problems with her foot. It doesn't sound like allergies to me but what about a bug/insect or spider bite? I hope she heals quickly! Jeanne in NJ Goldens, Angelo & Archie

Jeanne New Jersey

Nancy, I am sorry you are having such a difficult time with sore on Lindy's foot. It is very good that the pathology has shown no sign of tumor. Giant Schnauzers are very prone to serious and deadly toe cancers. When I heard your description, I was frightened. I am overly relieved that you have no such problem. We examine our Giants toes here on a monthly basis looking for signs. Let me tell you a story about our Cassie that might sound similar. Last fall she had a similar swollen spot in her pad, between the toes. She was limping and seemed in pain. We took her to the vets who examined her the best she could as Cassie would have nothing to do with it! After looking carefully, she decided that Cassie had probably gotten a thorn in there and that surgery would be more damaging (having to cut open the pad) than letting it work itself out of the paw. The vet asked us to keep it clean and gave us about 2 weeks of antibiotics. After that she said leave it open and let Cassie work it as much as she wished. That it would eventually work itself out. And you know, it did! We monitored it for pus etc but after about 2 months the thing was just gone! I honestly love my vets very much. They have city smarts when it comes to the latest technology but they never hesitate to go the route of simple and straightforward country vet style when they feel it will work. We have lots of experience with allergies. Chance had them very seriously when he was younger. I can understand why your vet might think this is related to an allergy. Dogs can lick their paws in a way that can lead to open sores. If you don't see other indications that this is the case with Lindy, I would toss it up to the vet really wanting to help you in any way they can. I have always used a soaking product that the vet recommended to us many years ago. I keep a gallon of it and add a tablespoon of it to a large bucket of water. Ask your vet if they have a small bottle of Novalsan that you can try. It's a blue color, but the soak water shouldn't really be blue. I think they might even give you a few ounces to try. When we are done with the soak, we dry the paw as best we can and put on a loose white men's tube sock. We use sports tape around the top above the elbow to keep up the sock overnight. Patrice

Patrice New York State

Hi, Thanks for the suggestions on the Novalsan, Patrice. Next time we go to CSU, I will ask Dr. Bayliss for some to try. Lindy is still on Baytril and the swelling in her foot has gone down. She doesn't limp and puts weight on it, so hopefully whatever is/was in there is dissolving away. The tube sock is a clever idea. Whatever works!! It sounds like Cassie opened the area on her pad where the thorn went in and she was allowed to lick it? I'm glad that worked. What kind of antibiotics did they put her on? On another note, we got the follow up letter from Dr. Bayliss, today, and showed her PCV at 48%, but her ALP is still high, but has decreased since she was weaned off of prednisone last fall. Also her protein is high, which could also be from being on prednisone for over two years. How long does it take for those numbers to return to normal or do they ever? I neglected to ask for a copy of her CBC, so will have to remember to do that next time we are there. Thanks everyone, Nancy

Nancy CO

This thread was discussed between 02/01/2008 and 10/01/2008

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