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Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - New thread for Gill
| Gill I moved your post yo the new threads, so it will not get lost. gill morrison, united kingdm, tonymorrison@blueyonder.co.uk Hi everyone New to this but need some advice on my beautiful Shih Tzu 11 year old Phoebe who has AIHA. She was admitted to the Royal Dick Small Animal Hospital in Edinburgh, Scotland and with a PCV of 11 in May 2009. She stayed there for 3 weeks (and as she had never been away from me, ever this was a very traumatic time but we new we had to give her the best possible fighting chance). she was given two transfusions of Oxyglobin as she is RH negative and did not have a cross-match. She has been on Prednisolone, Fersamal, Pepcid, Antepsin and Azathioprine since returning home. She came with a PCV of 15 and this increased firstly to 20 (think we had won the lottery!!) and then 22.5 which is were it has stuck. Initially her blood was not regenerating, but had good news (some at last!) when slight improvement was noticed by the lab and sent to Royal Dick. The advice I need is: how long before PCV levels start to steadily rise (had another test this am at Vet and still 22.5 - bloods sent off to lab), and is there anything I can do to help in this process. One tip I did receive from another AIHA sufferer is at Phoebe was suffering from upset tummy and runs from medication she was put on Pro-Kolin but was taking too much of this. The advice I was given was to give her Pumpkin to stop the runs or even to help with constipation. After significant time searching on the internet I found tinned pumpkin in a deli in London which I had posted out. This works a treat - phoebe takes it from a syringe and licks it as it comes out of the tube. My vet cannot believe how it has helped and I would recommend this to anyone whose pet has upset tummy. I will never be without it in my store cupboard. Have been reading all your posts and it helps to know that beloved pets are recovering from this awful disease which seems to come from nowhere and affect all of our lives. Will keep you all in my prayers. any replies will be most welcome Kind regards Gill . UK |
| Brigitte BC Canada |
| thank you so much brenda - you can tell i'm new to this. thanks again gill & phoebe |
| gill uk |
| Gill, I'm sorry to hear that you and your beloved Phoebe are going through this. But the fact that Phoebe's PCV rose and that she's regenerative is encouraging news. As I'm sure you've realized after reading through the posts on this site, AIHA isn't something that's "cured" over night; moreover, each dog appears to respond differently so there's way of knowing how long it will be before Phoebe's PCV rises. I've had 2 dogs with this disease--the first (who had IMHA and TCP) came home after 10 days in ICU with a PCV of 18, and her levels rose rather quickly (it's been several years, so I don't remember exactly, but I think she was within normal range after a few weeks); my second dog also spent 10 days in ICU, came home with a PCV of 15, rose very slightly but progressively for a few weeks, then plateaued at around 32. It was nearly a year before she was completely weaned from Prednisone, but once she was, her PCV started to rise! Again, every dog is different. I guess you need to trust your vet. If you don't, then find someone you do trust . . . you're going to be seeing a lot of him/her, so you better make sure that you and Phoebe are comfortable with him/her :) Keeping you and Phoebe in my thoughts. Cindy |
| Cindy Upstate NY |
| Gill, I am glad you "discovered" pumpkin. I add a heaping table spoon to both of Kahlu's meals. He likes it and it seems to do the trick. As for supplements, Dr. Dodds recommends and many of our American friends give petinic. This mixture of vitamins and supplements is not available in Canada, so Dr. Dodds gave us the following formula, (for a 60lbs dog) 200mg Vitamin B12, 2oo mg iron and 5mg folic acid. On the B12 you can give a bit more too if you cant find the exact dose. We have also added Omega3 and Cranberry extract. Best wishes, thinking of you and Phoebe, Brigitte & Kahlu |
| Brigitte BC Canada |
| Gill I am very sorry to hear Phoebe has been diagnosised with AHIA. It is often a slow and bumpy ride but so many dogs do survive and are just fine. Gingers PCV was stuck in the 20's for a few months and she was put on Cyclosporine and within 4 weeks she was in the normal range. You might want to ask your vet about this drug. Wishing good thoughts for your Phoebe and please keep us updated on how she is doing. Cheryl & Ginger |
| Cheryl & Ginger Pineville PA |
| Hi Cheryl and Ginger Just to let you know that my vet at the Royal Dick Small Animal Hospital has suggested that we now give Phoebe Cyclosporine x 4 twice a day. She began them last night and has had her second dose this morning. Vet said she might have tummy upset, but I am well prepared for this with my canned pumpkin which I get online from a store in London (thank goodness for american pumpkin pie!! otherwise would not have been able to source this in the uk), it works much better than pro-kolin (which the vet has now discontinued due to the success of the pumpkin!!) and I await to see what the next blood test on wednesday will bring - hopefully good news. here's wishing everyone is progressing well - my prayers are with you all each sunday at mass and I now light a candle for all IAHA canine buddies each week. kind regards gill & Phoebe PS if anyone has any comments on cyclosporine or another 'cure' I have been reading about called 'Transfer Factor' can you please let me have your information - I'd be most grateful. xx |
| gill uk |
| Hi Brigette & Kahlu So pleased the pumpkin worked - don't know how anyone found this 'cure' for upset tummy's but thank goodness they did. Just been online and ordered another two cans!! I have selected and printed your advice on supplemens and I am going to take them to my vet to see if it's ok for Pheebs to have them. Trouble is, you get into such a flap in case you aren't doing the right thing and you feel like you have to believe in your vet (although mine says she does not believe that vaccinations cause IAHA!!!) I have to go along with her advice as I am afraid not too!! Hope this makes sense. As in previous thread, would love to know if anyone has tried the Transfer Factor as it seems too good to be true - (again my vet says it may stimulate her immune system but not according to the website!!) All this conflicting advice. I think that this is the best website to look for information, so pleased I stumbled across it. Best wishes to all Gill and Phoebe xx |
| gill uk |
This thread was discussed between 19/06/2009 and 25/06/2009
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