Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - New User,unsure where to go now?End the suffering?

Hi My dog was diagnosed with AIHA in December, PCV dropped to 12 at one point so was given a couple of blood transfusions. He has been home about 6 weeks now and since then his count has risen from 26/27-30 but this week has dropped back to 27 on Friday and 26 yesterday. He is on 25mg prednisoline twice a day, azothiprine (cant remember dose and am at work just now)once a day, 1/6th of an aspirin a day, medication for heart disease and has now to be started on 2 types of iron tablets. He is really very unhappy and has been since this started, constant peeing accidents which upset him and we need to get up about 3 times a night to let him out to the toilet, most times he doesn't make it first and is weeing in his sleep without knowing. We are considering ending his suffering as it has went on for quite a while with not much improvement, he is just coming up for 9 years old. Just wondered if anyone more experienced with this disease had any thoughts that would help me out? Our insurance covers us for £7,000 and we are at £5,000 just now. My worry is we keep him going only to make the last while of his life even worse and he suffers more? Thanks Laura

Laura Brown Scotland

laura, I am so very sorry to hear that your most beloved dog (what is his name) was diagnosed with AIHA in December. If you have not read my Web site on Canine AIHA/IMHA as yet: http://www.cloudnet.com/~jdickson/ you might want to do so when you can. Be sure to follow the links on the first page to many other 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. The dog featured in the Feb 2010 Success Story had a PCV as low as 3 and is now doing very well. The side effects you are seeing from the prednisone are very normal. I remember my Meisha who was so wonderfully toliet trained would just wet her pillow when on prednsione and not even know about it. As a normal PCV is reached and the prednisone is lowered these wetting accidents will decrease and stop. With a PCV of 26 you are getting close to the normal range (37-55). A PCV of 26, less then two months after diagnosis with a PCV of 12 at diagnosis, is excellent progress. A small dip in the PCV can be excepted from time to time. This may be due to something as simple as how hydrated the dog is. At one point I thought of letting my Meisha go, but my husband and vet urged me to "keep on keeping on" and I am so glad I did. Meisha got to the point where she did so well to look at her and watch her, you would never have been able to tell she had been sick a day in her life. This is true for many other dogs with AIHA/IMHA. I know this is so hard so please be assured you and your most beloved Canine companion are in my thougths and prayers during these very most difficult days.

Joanne MN

Hello Laura, I am so sorry your guy has to go through this horrible fight. There are so many going through the same struggles you are right now. When my Coco was going through it I found this site to be a great source of information and comfort. I have to echo Joanne in that as long as Coco was willing to fight and still had that will to live I felt I could be not let her down and did all I could to fight it with her. In her case we also found extensive cancer and she did not make it, but I watched her and she let me know when it was time to let go. She lost interest in life and while it was hard I knew she was ready to rest. You have to follow your heart and you'll know when to say goodbye. There are so many dogs that overcome this disease that I wouldn't be hasty in any decisions you make especially with his numbers looking that good. I'll be praying for his swift recovery...Kelly, Max and Tito

Kelly Redding

Laura, I am so sorry you had the need to find this site, at the same time I am glad you did. This disease is such a roller coaster ride. But don't give up hope! Remember these dogs are NOT in pain, just very tired and worn out from lack of oxygen and all the side effects of the medications. Your dog will let you know when he had enough. But as long as there is a will to live, keep up the fight! Best wishes, Brigitte

Brigitte BC Canada

Laura- Sorry to hear about what your pup is going through, as i'm oh so familiar with all of it. I just wanted to add that my dog Sway lived rather happily (under the circumstances) for over 2 years after diagnosis and never even had her PCV rise above a 26-27. She was normally in the 19-20 range for the most part and ended up passing due to a list of things including AIHA and liver shunting. 27 is a fine number and if your dog adjusts well to it, which they normally do after awhile, then consider that. My thoughts are with ya-

Josh California

Laura, I am so sorry your boy has been diagnosed with this awful disease. I hope that you have had a chance to read up at Joanne's site. What kind of dog is your boy? I understand how disheartining it is anytime you see a drop in their numbers but like it was mentioned there could be all kind of reasons for the drop. Perhaps you could buy some pee pads for him to rest on so maybe it wouldn't cause so much grief for you all. You know your boy the best and I believe our dogs let us know when they are tired of the fight. AIHA in itself is not painful they are just extremely weak from the low oxygen levels. This is a fight that has a lot of ups and downs but if you have read any of the success storys at Joanne's site you can see that a lot of dogs that seem to be at deaths door have resumed pretty much normal lives. Keep us posted. Penny

Penny Lytle Creek Calif

Hi Laura, I empathize with your struggle with this disease. Please hang in there though - PCV isn't in critical range at this point, and the prednisone makes them pee all over the place until you're able to start reducing it. Please keep us posted on how things go!

Leslie Philly

Hi Laura I am thinking of you guys and praying. How is he doing?lucy

lucy ny

Hi Everyone Thanks for all your replies, makes such a difference to know there are people out there going through the same thing. I have had a chance to read up on the website and it's very encouraging to read some of the positive stories! Oz is a collie cross Penny, thanks for asking. His medication was reduced last week as PCV still dropping and the vert thought his system may be too suppressed so on 1/2 a prednisoline twice a day and an azithiprone every second day. PCV being check later end of next week so fingers crossed. Vet is unsure if there is anything else they can do for him after this if it's still dropping. They also think possible a tumour or cancer somewhere but not sure. Even though his medication has been lowered quite a bit he is still having as many accidents, is this normal? Also he was started on 1 iron tablet a day and I have noticed his wee smells pretty bad and his breath also smelt a bit like his urine last night, anyone any ideas on this one? As ever, thanks for the help and advice! Laura

Laura Scotland

Hello Laura, You really need to ask your vet to do an ultrasound and/x-rays for cancer. My Coco was fighting AIHA for about 3 weeks and we couldn't figure out why the meds weren't kicking in like we had hoped. After screening for cancer it was found through out her poor body. Two masses in her heart,several nodules in her lungs, in her liver and kidneys...there was no way in her case to win this fight. Many dogs do overcome AIHA but make sure that is all he's fighting. Good luck to you and Oz, I will keep you both in my prayers....Kelly

Kelly Redding

Laura, I'm sorry that Oz is dealing with this terrible disease. Do you know his current PCV? The peeing and accidents will go away with time. I used to have to take my Tessy out every couple hours and she still had accidents on the floor. As far as the urine smelling bad you should have the vets check him for infections. Sounds like a UTI to me. Have the vet check for this and also discuss stomach protectants with them. They should really be on one! Pepcid, sucralfate, prilocek, etc. This will help calm the stomach some. You should also consider getting milk thistle and start adding it to his food. Sounds to me like your vet isn't too familiar with this disease. Have you considered consulting a specialist? Lots of us on here have done this and are extremely thankfull we did! Another thing for you to do is ask the vets for copies of ALL tests done. They should have no problem supplying these to you. Get these results and post them here if you'd like. Perhaps we can notice something they didn't. For the time being you should keep him well rested and calm and avoid stress and excitement. You could also start considering proper dieting for him while he's sick. Absolutely no wheat, soy or corn. I'd also switch from the iron supplements to a more suitable supplement like Pet-tinic, which actually helps to build blood. You can get this online and it works wonders! Let us know if we can help in any way. Prayers, best wishes and positive vibes for OZ. Johnny & Tessy

Johnny

Dear Laura, I am so sorry to hear Oz is sick. All of us here know exactly what you are going through. I second Johnny in saying you need a second opinion. Dropping meds by this much because the PCV is low and this would most likely do more harm than good. Do you know the reticulocyte count? Do the latest results show any spherocytes? There are other drugs you can try but I really recommend seeing a specialist. This is what turned my dog Millie around. Please don't give up on Oz yet. keep us posted. Sam and Millie.

Samantha Geelong Australia

One more thing I suggest. I would get the PCV checked sooner than the end of next week.

Samantha Geelong Australia

Hi All Thanks for the advice and information again. He has been checked for UTI and it's negative so not that, the smell doesn't seem to be as bad now so I am going to put it down to either the iron tablets settling in his system or something he ate that day! He is on pepcid at the moment. It is a specialist that we are seeing at a University hospital after a referral from our vet. They seem to really know their stuff and have been very good with us throughout this whole dilema so I really think it's worth sticking with them. I dont have any of the other results from the vets unfortunately. He seems to have been a bit happier yesterday and didin't have any accidents so the lower dose is working in that sense. Also his gums are looking really pink, haven't seen them look like this for a long while. Fingers crossed he is once again heading in the right direction! Laura

Laura Scotland

Perhaps it's diet related? Fingers are crossed for good outcomes. Johnny & Tessy

Johnny

Laura, Interesting that you can smell something is not right. When Kahlu was at his worst, I always smelled different things on him. It was always the smell of illness.... once he got better this smell disappeared and he smelled good. Weird isn't it. Besides iron, Dr. Dodds (who is THE expert with this disease) is recommending giving folic acid and vitamin B. Ask your vets what they think. I don't think it could hurt. I hope Oz will smell like roses prety soon and give him a big Canadian bear hug from me! Best wishes, Brigitte

Brigitte BC Canada

How is Oz doing Laura? I hope good news?

Leslie PHilly

This thread was discussed between 09/02/2010 and 26/02/2010

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