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Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - New Vet- New thoughts?
| Hey everyone! I hope you are all doing well..I've been trying to get caught up with everyone's posts but it has taken me awhile with all of this schoolwork! Anyway, I decided to bring Lola to another vet (that we used to bring all of our animals to until my mom switched to a different place) --the reason for the move is because though we love the people at Lola's previous vet, they are understaffed, and good for routine checkups, but that's about it--nothing was ever consistent, and the tests and prices changed each time--but with that being said, i was beyond content with this visit. My mom came with me and the Doctor asked for all of her paperwork since her diagnosis in July ---so we handed over the very large binder with all of her medical records and my personal notes from each day--he went through it all, and was very very interested in everything, especially all of the notes that I had taken and my thoughts about everything-- He sat with us and we talked for more than 30 minutes (which never happened at our other vet) -- He wanted to know every last detail --and he brought up things that I have thought about but always moved away from Basically, he said that he has only seen pancytopenia (the reduction in rbc, wbc, and platelets) in cats and never saw anything like this in a pup like lola-- he also said that with auto immune diseases and other complications, you usually only see one of two things affected---not all three---which is leading him to believe that Lola was hit hard by something, and was literally on her deathbed, but has recovered from whatever it was. (He went over a long long list that me and my mom thought about but still don't think Lola could have gotten into i.e. poisons, infectious agents, lead etc.. he also said that there was a huge outbreak that hit a bunch of cats this past summer that caused pancytopenia and that it really could have been a number of 1 TIME THINGS that really hurt her system--he said that if just one or two levels were affected, then it is probably an ongoing problem, but the fact that all three levels were down leads him to believe that the problem was fixed after the antibiotics beat whatever was hurting her... of course he knows this is just a theory and since there is no factual information on what causes this disease, we may never know..but OH BOY WOULD I LOVE FOR HIM TO BE RIGHT. one thing i keep coming back to is that in the summer i sprayed bug repellent outside of our house--before doing so, i read the labels, and reviews about the product checking for anything or anyone that talked about using it with animals--everything and everyone said that you could actually spray a dog bed and allow them to lie in it once it dries. Of course I didn't do this but I am wondering if the fumes got into the house and since Lola is so little, it hurt her. As guilty as I would feel, I really wish that it was something as simple as that so that we could take her off of these terrible meds. Anyway, her most recent test results were very good. Platelets back up to 212,000...wbc and rbc normal range--hct 40.4 --nothing remarkedly high or low, so all is well for now i guess. any thoughts on anything i mentioned?? it was a lot for me to take in, but I finally feel as though I have someone on our side, for the long haul. I hope you all are doing well and give your pups big hugs from Lola and I |
| Christina New Jersey |
| Hey, Christina! Well, YAY for those fantastic numbers!!!! Bentley and I are thrilled for you and Ms. Lola!! I don't know about the one time thing, but I do know that I've read about lots of dogs who survive the initial onset and are able to live the remainder of their lives IMHA-free....So Lola may be one of those! With all the toxins in our environment, I don't think we can rule out anything. I wonder if it was the tick bites that set Bentley's illness off, or the flea meds I put on him. But I also know we can't feel guilty...we're trying to do the best we can for our pups with the info we have at the time (remember Richard's advice!!) So enjoy having a new vet that is taking lots of time to treat Lola thoroughly, and those numbers that are awesome!! You are doing a magnificent job with Lola!!! And Mr. B still says she is his girlfriend!! Sally |
| Sally Louisiana |
| Hi Christina I don't think we have ever spoken via the vet net site but i regularly go back to see what news there is for Lola ( we share a name !!) So glad things have improved......what a relief !! On the 1st of November my Little Matilda makes one year without a transfusion.....she is a little miracle and looks like Lola is too. All the best Lola |
| Lola Marlin London |
This thread was discussed between 17/10/2011 and 20/10/2011
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