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Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - Phoebe's results
| Hi everyone Just to let you all know that Phoebe's PCV rose to 28 on Thursday - that's almost three points in fifteen days. Anyone would think I had won the lottery when I came out of the vets kissing and hugging Phoebe all the way home!!! To Melissa and Tiggs - happy anniversary - your hard work and dedication has really paid off and hopefully, I shall be following all the great mums and dads to reach a one year anniversary with phoebe - well done mellissa and tiggs - To Ann & Topy congratulations on the toxic onion result - I am so happy that you do not have to go through the throws of this awful disease. I would love to purchase a bandanda for phoebe (she already has a stars and stripes one!!) and to be able to put her photograph on the website for all to see how cute she is. Once again, my dear non-furry and furry friends thank you so much for all your great wisdom, help and support - don't think we could be getting thru this without you all. The cyclosporine (Atopica)seems to be doing the trick to if anyone in doubt about giving it to their beloved pet (and you will have huge doubts as I did)- I only wish we had gone straight onto this drug and not the azathioprine as this seemed to waste valuable time - although I do realise that each pet is individual and not everything works - so for newby's to the site - follow the advice of the old hands of this horrid disease and you will not go far wrong - I'm still learning everyday - however, my contribution to all is please try the pureed pumpkin and goats milk yoghurt - this really does seem to help Phoebe a great deal both with tummy troubles and toilet troubles - I have also increased her intake of oily fish and flaxseed which also seems to have helped. I do believe (as I think jonny said) that green/yellow/red vegetables increase the blood count and help with digestion. Hope this helps anyone - can you imagine what I'll be like if her pcv goes over 30!!!!!! Kind regards a very happy gill and Pheebs!! |
| gill uk |
| I am so happy for you Gill!!! I know the feeling, when you realize things can turn around. Hopefully You will see Phoebe getting a bit more energy and feeling better too. If at the next blood check the results are not rising the way you were hoping (I am NOT saying that this will happen) don't be discouraged. Don't get too hung up on the numbers. It is a slow process and you will need a lot of patience. Being patient is only one thing I learned with this dreaded disease. Take it one day at a time and stay positive. Keep us posted on how Phoebe is doing! Best wishes, Brigitte & Kahlu |
| Brigitte BC Canada |
| Gill, That is great that Phoebe's numbers are on the rise. Like Brigitte says don't get caught up in just the numbers you can tell a lot just by observing Phoebe's behavior. Hopefully each day you will see more of the dog you knew before this awful diagnosis and I am looking forward to seeing a picture of your girl. Penny |
| Penny Lytle Creek Calif |
| Gill, Wonderful news! Finally regenerative! I agree that cyclosporine seems to work very well with non regenerative anemia. It certainly did the trick for Chance. And I agree with your feeling that maybe the aza wasn't the right drug. It tends to suppress the bone marrow and in a dog that is non regenerative, that's not a good thing. So yes, all dogs' conditions warrant different treatment. Non regenerative is a different form than hemolytic anemia. You are *very lucky* that you got the *right* treatment almost immediately. Goat's milk (products) and other dairy items like cottage cheese are called Medium Chain Fats. They digest differently than other fats and are EXCELLENT for digestive problems. I won't go into much detail but the number of "elements" that make up the fatty chain in medium fats makes it easier for them to cross over the boundary of the intestinal wall and be processed by the body. Moderate quantities of MCF are very good for dogs that are ill. Fatty acids in the form of fish oils are excellent for dogs (Omega 3's). They make the cellular walls more permeable so allow for better cellular exchanges. (They of course do this in humans as well!) While humans can covert and use flax oil fatty acids very well, dogs cannot. They are unable to process fatty acids that come from any type of plants, so skip the flax seed. But for ill dogs, you can dose fish oil capsules at the rate of 1 cap per 10 pounds of dog. (But caution is advised in dogs that are currently in a hemolytic state.) Healthy dogs can get about half that on a regular basis. This dosage applies to the over the counter bottles of fish oil you can buy at the corner store. Other products may have more or less EFA's in them. You can also provide these essential fatty acids to dogs in the form of high omega 3 eggs. Eggs are nutritionally one of the most perfect foods and are excellent for dogs. Use a high omega 3 egg product to maximize the benefit. I am lucky that my vet, out in the country, sells eggs from her farm at $2 a dozen. They get a kick out of knowing that our dogs eat them. The vet nutritionist in charge of Cornell's animal nutrition program says that they don't know yet exactly what vegetables provide nutritionally to companion animals, but that early research has shown that there is some kind of benefit. He can't recommend them from a scientific viewpoint yet, but anecdotally he feels there is great benefit and never discourages them. I use carrots, kale, spinach and green beans, *cooked*, in the dog's mix that I make. Don't feed raw spinach or kale to dogs. Raw spinach can negatively effect their thyroid gland and too much raw kale can cause a type of anemia similar to the type caused by onions. Phoebe's PCV will go above 30 and in fact will rise to near 40 in the coming months. Non regenerative dogs seem to respond well to treatment overall and stabilize once they are on the right drugs. Dr. Dodds advised that Chance might need to be on prednisone the rest of his life. I am happy to say that he has not needed to and we discontinued it quite a while ago. His last CBC a week ago was 43%. I am very pleased with his recovery, 2 years later. I hope to be reading this list 2 years from now and see a post from "Gill and Phoebe" that says the same thing. Keep up the good work. YOU are the person who saved her life. Congratulations! my best patrice |
| Patrice NYS |
| Way to go Pheebs! Tiggs and I are sending big hugs and paws up your way! You'll have your new birthday before you know it :) melissa and tiggs |
| melissa slc |
| Gill, that's wonderfully great news for Phoebe. Like they said above though, don't get too caught up on the numbers. Like Phoebe Tessy also started out on prednisone and azathioprine. Her HCT climbed rather well in the first month UNTIL it plateued out in the high 20's where it stayed until she relapsed almost 2 months in. She was put on Atopica after her relapse (3 1/2 months ago) and again her HCT climbed until it reached the high 20's. It stayed in this range until just recently (a few weeks ago) when all of a sudden it jumped up to 35% (last blood draw). There could have been a number of factors that contributed to this rise in HCT....Antibiotics for a UTI (might have cleared up a hidden infection?), discontinuation of aspirin, reductions in her prednisone, diet change, thyroid meds, etc. Anyhow, like you, I was beyond happy in the beginning when her HCT rose so fast to the high 20's. Once it stabilized there I didn't really know what to think or do. One thing I didn't do was give up hope. I took it one day at a time, some better than others, and learned as much as I could about this disease. Like I said above, she finally jumped the hump and rose above 30%. So in saying this I just wanted to let you know that the numbers can go up/down/stabilize and take your head for a ride but eventually they'll climb (some faster than others). The green/yellow/red vegetables idea came from Dr. Dodds actually. I've been following a personally revised version of her liver cleansing diet lately with great success. Have you contacted Dr. Dodds at all? This could be another option for you. She's great at what she does and I've sent Tessy's blood down there a few times now. Well, that's enough rambling from me. Just remember, be strong and show Phoebe the love. She'll get healthy with time and devotion. Just don't get ahead of yourself and think you're in the clear. This disease can return at any time with a vengence. Keep a constant eye on her and follow the advise given here and you should do OK. This forum was like the bible for me these past 5 months. I'll keep Phoebe in my thoughts and prayers. High paws from Tessy. Johnny & Tessy |
| Johnny Nova Scotia |
| Hi Guys Thanks again for all the great advice and congrats - and I know like johnny says I have to keep a lid on things and not get too carried away - in fact pheebs has had a couple of flat days and so "one day at a time sweet jesus" shall be my theme tune. Taking her for a vit b injection tomorrow to see if it helps. Was reading Patrice's post out loud to my husband (which I do often) but got really choked at the end - thank you Patrice for those kind words - they really made me think that I am in control of Phoebe's destiny and will do everything in my power to help her beat this rotten disease - now off to the shops for my Omega eggs!!! Take care everyone - and thanks again for the messages. Love and kind regards Gill and Phoebe xx |
| gill uk |
This thread was discussed between 19/07/2009 and 22/07/2009
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