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Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - Ptatrice& Chance/Josh & Sway
| Chance & Sway seem to be experiencing some of the same symptoms as Shadow. Swollen belly (abdominal fluid accumulation) after going on cyclo; then a good response to cyclo. She seems to respond best to azathioprine (Imuran). She is on all the primary IMHA drugs (pred, cyclo (Atopica) and azathioprine (Imuran) - at very high doses (20 lb dog [terrier mix] on 40 mg/day [divided into two doses, 12 hours apart] of pred; 200 mg cyclo[again /day divided into two doses; and 25 mg of azathioprine, once a day. Through this site, I've become an unlicensed vet. I took Shad off of the curative meds (her REAL vets lowered her dose of pred to 10 mg once a day when she developed tarry stools and black barf), but kept her on the palliative ones (ranitidine and carafate, as well as vitimin K1 and soloxine [a thyroid booster]). And, she bounced back. She ran, she tried to jump (jumping has always been her forte; 20-pound Shadow jumped over the 6-foot fence (as she's done every day - for 10+ years - that she's lived with me. She also excels at jumping into my 5'8" high, but short for my height, arms from a sit/stay position; what a hoot!), she barked and she encouraged her canine brothers to join her in a chorus of howling. (She's not a beagle; but she sings like one, and incites her bros to be a boy band - directed, of course, by Queen Shadow!) So, I took Shadow off her curative meds; kept her on her palliative ones. And she sang! and danced! Then she peed on the bed; too weak to go out the doggie doolast night. She was strong enough to wobble, then run, to the kitchen for her breakfast ('da boys are so good at giving her space to eat while I mix their kibble and canned food) While 'da boys were eating, I crammed Shad's curative meds down her throat. (She accepts them as if they were wrapped in a hot dog - which they first were. But she's a smart enough dog to smell-out her hot dog, shew around the pills hidden in them, eat around(or eschew) the hot dog and spit the medications out. So,, I cram them down her throat, and give her a piece of disgusting hot dog as a reward. If I remember correctly, Chance and Sway are on the whole AIHA/IMHA cocktail - pred, cyclo and Imuran. If I remember correctly, Sway had an adverse reaction (as did Shadow) to cyclo/Atopica. What did you, your vet do Josh> Shadow and I live in northeastern Utah - 180 miles from Salt Lake and 380 miles from Fort Collins, where the nearest VTH is. I've driven herself and myself to SLC every week, at least 2X/week, but I'm old (almost 60) and I'm tired. But, I love Shadow (and 'da boys). And 'da boys love Shadow (She doesn't return their affection; she only has eyes for me.) But, she's tired, too. What are we to do? Long post; serious (I hope) questions. Sandy & Shadow |
| Sandy Utah |
| Sandy, i feel for you, and of course wish the best for shadow... please email me at my address above and i will send you a web address that details EVERYTHING sway has been through from day 1 of diagnosis up untill now. as far as her medication outline...she was on the full cocktail from about july-sept... no results, we were getting transfusions once a week, 8 in total because her blood level was not holding and there was no regeneration. we started her on a human anabolic steroid called 'durabolin/nandrolone' and she was to get 1 shot per week of that. (after 2 months, this is without a doubt what is the underlying factor in saving my dogs life in my opinion, my vets opinion, dr. dodds opinion) the next week i almost lost sway due to horrible side effects of the cocktail she was on, sway had lost 45% of her body weight and that is not an exaggeration. on top of that, she had a heat stroke and almost died...she was hospitalized for 5 days. since that point, meds have been drastically reduced. pred was cut from 40mg daily to 10mg daily, then to 10mg every other day. cyclosporine was cut from 100mg daily to 50mg daily and then to 50mg every other day. imuran was stopped. the durabolin was continued because she began to hold her count in the 20's almost immediately after the first shot was given & even thru her stroke and near death...count was holding. 2 months since being out of the hospital we are now just starting to see a jump in her retic count, which is showing her first bit of blood regeneration. her count however is remaining at 23% and has not raised. but it hasnt dropped either, and has held strong at 20-25% for 54 days now. my advice would be, first... contact dr. dodds through email, fax her shadow's latest blood panel and get her advice on that. and concerning medication...that swollen belly and laying around, tired, energy zapper...that is all side effects from that awful prednisone. sway (before her massive weight loss) was twice as big as shadow, yet shadow is taking meds in doses twice as heavy as sway ever had, even at her worst... im not saying her doses are wrong at all...all im saying is the side effects are a whole nother bag of problems that really affected my dog and almost killed her. every dog and case is different, and that is the craziest most frustrating thing about this disease. what works for someone totally wont work for another... |
| josh california |
| I second what Josh says - very hard to distinguish between the illness symptoms and the drug side effects. The peeing, the weakness, the panting, so distressing, but it is reversible when the pred is decreased. H |
| Hilary Hants. U.K. |
This thread was discussed on 15/11/2007
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