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Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - Question for Christine FL
| Christine - thank you for your post - what happened to Kent did sound so similar to what happened to Millie - I wonder if she had something similar going on. For a while I thought it sounded like she had a cold - I even shone a torch up her nose a couple of times! Then at the end she stopped eating and her breathing was heavy. I thought of having an autopsy but decided against it due to it might make me feel even worse depending what they found. I wonder if Kent was an elderly dog or young like Millie. Who knows what was going on - at the beginning she did have a number of scans to rule out tumours in her abdomen but nothing showed up. I know how you are feeling and it is awful - I never knew I could feel so sad. I hope for our sakes it gets a little easier with time. I wonder with this disease is there maybe sometimes an underlying "something else" going on all the time but maybe not in every case. Much love. Clare, UK |
| Clare |
| Hi Clare, Kent was an older dog, but too young for the problems he had. He was 9.5 years old when diagnosed with AIHA, and a little over 10 when he relapsed with AIHA/IMT. There are so many mysteries. He developed kidney problems after he relapsed, and I dont know if he would have had these otherwise, or if he would have had this probelm later on, or if at all. We had xrays of his chest done two months ago because he was coughing and then fainting. There was nothing there, and no explanation - all looked good. I gave him antibiotics, just in case he developed some kind of infection, because he never got off the pred or imuran, and so his immune system was very low. He stopped coughing - it had been a dry cough. Before christmas we sent his blood in to check his RBC and kidney numbers - we had started to give him epogen a about 2 months before - his rbcs had started falling and we felt it was our only option, and if he didnt get the epogen we knew his rbcs would continue falling, because of the kidney disease. Then around xmas he got a snotty nose, and i kept looking up it too with a flashlight (g). I ran around with tissues trying to pull the mucus out whenever it was dripping. We took him to the vet on the 29th the first time in the evening, concerned about his cold - he had been on baytril 3 days and no improvement. We insisted on a chest xray, and found a huge mass larger than his heart next to his heart. We think there was something in his throat or nose too, as several weeks earlier we had taken him in about not eating hard food - only found a loose tooth, but we and the vet were concerned he was developing mouth ulcers from being uremic. Anyway, the xrays were the worst. WE could also see his ribs were almost transparent - his body had been stealing calcium from his bones, despite my supplementing calcium. Ultimately, he was panting, breathing terribly, and maybe this would have got better, but i was afraid he was going to suffocate at night - it was so bad, and we believe there was a growth in his passages making it hard for him to breathe. He hadnt eaten in four days, was miserable and somewhat distanced from us. He was definietly 'there' but not happy at all. I wonder now if he didnt have tumors throughout his body, or if they developed due to the drugs, would have been there anyway, or later, or not at all. I will never know. I know this growth was extremely fast growing and putting pressure on his heart in all likelihood. Kent was no longer a candidate for any surgery, due to the aiha, so even if there had been a treatment likely he couldnt have had it. He was 11 years and 6 months and two weeks old when he passed away. I dont know if this answers your question, but i would not be surprised if there was either a new 'doggie virus' going around, or if Millie also might have had a fast growing tumor(s) - its so hard to know. I am so sorry for your loss, godspeed Millie, and take care of yourself, Clare. Christine |
| Christine Fl |
This thread was discussed between 15/01/2009 and 16/01/2009
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