Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - Rosie's story continues

well after two months of being drug free, we are back in the predizone again. Her PCV was 20 instead of the 50 I think it was two months ago. He has put her back to .7mg a pill and a half to start her back on the upward hill. I wish I could just start at the lower dose to see if it would work. Waiting on a cbc test as well. Kinda disappointed as the money has run out to do these pcv tests. so it will be a wait and see kinda time this time. Pam and Rosie Bud

Pam IL

Hi Pam Sorry to hear that Rosie has relapsed!! Mercedes and I will be pulling for a full and "speedy" recovery. Maureen

Maureen BC Canada

Praying for you and ROSIE! We are fighting IMHA. Hang-in there! Blessings, Cindi

Cindi & Tori PBC

Oh no Pam. My heart is hurting with you during this setback. How is Rosie doing clinically? Acting alright? Please do keep us posted when you get the CBC results. My thoughts and prayers are with you both. Johnny & Tessy

Johnny

Dear Pam, I am so sorry to hear of this latest setback for Rosie. We hope that Rosie gets well soon. Maybe she is one of those dogs who can never become "drug free"? Might be something to consider when she does get back into remission.... I personally have never gone drug free with Millie purely because I don't want to risk a relapse. Millie is on 6.25mg Azathioprine every third day, and we get a full CBC done every 3 months to make sure everything is normal. Hugs to you and Rosie - I know she can beat this again! Sam and Millie.

Samantha Geelong

Hi Pam I am sorry to read that Rosie has had a small set back. Rosie sounds a lot like Ginger and every time I tried to wean her off the drugs her PCV dropped, not really low but low enough to start all the meds again at the higher dosages and it is very frustrating not to mention expensive. Her vet and I have since decided to keep her on .5 mg of EOD and 125 mg of the cyclosporine everyday and so far so good. I think we all want our dogs to be med free but unfortunately Ginger isn't one of them. Sometimes it can be tricky finding the correct dosages at the lowest level to maintain a good PCV.Each time Ginger's PCV went back down it did come right back up again after a few weeks of being on the increased dosages, so hang in there. How is Rosie acting and does she seem to be eating okay? Please keep us updated on how she is doing. Sending a big golden hug your way. Cheryl & Ginger

Cheryl & Ginger Pinevile PA

yep Rosie acts totally normal eating sleeping barking. You would never know she was sick on the inside. I guess her CBC platelets counts were very high. higher than a year ago. So without doing any tests, we are just going to increase the preds with some pepcid ac and slurry stuff for the tummy. I'm hoping she will rebound quickly and yes I think she is going to have to be on some type of meds forever after seeing what happened this time..She is still not producing red blood cells if thats what non regenerative means. Its so strange not knowing whats causing this, but a year ago we did do all the normal testing for ulcers bleeding ect.. and nothing came up. So don't want to do those again and money is a concern as well. So for now its the pred. keeping fingers crossed in two weeks she'll return back to normal for what normal is for her anyways..thanks for your comments i depend on them when this stuff happens. Pam and Rosie

Pam Il

Did you run a CBC at all??? I'd be doing this as soon as I could JUST IN CASE it was a false reading. How do you know she's non-regenerative??? Did they look under the scope or something? Is it possible the reading was an error and the non-regenerative state is just a response to normal numbers of rbc's in the body???? Johnny & Tessy

Johnny

she did get a cbc, they said her platlets were high and that the non reg. was from that cbc test. i didnt ask what her number was on that. but guessing it was about the same.. her gums are much more pail, so thats why we knew something was happening. otherwise you wouldnt never know with her.

Pam Il

I'm glad you caught this when you did! Good job! Did you get copies of the bloodwork? I guess you already know what we're going to say or advise....pet tinic, milk thistle, etc etc. I'd assume you are going to be retesting sometime soon?? Please do keep us posted and I'll be keeping you both in my thoughts and prayers. Johnny & Tessy

Johnny

she's on bioprep so far, havent gotten into the other things mentioned cuz she was doing so well. The re-test is on the 14th, hoping for an increase to know we are back on track. Will know more and be able to get my cbc copies too. thanks Johnny

Pam IL

Oh Pam. I am soo sorry this is happening. How is she doing now? We are fighting this battle too with our little one . This is our first week pred free and we are so very anxious. Our dog has terrible side effects from pred so we are praying that she can maitain. Our prayers are with you. Debbie and Sophie

debbie N.B. Canada

Debbie thanks. My biggest thing was I got her off the pred, and then didn't take her for 2 months. I think I should have gone in sooner to really make sure she was handling it well. Good luck with your baby..

Pam IL

Hi Pam, Im sorry to hear this about Rosie - heres hoping she is on the up and up soon - how annoying - but she is amazing the way she keeps on going regardless. Hang in there, both of you. Silka

Silka Melbourne Australia

This thread was discussed between 28/09/2010 and 10/10/2010

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