Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - Ruger doing great but now diarrhea

I have been so busy with the holidays that I have not had time to post.I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and I hope we all have a Happy HEALTHY New Year!!! Ruger and I are new to all of this but over the last week he seems to improve everyday, until today. He has been eating again, even dry dog food, drinking well and his energy seems to get a bit better everyday. Even his coloring is not as yellow so I have been so excited for his re check tomorrow but then this morning he had diarrhea. He has had it all day. Everytime he eats something he has it. The good news is he is still wanting to eat and drink A LOT. He is putting some weight back on although his muscle mass (especially in his head) has diminished. I have been checking his gums but they have yet to return to their normal color so it is hard for me to say if they look pale. They are still yellow. Has anyone else experienced this? Do you think the diarrhea is from the IMHA coming back or from some other condition? He did eat a lot of beef last night so I suppose that could have caused it but all day? I am freaking out again. Thanks for your support!

Jaime Parker

I believe that beef can be hard on the liver if eaten in larger quantities. Not positive though. Canned pumpkin is very good for calming the stomach/digestive track. It can help with easing the diarrhea, can also help if pup is constipated! Make sure you use the plain canned pumpkin and not the spiced pumpkin pie type. Give a couple of tablespoons, depending on Rugers size. I would add it to my pups food everyday. It is loaded with vitamins too. You might want to ease off on regular food for a day or so. Give brown rice, cottage cheese, etc. I am not an expert on any of this though, so check with other responses when they arrive. Good luck. I'm sure Ruger will be fine. Try to relax and not get too worried until you know what, if anything, is going on. Take care.

Mardi Northern Calif

Jaime, i am sure most people on this board have experienced diarrhea with their AIHA dogs. it seems to go with the territory. I think it is a combination of all the medication and the illness itself. Don't be too alarmed. Mardi's suggestion of giving Ruger pumpkin is excellent. i still give Kahlu a table spoon with every meal. He had an awful time with diarrhea the first couple months after diagnosis. /when the pumpkin did not help, he was put on metranidazol (spelling?) for a couple of weeks and that sure helped a lot. it is good Ruger is drinking lots, because he can easily get dehydrated with the diarrhea and the disease, even if he drinks lots. So make sure clean water is always available and don't restrict it, even if it means getting up a lot during the night. It will get better! Same as you, I was very alarmed when Kahlu lost all his muscle. He was such an athletic boy and all of a sudden looked so skinny and had a potbelly. this is all a side effect of the prednisone and will eventually disappear once you can reduce the dosage. Instead of beef, I would try if he likes steamed fish, chicken or turkey (without skin, as lean as possible) Fatty foods can give him pancreatitis and he does not need that. I always thought people cooking for their dogs are nuts, but guess what...for the first 6 months i cooked Kahlu's food. I got into such a routine it was no big deal. I pretty well followed Dr. Dodds liver cleansing diet with some variations. I would also see that you can get some Milkthistle tincture. Since Ruger already has issues with his liver I think that can't hurt. Even with all that Kahlu's liver enzymes only went down into the normal range once the prednisone was down to 5 mg per day. I hope this helps, best wishes, Brigitte

Brigitte BC Canada

The joys of Diarrhea! No need ot be overly freaked out. I also give pumpkin daily to Tessy. I can't really remember the last time her stool was even soft. Like Brigitte I also follow Dr. Dodds' liver cleansing diet (with modifications). This helps the liver greatly. If Ruger has been eating different foods then that would/could cause the loose stools. Lots of us on here have used Metronidazole (fragyl)...maybe as a last resort if the food changes doesn't help. Ask your doctor about this cause it's an antibiotic medicine and for now it might be good to keep the medicines to a minimum. If it were me I'ld add more fiber to the daily diet and see if this helps in a couple of days. Try to keep things bland if possible. The really good thing is that Ruger is eating and drinking like crazy. YAY for the pred working! Another thing I would do is have the doctor do a full chem panel tomorrow. Important so that then if anything is out of wack you can address it sooner rather than later. I'ld also get them to check his thyroid. Many of us on here consider this a very important thing to do....if you haven't already had it done. These two tests would be a VERY VERY good idea to have done. Brigitte also mentioned milk thistle. This is a herb that does wonders for the liver. It helps to prevent damage to the liver. In larger quantities it can also help protect the kidneys to a small degree...so I've been told. If you have anymore concerns by all means ask. There's always someone here that'll help you. Can't wait to hear the results of Rugers vet visit. Positive healing vibes and prayers for Ruger. Johnny & Tessy

Johnny

Jaime, it could be the beef, that is very hard on the diegestive system. I would add a Tsp/TBSP of pumpkin as suggested and while you are at the vet like Johnny said have them do a CBC. I would get him eating some cooked chicken along with white rice and some cottage cheese keep us posted. Laurie

Laurie CA

I just want to echo the pumpkin remedy. It is a Godsend. My older non-aiha has always had a very sensitive stomach. We add 1 tsp. of pumpkin to his regular food and within no time he is back to solid poops. And yes indeed it also works on constipation. Just be sure when you buy the pumpkin it is 100% pure pumpkin and not the kind that is actually pie filling.

Teresa va

My dog coco was just diagnoised before Christmas she weighs about 50 lbs and her vet had her take 50 mg of predisone per day for a week then dropped it to 30 the second week which started this last Sat. She has started having diarrhea with what looks like blood in her stool occasionally, her gums are also very pale..of course her vet is out of town for the holidays until the 29th...any suggestions? they would be greatly appreciated

kelly ca

Kelly, I have started a new thread for you titled 'Reposting for Kelly'. That way, you should get people's attention more quickly. Please see my response to your post under that thread. Thanks Samantha

Samantha Geelong

Thanks for all the suggestions. I got the pumpkin this afternoon and have him eating only boiled hamburger, chicken, rice and cottage cheese. His Dr. also started him on amoxicillan for colitis??? Good news overall. His PCV was up to a 30!!!!! No more agglutination and only mild spherytes in the CBC. His bilirubin has dropped from 49 to 20! We are not going to reduce the prednisone until next week so hopefully he doesn't lose too much more muscle. His Dr. was very concerned that his back paw and leg were very swollen when we got there. I had not noticed it earlier but it was quite large. His lymph node on that leg was also very enlarged. They asperated it and checked for infection but no sign of one. She doesn't think it is a clot because he is still on heparin 3 times a day which we will be weaning starting tomorrow now that he is not agglutinating. Anyone else have this experience? I think maybe he just his it or fell on it and then with his blood so thin it caused it to swell more, at least this is what I hope anyways!

jaime Parker

Good news about Ruger and his numbers - you cannot go past the advice from the others on this forum.

Silka Melbourne Australia

Jaime, That's great news about Ruger. I hope his leg turns out fine, I have never heard of that happening before so maybe its a fluke thing. Have a great new years, my thoughs and prayers are with you guys

kelly redding

Jaime, happy to hear Ruger's PCV is up to 30 now! Was it his whole leg that was swollen or just the lymph node? Could be an infection that spread to the node. Is it possible that the heparin helped to move a clot to a different area by shrinking it? Is it possible there's excess fluid built up? Any other areas swelled....belly/abdomin area? If it's fluid build up maybe the doctor can drain it. I've heard of others using heating pads several times a day to help reduce the swelling. The amoxicillan should help if in deed it is an infection. If so you should notice a change within days. This is not uncommon. There have been others on this board who have dealt with swelling issues. Warm presses and light massages may help some. Keep him calm and rested for the time being. I'll keep him in my thoughts and prayers. Johnny & Tessy

Johnny

Wonderful news! You must feel so much better now. Whew! Good luck and keep us in the loop.

Mardi Northern Calif

This thread was discussed between 28/12/2009 and 29/12/2009

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