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Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - side effects
| I have a black lab (fred) who has AIHA. We have been treating him going on 4 months. These are the side effects he has experiences, weight loss, loss of appetite at times, loss of hair, sores on his elbows, back and butt. they heal with cleaning and cream, muscle wasting in his back legs and also cellutitis.Now his eye has the doctor said looks like horner syndrome? i think thats the name. his eye looks sunken and you can see his third eye lid a bit. Has anyone out there experienced any of these side effects with their dog? I would greatly appreciated to know, so maybe we can get an idea of whats going on. the vet said he should have turned the corner, but he seem to just keep having problems. his blood count is 21 and holding this week. Thanks for your help. beth |
| beth virginia |
| Beth, Sorry to hear about Fred. Tiggs' has had a lot of side effects (mostly from Pred) too. He weighs about the same now as before he got sick, but the muscles have really wasted in has hind quarters. He can't really even get into a low to the ground sedan, so I lift him- conversly though, he has no trouble getting out of the car on his front legs. Also, his head is very bony- cheek bones really sticking out, and the bone on top of his head is huge- he also looks slightly bug eyed. He also leaks a lot of urine. Some of the other effects you've mentioned like hair loss, etc, I know can be caused by some of the drugs, I'd be interested to know which ones and which doses he's taking. I guess you really have to watch for Cushings on Pred (this happened to my older dog who was on a pred based med for allergies). The hair on their back side can all fall out. Anyways, I'm sure others will have ideas, experiences and suggestions too, this is just what we've noticed. Good luck and keep us posted, melissa and tiggs |
| melissa slc |
| Hi Melissa and Tiggs, Thank you for your comment. This disease is harder on the owners, i think, than the pet. Fred still wags his tail and gives kisses and always perks up when he hears the word "greenies" and likes to take his little walks. He never has to worry about when its time to take all these meds. He is on: Pred 30mg 2x a day, pet tinic 2x a day, azathiaprine 50 mgs once a day, cephalexin 500 mgs 2caps 2 x a day for infections, Atopica 100mg once a day, trying to replace the preds with atopica its a process. denamarin 2 tabs once a day, famotidine 20 mgs once a day then there is gentocin spray and scrubs for is floor sores. Now his left eye is sunken i guess because of muscle weakness. the dr. called it horners disease? where there is swelling against the optic nerve? His head looks like a triangle cause of fat loss... we are putting him on a diet of ND food for protein. It's very overwhelming!!!!! So that is his and ours story. I pray all this works. I also pray that Tiggs continues to get better! |
| beth virginia |
| Dear Beth and Fred, This is such a hard disease, and you are right, it is harder on the owners sometimes, than the dogs - who are working very very hard to battle this. What i found with Kent, and we are by no means over or past this disease, is that supplements helped enormously, as well as does homecooking as many meals as possible. Hair loss is from the drugs, it will grow back. I dont understand why so many dogs waste in their hind legs, kent has this too but has been getting stronger, but for us it has been over a year and a half. I found he liked the liver cleansing diet for a little while - about 3 months, now wont eat sweet potato or potato. So much is about the diet, in my opinion, I offer him almost everything i eat and balance it with vitamins - he has kidney issues which i battle with right now. Before December, when the kidney problems started in retrospect, he ate a liver cleansing home cooked diet with some kibble. I do not personally believe our dogs should eat much kibble period. Especially if sick - they seem to instinctively know what is good for them. For example, kent rejects high phosporus food, and goes for stuff good for him, but needs a big big variety. This week alone: honeydew melon, strawberries, chicken, 3 kinds of beans (cooked - split pea soup is a favorite); red cabbage (cooked, german style) a little porkchop (not much, kidneys) grapefruit juice (wanted vit C?); homemade bread (NOT rye, hates it, likes french baguettes); and also turned his nose up at: yogurt; non dark meat chicken, ate only 2 hard boiled eggs all week; etc. I find with him its best to give him what he wants, he wont eat what is not good for him, most of the time (exluding meat). When i put it all into a nutrition calculator, it turns out to be pretty balanced. Funny. You might look into maybe adding some fish oil omega 3s into fred's diet, as well as some coQ10, and maybe a little vit E. Make sure he gets enough Bs, and careful of overall supplements - you dont want too many vit As and Ds. Every single drug he takes has to be processed through the liver and kidney and the body in general. They all have their side effects. Make sure you give a little extra nutrients and in my experience it can make a world of difference - though we ourselves are not out of the woods by any means yet. Please keep posting and I know there are alot of people on this list who can chime in. Also, carefully review what else you are giving him: ie flea control products, heartworm products, vaccinations, home cleaning products (softener is bad for dogs!). Keep his environment as pure as possible. Hang in there, We are thinking of you, Christine and Kent For before and after pictures see: http://www.flickr.com/photos/25224268@N03/ |
| Christine Fl |
| Thats alot of variety.... thanks for the input. fred had his blood tested yesterday and it is up to 25. yeah!!! hopefully when he goes back monday it will be the same or better. hope all is going well with you. nice pictures christine! |
| beth virginia |
| Beth Maggie had much of the same as Fred. We were trying to treat the sores on the elbow and on her foot with Clavamox 500mg twice a day, 2 hours after all her other medications. |
| Karon SC |
| Beth, We are going through the same side effects with our dog Mac. He is a fifty pound dog on 50 mg of pred, actually just reduced to 40 mg the other day. My vet said that prednisone is a canabolic (sp)? steroid, which breaks down muscle, compared to an anabolic steroid that weight lifters use to build muscle. She assures me that Mac's hind quarters, front shoulders, and his formerly adorable Springer head will return to normal if we are so lucky to get off pred someday. He is also a leaker of urine, but only if he is on a soft surface like the bed or our leather couch. Cough. I see some sores starting on his elbows, and any little scrape turns into a major sore because of the licking that ensues. His spine is prominent, his legs and belly losing hair. We have elected not to use Frontline on him again due to all the negative press regarding that medication and this illness, and today I picked two ticks of him--one was just crawling on him and one was engorged. I could scream. It seems like we're damned if we do and damned if we don't! I started him on Wellness brand white fish and sweet potato dog food thinking it would be better for his liver, etc. The resulting gas from this food almost drives us out of the house. As I type this he's making my eyes water. In spite of his condition, I do still have hope that he can survive this condition. He lives in the moment as all dogs do and does a great imitation of a very happy dog. He currently seems to have an extra dose of energy so I'm eager to see what his blood work reveals on Wednesday. His PCV has been 32 for three weeks now. The best of luck to you and Fred, and feel free to ask any question that pops into your head. The learning proccess is on going for all of us, and I find people on this site to be overwhelmingly helpful. Take care, Jane |
| Jane MN |
This thread was discussed between 30/08/2008 and 07/10/2008
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