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Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - sophie's battle
| Sophie is a 7yr old female American cockier spaniel who went in for her routine parvo vaccine April 12,2010 while there the vet looked at her teeth and thought she should have them cleaned so they did pre op bld work for surgery the following week.Sophie was in good health that day because all her bld work came back normal. The following week she had her teeth cleaned and was put on antibiotics for one week. She never came back to good health since. She was listless and didn't want to eat and I took her to the vets the following week thinking her anal glands might be impacted. They checked her over and expressed her anal glands and home we went but she still did not respond, by the next morning I was getting very anxious and demanded testing. That day everything changed in my little dog's life and I cry about how fast this disease can change your dog's life. They took blood work twice and xrays twice and urine and stools and we knew things were very bad for her. She remained in hospital for 3 days and my head was in the dog cage for 3 days. It was so awful. But the good news she responded so very well. They decided she had THROMBOCYTOPENIA and IMMUNE MEDIATED HEMOLYTIC ANEMIA. She came home on pred. 20mg a day, Benazepril 2.5mg once in am Omeprazole 10mg. She was very weak and we were told to keep her very quiet at home. We started the weekly to bi weekly blood being drawn to lower the pred. doseage. We had one relaspe so far. Sophie has continue to spill very high levels of protein in her urine. Im so concerned for her kidneys. I have done numerous searches online to get further information. I thank god for all the info on line because without it im sure the mistakes my vet made Sophie would not be here now. I kept seeing over and over again on sites that they need Omega 3 , aspirin, special diet for kidney failure and when I approached my vet she would agree to some but wasnt sure about the asperine but really this stuff should of been done from day one especially considering that most dogs die from a blood clot not the disease. I finally asked to go the Atlantic Veterinary College and there they did an ultra sound and her kidneys are fine and they feel once she is off the pred her kidneys will be ok. They also put her on aspirin. Sophie started on a special kidney diet too. WE are 3 mths into this now and Sophie cont. to be slowly weaned off the pred. Benazipril 2 times a day. and Omega 3 600mg. once a day. She is not the same dog anymore. She pants most of the time, can only play or walk a very short distance, she wont sit beside me or on my lap. She tries but then jumps down to lie on the cool floor. She is losing her hair and what is left is so dry and brittle. Her belly is huge and she has gained 6 lbs. she waddles now.I think she lives to eat. Her blood work is all good but she cont. to spill massive amounts of protein in her urine. I just found your site yesterday and you mention CUSHING DISEASE and pred can cause this. This is the first time I have heard this so you have given me hope because I kept thinking her kidneys are permanently damaged even though they said when she is off the pred they should come back. Hard to see that 3 mths into this but maybe... Any advise would be helpful. She now is being seen by an internal medicine specialist but lord its a lot of money. Thank you so much for all the info i have received here. You give me hope there might be an end to this nigh mare. |
| debbie N.B.canada |
| Debbie, I am so very sorry to hear of your dear Sophie's illness. Since it has been determined that she has thrombocytopeina (ITP) and IMHA you are dealing with a condtion called Evans Syndrome. While dealing with evans can be more difficult then AIHA/IMHA or ITP alone dogs can surive it and go on to live happy healthy lives. If you have not read my Web site on Canine AIHA/IMHA as yet, you might want to do so when you can. The URL is: http://www.cloudnet.com/~jdickson/ Be sure to follow the links on the bottom of the first page to more sites on AIHA/IMHA that will be very helpful to you and do read the Success Stories pages. The main page is on vacation for the summer but there are lots and lots of stories in the archives. These stories will show you what has worked for other dogs in terms of treatment otpions as well as give you a lot of HOPE. You might especially want to read the May 2008 Success Story of Casper who also had Evans Syndrome: http://www.cloudnet.com/~jdickson/archives20.htm As you read through the other Success Stories you will find other dogs who also have been diagnosed with Evans Syndrome. I know this is so hard so please be assured you and your dear Sophie are in my thoughts and prayers during these most very difficult days. PS. You might also want to read about Midnight the Miracle ITP Dog who had Zero plaltelets when she was diagnosed with ITP over 10 years ago: http://www.cloudnet.com/~jdickson/midnight.htm |
| Joanne MN |
| Debbie, Your case sounds so much like mine. I have a cocker spaniel that was diagnosed with IMHA mid April 2010. We were lucky, we went to U of I teaching hospital and were given great care. Buster is doing wonderful now. I want to tell you that we went through some of the same symptoms that you are experiencing. We had a happy, playful, energetic dog and after IMHA he at first wouldn't eat,then would eat all of the time. He wouldn't play and had no interest in anything, including me. He would lay all stretched out on our cool tile floor and he seemed so tired all of the time. His belly was swollen, his hair wouldn't grow and he still has very bad dandruff. I worried about his liver all of the time. His liver counts are still very high. We are slowly weaning him from the prednisone, and other drugs, and he is starting to act like the old Buster. There really is light at the end of this tunnel. It just takes time. The people on this site are so wonderful. I don't know what I would have done without them, so please keep in touch, cry, scream, whatever you need to do. We will be with you and will understand. Ronda |
| Ronda Illinois |
| Debbie, am I imagining this or have you been on this forum before?? A combo of THROMBOCYTOPENIA and IMMUNE MEDIATED HEMOLYTIC ANEMIA is considered Evans Symdrome. Just in case you didn't know. Basically treated the same. Just wondering what antibiotics she was put on in the beginning. Parvo vacs are among some of the most well known for causing complications so htis could potentially be the likely trigger! Especially considering the platelets are also affected. Atlantic Veterinary College....I took Tessy there last year. Good to hear you took Sophie there. They're very up to date on protocol. Fill us in on a little moe info if you can. Current meds & amounts, weight, current diet, etc...everything you can think of. Johnny Tessy & Sadie |
| Johnny |
| Thank you so much for your responses. Sophie goes to the vets today and if all bld work is good then she will be on pred. 2mg. twice a day. They are decreasing her weekly .5 mg twice a day since she has had one relapse already. benazepril 2.5 mg., aspirin 4mg once a day , omega 3 600mg once a day and her diet is K/D Hills prescription canned/ kibble food. I asked if she should be on vitamins because she is losing so much protein but they said its all in her diet. She currently weighs 29.5 lbs. I dipstick her urine once a week but so far no improvement. I am so glad that I found your site the other day and I have bookmarked it. If anyone has any comments on Pred. causing Cushing disease and how it all went for them please let me know because there is so little information on this and in fact your site is the first time I have read this and none of the vets has mentioned this to me. Well they never mentioned Evans disease neither so... And I did ask if there was any good sites for me to go on for information on these diseases and they said there weren't. I do have to say that we are so very glad that we took Sophie to the island. They were wonderful and treated her so well there and most of all gave us hope to continue this battle because I have to tell you everybody at work thinks we are crazy spending all this money and time on such a sick little dog and all I can say is we love her so very much and when do you stop? There's hope so we will not give up. |
| debbie N.B.canada |
| Debbie, Here is a good site on Cushings that you might want to take a look at: http://www.kateconnick.com/library/cushingsdisease.html You might especially want to read the part under the heading: Iatrogenic Hyperadrenocorticism |
| Joanne MN |
| Hi Debbie Sophie's story is similar to ours. Casper also had a teeth cleaning and vaccine and although he did not exhibit signs immediately. He just was not the same and eventually was diagnosed with Evans Syndrome. The steroids can cause Cushings but as the meds are reduced the Cushings can go away. That is what happened in our case. We have also spent a crazy amount of money and effort getting him treatment but he is doing well and we praying that your baby will also be able to get through this. |
| leslie ca |
This thread was discussed between 02/08/2010 and 03/08/2010
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