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Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - SPECIALIST IN INDIAPOLIS
| My beautiful lab/corgi/beagle mix is being treated for AIHA, although her results were inclusive. Her age is est. to be about 11 years. Her symptoms came out of nowhere. One morning, early in December, she simply couldn't stand. I took her the vet and at that time it was suspected AIHA. She responded well to Prednisone, and doxycyclin, but once her Pred was reduced her symptoms came back. The Pred was increased and another anti-biotic added. Her counts went up, she is at 30, she was at 20. But the vet has reduced her Pred, trying to wean her off. . I know in my heart, that her symptoms will come back. The next step is a specialist. Can anyone recommend a specialist in the Indianapolis area? Also, it is with regret that I have had to crate Lady, as the side effects of the Pred, she has lost control of her bladder. Anyone else have this problem or advice? |
| Victoria Avon Indiana |
| Victoria, I'm sorry to hear about your dog Lady. One of the side effects of pred is increased water consumption and frequent urination. Pred can never be reduced too soon unless there are sever adverse side effects. Maybe your vet could introduce some of the other drugs used to treat AIHA. There are slower acting drugs like azathioprine and cyclosporine. These drugs are very effective but can take weeks to "kick in". You are both in my prayers. SUE |
| Susie Delaware |
| I am in exas, so of no use in knowing of a specialist in your area. but i did want to wish you and your girl the best of luck i lost my golden retriever, Hunter, to AIHA on oct. 16, 2003. I know haqt you are going thru at the moment and just wanted to wish you luck on getting her into remission that lasts a long, long tiem. |
| Sandra Texas |
| Hi Victoria, I'm sorry to hear about sweet Lady, but hopefully she is on the mend and will respond to her meds. I'm not sure crating her will help, as most of the leaking she is experiencing is far beyond her control and possibly unbeknownst to her. Tiggs had to wear 'pull ups.' I just went and bought the cheap toddler kind (mind you my dog was nearly 70lbs at the time!) and I just sort of wrapped them around his waist. He was so tired and out of it, he really didn't even care. It just sort of dribbled out of him all the time like a leaky faucet. You can also buy large incontinece pads at WalMart I believe, and just lay it over her bed. The good news is that it will subside as her meds are decreased when she is on the mend. But, until then, it requires a lot of patience and some extra clean up efforts. One thing to keep in mind is that meds shouldn't probably be reduced until her PCV is stable. Usual protocols are 2-3 weeks of some sort of stability, but some vets are different. Then when it is reduced, it's usually about 25% at a time, followed by 2-3 more weeks of stable disease. I would try to find that specialist ASAP as things can decline quickly, until Lady is stable. Do you have a veterinary hospital near you? Any good Internal Medicine doc should be able to treat IMHA, and hopefully give you some hope in the process! Hopefully, you've visited Joanne's Meisha's Hope website- I believe she may even have a link to Internal Medicine vets nationwide. All our best, melissa and tiggs |
| melissa slc |
I am so sorry to hear about your dog, If you havent already, please read up on Joannes site fon AIHA and recommended treatment. The vet should not be reducing at this stage unless she is having very bad reactions to prednizone. Joannes site http://www.cloudnet.com/~jdickson/ Here some internists in Indianna and is Purdue University near you? http://www.acvim.org/Specialist/Search.aspx Vets can also consult with teaching hospitals and I am sure Purdue does this. I had my vet contact UC Davis a mojor vet teaching school and they were wonderful. Laurie |
| Laurie CA |
This thread was discussed between 04/01/2009 and 05/01/2009
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