Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - Stymie never had a chance

My 5 year old dachshund Stymie wouldn't get out of bed on January 11. He was very lethargic and I noticed his urine was very dark on his pee-pee pad. My boyfriend kept watch over him while I went to work. As the day progressed, he noticed Stymie getting weaker. He called our local vet and he suggested he take Stymie to an emergency vet as it was a sunday. His pvc was 12. The doctor put him on prednisone and gave him a blood transfusion. The transfusion didn't take. We had to pick up Stymie the next morning because the emergency vet was only open on the weekend and nights. We took Stymie to his vet and they kept him for half the day. They gave him more prednisone and another blood transfusion. Again the transfusion didn't take. His immune system kept attacking the new red blood cells. The vet called us and recommended we take Stymie to an internal specialist that provided 24 hour care as he was critical. They gave Stymie another blood transfusion and several types of medicine. On January 13 his poor little heart finally gave out and they performed cpr on him and were able to revive him but he couldn't breathe on his own. The doctor called us with the sad news and said nothing more could be done for Stymie. We made the painful decision to end his suffering and have him euthanized. This all happened so quick and very sudden. He was playing and eating one day and deathly ill the next. It's been over a month and I still can't come to terms that he's gone. I am very depressed and cry all the time. I miss him so much. I don't even know what triggered his AIHA. I can only specualte. We had given him heartguard just the week before. Also my boyfriend had been feeding the dogs leftover ham from Christmas. Maybe the preservatives. We adopted a 1 year old dachshund the month before and Stymie liked to play with him but they also got into a few terrible fights over food and toys. I am wondering if the stress of the new dog triggered it. His bloodwork came back a few weeks after he passed away and didn't show anything suspicious. I guess we will never know. It is hard not to blame myself for him getting this or not taking him in first thing that sunday morning. Were there early warning signs that we did not notice. In May we noticed his lymph nodes were very swollen and his vet gave him antibiotics and the swelling went away. I don't know that I will ever get over this and move on. I have 3 more dachshunds and I am overly paranoid now. I'm afraid to get them vaccinated and give them heartguard. My oldest dachshund is Stymie's biological brother and I worry if this is possibly hereditary.

Michelle Diamondhead

Michelle, I am so sorry for your loss. Sometimes no matter how quickly you act and even if you try everything known to fight this you still don't win. It is terrible to be confronted with a disease you had probably never even heard of prior to Stymie being diagnosed. We all beat ourselves up thinking we should have noticed something, we should have done something different. That is how insidious this disease is. There is so much that is not known about it even though it has been around since the 1950's. I think all of us have taken a closer look at vaccines/pet products etc. since having this nightmare come into our lives. Please try to not beat yourself up too badly. (easily said, but we all do it too) I hope in the coming days you will be able to remember the happier times with your boy. I lost my dog in June 2006 and still miss her every single day but it isn't that gaping hole in my heart feeling that I know you are experincing now. It is more of a wistfullness that she is no longer with me. I am sure Stymie is at the bridge waiting until you are together again Sharing in your sorrow Penny

Penny Lytle Creek Calif

Michelle, I'm so sorry for the loss of Stymie, this disease sucks, plain and simple. Most of us had never heard of it, and by the time we know what's going on, our poor babies are so sick and their system has gone totally awry. Please accept our heartfelt condolences, and I am sure the rest of your babies are happy and healthy, but at least now you have the knowledge to help others learn about it. melissa and tiggs

melissa slc

Dear Michelle: Please accept my deepest condolences in the loss your beloved Stymie. My heart goes out to you and I wish I had some magical words to ease your pain. I was told after a recent loss that grief is normal, natural and necessary, so give yourself time to grief and don't feel bad about it. It is very easy to second guess yourself and to find a hundred things you could have done differently but keep in mind you just went through an extremely difficult situation and had to make some very hard decisions. If you are feeling guilty over something you did or did not do, that's okay. I think it is common for a grieving person to feel this way. Try not to be to hard on yourself and most of all forgive yourself and give yourself the benefit of the doubt. You did the best you could and Stymie knew it. In time your tears will go away and Stymie will be with you always in a very special place in your heart. May God give you strength during this difficult time. Cheryl & Ginger

Cheryl & Ginger Pineville PA

Michelle, My family grieves along with you. This terrible disease can strike with a vengeance and take beloved pets so quickly. Be strong in knowing that you did everything that you could have. There is no conclusive known cause for AIHA. Stymie will be waiting for you. I pray for the Lord's peace in your family. SUE

Susie Delaware

Michelle, I am so very saddened to hear of the death of your most beloved Stymie. Please accept my deepest sympathies on your loss. When you feel up to it, I hope you will visit the Loss & Grief page at the Meisha's Hope AIHA/IMHA Web site: http://www.cloudnet.com/~jdickson/loss.htm This page was written with input from those who have lost their dogs to AIHA/IMHA and contains many resources that will be very helpful to you during these most difficult days. Once again my deepest sympathies to you on your loss. Be assured you are in my thoughts and prayers.

Joanne MN

Michelle, Our thoughts and prayers are with you at this very difficult time of loosing Stymie. Like everyone else has said, please do not blame yourself for this, you did everything you could for your little boy. We have Holly, also a dachshund, and she was diagnosed in March 2007 and she is still on medications and blood draws every month. This disease comes on so fast and sometimes they just really do not have a chance, with Holly, she was given that second chance. I really don't think it is hereditary, but certain breeds are more prone to it then others. I also do not think stress of another dog. In Holly's case we had adopted her 3 months prior to her getting sick and they had used frontline on her and also she was given the Parvo vacc so we are not exactly which one of those caused her anemia. Had you given Stymie frontline?? If so, probably the cause of it. But again you had no way of knowing this just like most of us here. It will take time to grieve the loss of Stymie, but trust me in time maybe weeks, months, each day will get a little easier and you will start to remember the good times you had with Stymie. Please take care. Linda

Linda Sapphire

Michelle -- I am so sorry to hear that you lost your sweet Stymie to this horrible disease so soon after he was diagnosed. The grief from losing a dog to IMHA is intense, partly because it strikes so suddenly; most of us had never heard of it before it hit our dear pets; treatment involves "jerryrigging" so many medications to see what cocktail will work; and it's all a race against time. It's easier to say than to do, but please don't beat yourself up about whether you missed something. This disease strikes so suddenly, without warning, and it's quite possible there weren't any really noticeable signs. The important thing is that you did all that you could do with the resources and information you had at the time. Stymie couldn't ask anything more from you. And take comfort from knowing that you shared a wonderful life toether and you have memories to treasure. Please take comfort knowing that he's happy and healthy again with so many of our other IMHA dogs, like my beagle Wiley, whom we lost to IMHA after a one week fight in May 2005. Please take care and let us know how you're doing.

Brenda VA

I'm very soory about your loss. It is extremely difficult to deal with, but one thing I learned from this forum is that you can't blame yourself or anyone else for the onset of this disease or your response time after you realized that something was wrong. It comes on sooooo fast and by the time we realize something is wrong it's often too late. I lost my Rocco in November and the pain is still brutal. Don't second guess anything you did in the days prior to his illness. I believe that stress caused Rocco to get this disease. He was doing great, and then I moved and he was gone 13 days later.

Glenn NJ

Thank you so much everyone for all your heartfelt letters. It really means a lot to me and was a great comfort to tell my story about Stymie and hear from all of you. I am so sorry for every one who has lost a precious furbaby to this horrible disease and to those struggling with this. As the time goes by the pain becomes a little more bearable, but is still pretty tough. I have my good days and bad. I still cry when I think about him. There are memories of him everywhere and I miss holding him and kissing him on the top of his little head. I miss his funny cry and his sweet doggy smell. He was my clown dog and made us laugh. My other three dachshunds are helping me get through this painful time and I've learned not to take them for granted and cherish every moment I have with them. I am just so grateful I had five happy years with Stymie. My heart goes out to all of you and I wish you luck.

Michelle Diamondhead

I'm so sorry to hear about your pup. I am sitting here with my labradoodle next to me, wondering if her heart will give out from the meds today as well. Like your pup, it came on so fast - she was dx'ed just 3 weeks ago, and now she is deathly ill, even with the transfusions and meds.

Christina Chicago

Dear Michelle, I am so so sorry about Stymie and the horrible pain you're in right now...we lost my puppy Halow Sept.20,2008 (2 mo. old) to parvo virus..I had him 1 day and spent $3000.00 and now can't get another dog till my home is safer. But about the anemia....my Cody was just diagnosed Feb.18....he just had his 3yr. rabies vaccine and the Vet called and said he was in an anemic crisis...PCV 18...he seemed perfect before the vaccine playing fetch for 40 minutes in the cold with me. Well, my other Vet at the hospital said he can never get a vaccine again ( ie; definite correlation between the two ), and onion and garlic can do this, and propylene glycol ( something they put in Busy Bones and other "digestible" treats ).My boyfriend also gave alot of "Table Food" to Cody...I told him you never know what spices have been added to things...they're not all listed. My vet said that for some dogs, vaccines and any foreign thing like heart-guard,advantix,etc....can cause this auto-immune response where the dogs immune systemm "fights off" the foreign invader, and in turn the red cells....but there's NO WAY of knowing this ahead of time....please don't blame yourself with Stymie...he probably had a sensitive system like my Cody (who's only 1yr.5mo )and their bodies don't handle vaccines and other things well. But the food stuff and additives everyone needs more knowledge and info. on to make proper decisions. Right now Cody was improving on pred. but PCV went from 34 to 28 and they want to add azathoprine.....I too am paranoid now ( I have another dog) about what to feed them and checking EVERY LABEL......You're in my prayers...Tammy

Tammy N.J. U.S.

This thread was discussed between 21/02/2009 and 06/03/2009

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