VetNet®
VetNet® AIHA discussion forum
VetNet® Forum
Lifelong Learning Network
www.vetnetlln.ac.uk
Veterinary Recruitment
Premier Partner Program
Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - Tears for Gael in the UK
| This should probably be on it's own: I lost my dog in September 2008. She was a cross collie and she was only 7 years old. She was a strong healthy dog as she always came to work with me and ran around. She started with a bad joint problem in one of her rear legs. I took her to the vets and they x-rayed her leg and dianosed it and told me she needed plenty of rest and gave me anti-inflammatrys and anitbiotics. She straight away refused to go for a short walk or into the garden to relieve her self. I took her back to the vets and explained what she was doing and the vet said that it was understandable that she was refusing to walk. So I took her home and thought to myself, that her leg most be so painful that this was why she was had chosen to take to her bed. Anyway 3 weeks after my last visit to the vets, she began to change even more. I noticed she had bright yellow poo on the wednesday, which I thought was strange and on the Thursday she refused to eat, so on the Friday night I took to the vets and the vet saw that she was jaudice. She was taken straight away into the hospital. She was treated straight away with steriods and blood samples were taken, they told me that they suspected my dog Polly had Haemolytic Amaemia but they could not confirm this until Monday because the lab was closed. Polly never made it. On the Saturday they said to me that they would not do a blood tranfusion because she was better off with her own blood. She died from a heart attack on the Sunday. I was told her blood cells were in fragments. I felt extremely let down by the vets. They said I was unlucky. I still dont understand everything that had happened prior to her death and I dont really know if everything was done to help Polly. |
| melissa slc |
| Gael, I'm so sorry for your loss. There is so many unknowns about AIHA, and many vets are just not up to date on the latest ways to treat it. It can be so swift and sometimes even with herculean efforts, many sweet, strong dogs succumb. My heart goes out to you and aches for sweet Polly. Whether or not the medical side did everything to help her, you certainly did with the information that you had at the time. And we all know here how much love we have for our furkids. Please accept our deepest sympathies. melissa and tiggs |
| melissa slc |
| Dear Gael -- I am so sorry to hear that you lost your dear Polly to this disease. It sounds as if maybe your vets just didn't know what they were dealing with -- maybe they hadn't seen IMHA cases much or they were distracted by the leg issue. But, if there are any certainties with this disease, one is that it strikes in various unsuspecting ways and then it's a race against time for the vets to jerryrig a treatment regimen that works. You did all that you could with the information and vet expertise you had available to help your Polly. Your love was with her until the end. Please take care and let us know how you're doing. P.S. I really hate it when vets say that we are "unlucky." That is such "no s$%#" analysis, and it doesn't help at all. If anything, it says they don't really comprehend the shock and despair that dog parents feel when this disease strikes. |
| Brenda VA |
| Very sorry for your loss Gael. |
| Courtney SLO |
This thread was discussed between 04/01/2009 and 07/01/2009
Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) forum index
This thread is from the Vetnet archive. The live Vetnet forum is active now.
