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Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - Three years ago -- our dear Wiley
| Three years ago --12 May 2005 -- something entered our home and changed our lives forever. Our dear beagle Wiley was stricken with IMHA that day. We knew that she was sick when we awakened that morning, but when I carried her out of the house to the car that day, I had no idea that it would be the last time that she would be in our home. My husband and I thought that the vets would fix her up -- she'd been through so much with epilepsy, hypothyroidism, and more recently, Addison's Disease. But the vets always knew what to do, and Wiley always responded so well. She loved life and she was a fighter. But our Wiley didn't get better, and after a week, we had to make a decision. It was the hardest of our lives, and many of you know, because you've been there too. We'd had ten beautiful, fun, love-filled years together, and we couldn't believe it was going to end so quickly and because of a disease we'd never heard of. We'll always wonder if we should have fought on and we'll always wonder what caused her to become ill. We'll always wonder, but we'll never know. We've cried boatloads of tears, but, as so many of you have said, it won't bring our dear ones back. And besides, we know our dear dogs are happy and healthy again, and that's what we want for them anyway. We must think beyond ourselves. Another way of thinking beyond ourselves is supporting the Meisha's Hope Fund. Since Wiley's death, my husband and I have committed ourselves to the fight against IMHA that Joanne and her husband began in honor of Meisha. It is such an important fight. We don't have any celebrities or major corporations to help us, so each of us has to do what we can. I hope that all of us will do what we can to support the Meisha's Hope Fund at the Morris Animal Foundation. And this year there's a special way to provide support, because we have Steve and Marcus Motorsports working their hearts, and cars, out to get the word out and to provide even stronger infusions of money to our cause. It's not the size of the donation that counts, it's the fact of the donation. Remember that parable of the starving villagers who each brought one item to a pot of boiling water -- after they were done, their little contributions resulted in tasty soup to eat! |
| Brenda VA |
| Brenda, I've seen your posts often and you've given such support and comfort to others. So, I just wanted to say I'm sorry you are marking such a sad time in the wonderful years you had with Wiley. It is lovely how you remember her both in your own thoughts and your support of fighting IMHA. The milestones are hard, regardless of the cause, as many of us know. But, they certainly remind us of the joy these precious dogs bring to our lives, even though the time we have is never long enough. And, Wiley certainly seems to be a perfect example of that. Bonnie |
| Bonnie Chicago |
| In 5 months it will have been 5 years since I lost my 4 year old golden retriever, Hunter, to this disease--that I had never heard of til his diagnosis. We know his was brought on by ProHeart6, the injectable 6 month heart worm preventative (which was pulled from the market 10 months after his death.) It is also known tht vax can bring it on. Since my Hunter's death, I have spent my time warning others about ProHeart6 (AIHA was one of the leading reactions), and even today since it is used in other countries, I still talk about it. And over vaccination of dogs, which my vet feels is causing the increase in number of cases of AIHA and cancer he i seeing. Also, donating to Meisha's fund seveal times a year to try to find a cure, better still, preventative, of this horrible disease. I have lost many dogs in my 52 years of owning dogs, but Hunter's death haunts me. Had I not switched from Interceptor to PH6, I would still have him, as I do his littermae sister, almost 9 years old. It is such a horrible disease I think we will always remember the dogs we lost to it with a little extra something. |
| Sandra Slayton TExas |
| Brenda, It will be 2 years Sunday that we got the awful news. Since then I too have continued to send donations to MAF in memory of not only Salome but also for a lot of the dogs on here that haven't made it. I think their valiant fight needs to be honored. I am really excited with Steve's goals and hope someday through all our efforts no one will lose a beloved pet to this awful disease. Penny |
| Penny Lytle Creek Calif |
This thread was discussed on 13/05/2008
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