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Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - Tiggs Update- Splenectomy?
| Hello to our wonderful friends and family here. We haven't posted in a while, work and saving animals has me running 24/7! Tiggs has been doing so well, and hit his two year anniversary in July. I have always had a bit of a psychic connection with Tiggs and thought it was time to get some routine blood work. Clinically, he is doing so great, but I had a gut feeling that something could be lurking. I saw his leg tremble ever so slightly last week and get this...I saw a pet communicator at a farmer's market who asked if Tiggs had internal bleeding...weird I know. SO, in to the vet we went for a PCV and CBC. PCV was GREAT, 51! Platelets were at 75...not so great. With many enlarged platelets. SO, back on Pred we go. 20 mg/twice a day. My vet is always amazed that I catch these things when clinically he has no symptoms. We think it's Jedi Mind Tricks. But, I'm so disappointed nonetheless. Tiggs does very well on Pred, well, as good as any dog can. But, long term, if we are going to keep having this setbacks, I'm wondering if a Splenectomy might be an option. I know it's such a mixed bag of results on those. Tiggs doesn't seem to know or care that his blood doesn't always work, but I know that he feels crummy on Pred, thankfully this is a lower dose, but still. Any thoughts or ideas? melissa and tiggs AIHA- July 16, 2008 ITP- December 2009 ITP- August 2010 |
| melissa slc |
| Melissa, Sorry to hear this news about Tiggs. But great you caught the problem before it got out of hand. Have you ever considered keeping Tiggs on a low dog of pred long term say 5 mg eod to prevent these sorts of set backs. Meisha had so many relapes. The longest she was ever off pred without relapsing was 6 months. when we finally decided to keep her on 5 mg pred eod she went years without another relapse. Both my vet and the vet from U of MN said that this low of dose for a dog of her size, 60 pounds, would not keep her from relapsing..but it did. And at the level of pred Meisha had no pred side effects. The same thing happened with Tori, Bev's dog. Bev checked in here just a few days ago. Tori would continue to relapse every year, but once on a low dose of pred eod, never relapsed again. Just some food for thought. Hugs to Tiggs from me and Magpie. |
| Joanne MN |
| Hi Joanne, I think you are right! That is probably a better first step to see if we can hold things steady. I was thinking of that this morning too. The other thing is that he's covered in pea size hard bumps on his ear flaps, front legs and head. He's had these sorts of bumps his whole life, but the vet wanted to biopsy again (she did several years ago), to see if they are the same types of benign bumps he's had before. She's puzzled at the amount of bumps on his ears and wasn't convinced that they are sebaceous cysts. But, now we have to put that off since he could bleed out. Poor Tiggs just always is outside of the norm with everything. Thanks for the suggestion, I think that's probably right on the money for the long term plan and hopefully minimal side effects. Hugs to you and Maggie. melissa and tiggs |
| melissa slc |
| Ginger is also in the 5mg of pred eod club and seems to be working well for her and she is 75lbs. |
| Cheryl & Ginger Pineville PA |
| Thoughts and prayers for you and Tiggs. I like that the pet communicator picked up on it and I am not at all surprised that you knew it was time to have your boy looked at. Penny |
| Penny Lytle Creek Calif |
| Melissa, I think it is so cool and amazing how connected you are with Tiggs! I was just thinking and remembered a dog who had similar bumps and it turned out to be a Thyroid problem. Have you had that checked lately? I am with Joanne on the low prednisone dose for the rest of his life. Dr. Dodds recommended it for Kahlu when he relapsed. Unfortunately we never got there. Best wishes, Brigitte |
| Brigitte BC Canada |
| Thanks everyone. Brigitte, still think of you and sweet Kahlu often. I hope that he met my senior Winnie dog at the bridge, where all dogs are good,and strong, and healthy. We did have Tiggs thyroid checked recently and it was in the therapeutic range (he is hypothyoroid thanks to IMHA and already on meds for it). I agree, we're probably now on perma pred, which is a bummer, but hopefully we can get him on a low enough maintenance dose to where it's not too uncomfortable for him. Hugs to all from Tiggs and I. |
| melissa slc |
| Melissa, so good to hear from you! Sorry to hear Tiggs is having this setback. Have you rechecked the platelets since? It's at least good to know there's lots of enlarged (new) platelets seen...at least you can cross off a bone marrow issue. I'm not sure what to say about being back on the pred again. I had a low platelet reading once so I had the blood rechecked and the result came back normal! Isn't that the weirdest thing about the pet communicator....would make me wonder if there was internal bleeding somewhere or another cause for the drop in platelets. My thoughts and prayers are with Tiggs (& you). Oh, and Thanks for helping other animals. Johnny & Tessy |
| Johnny |
This thread was discussed between 26/08/2010 and 02/09/2010
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