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Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - Toby update
| Toby was hospitalized a week ago, when he collapsed while we were on vacation. His PCV was 21 (down from 41 three days earlier when he was evaluated for dark urine.) The PCV continued to drop, so he was transfused the night of July 10th. Post transfusion, his PCV peaked at 31, but drifted down to 27 the day he was discharged, on prednisone. The 2 day drive was hellish, with the poor dog panting nonstop. I didn't know whether it was the prednisone, or whether he was oxygen hungry with a falling count. If he were to be terminal, I wanted to get him home to be with the rest of the family. We went to the emergency clinic right after having a family conference about how to proceed if the news was bad. However, the PCV was done twice---29 and 30. Today he had a repeat; it was 40! Great joy, as this could mean that the diagnosis is not AIHA, but onion toxicity. (He got into a meal heavily laden with onions and garlic the night before developing dark urine.) We will continue a slow taper, and keep our fingers crossed. I have found this site to be a great source of information and support. |
| Ann Connecticut |
| Ann, What great news about Toby. It does sound like he is/was suffering from Heinz Body Anemia which can be caused by oninons and other things: http://jlhweb.net/Boxermap/onions.html Please give your Dear Toby a big hug from me and my little canine red-headed gal, Maddie and tell him we are so delighted to hear he is on the road to recovery |
| Joanne MN |
| Ann, This is wonderful news! It's so nice to hear positive news! You must all be very happy to have Toby home. Yes, once the onions were removed the damage to the red bloods cells would begin to stop and recovery would be gradual. Since Toby has been on prednisone for a short time, they will need to do only a very routine gradual decrease of it, and he will feel a little tired from that. There are many foods and plants that can be dangerous for dogs. And it's not necessarily intuitive to dog owners because some of those foods are ones that we eat all the time. Here's a pretty good website that has a lot of the dangerous items on it, but probably not complete. http://www.entirelypets.com/toxicfoods.html I did not know, for instance, that almonds can be poisonous to dogs and made Cassie sick when she was a puppy, sharing my almonds. She's pretty tough and just threw them up. A new one that has come to light in the last 10 years is raisins (and possibly grapes). They don't really understand what it is in the raisins that is so toxic, but it can cause severe kidney failure in dogs. Enjoy your weekend with Toby! my best patrice |
| Patrice NYS |
| Ann, I am so glad that Toby is home and doing so well and that it was from the onions and not this awful disease. Penny |
| Penny Lytle Creek Ca |
| Wonderfull news Ann. It must be such a relief to have Toby home and recovering so fast. STAY AWAY FROM THE ONIONS TOBY. Johnny & Tessy |
| Johnny |
This thread was discussed on 17/07/2009
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