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Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - Toy Fox terrier mix AIHA upate
| Hello everyone..Where still on a rollercoaster ride! He has steadily fallen from 48 to 26 pcv today.He is less active but can still eat a little at a time and he drinks like like a fish and pees pretty often. His bowels are real loose and yellowish...He was on prednizone 5mg twice a day for a 11lb dog.Doxycycline(just as a safe guard if it is tick borne--undetermined)) 100mg 1/2 tab once a day and pepcid 10mg 1/2 tab twice a day.. After todays visit we went from 31 to 26 pcv today and he ordered a rbc to see what the cell generation looks like.... he put him on atopica 25mg twice a day and said to give it to him with food.We fed him some food on the way home and gave him the pill and an 1/2 hour later he threw up and i didn't see the pill in it so i am wondering if he got any of the first dose.he said to go ahead and give the second dose in 6 hours to get alot of it in his system and then every 12 hours....he also added ultra low dose asprin.....He mentioned to use the cerenia i had left over if he got sick so i have given him one of those and he is resting nicely at the moment...The atopica directions said to give the dose 1 hour before eating or 2 hours after eating so i am confused being the vet said take with food also, I have been giving the other pills with a little bit of peanut butter to get him to take them. I hope this doesen't effect how he absorbs the meds...The vet is closed until tomarrow which he is seen again for pcv test .Where can i get a good deal on atopica?? everyone's advice has really helped me and has given me a little hope.I feel like i have one foot on grease and the other on a banana pill..... Terry |
| terry usa |
| Dear Terry, I'm so sorry to hear about your little boy's diagnosis. My Maltese Shi tsu X is a 6 month survivor today. I can tell you the first 2 weeks post-diagnosis were hell. We didn't know what was going on. Millie was diagnosed at PCV 14 and given a blood transfusion. She was put on Pred 5mg twice daily, and 6.25mg Azathioprine. Like your little boy, she had bloody and orangey/yellow stools (which my vet said was her body shedding the red blood cells it was destroying). This settled after a couple of weeks. Millie experienced severe fluid retention and was on low dose aspirin to prevent clots. She was in intensive care on oxygen at her lowest point. Once the meds kick in, you should see your little Foxy's PCV start to settle and slowly climb. It's just waiting for this to happen that's the hardest part. The drinking and peeing is a side effect of the Pred. Millie stayed at PCV 27 post transfusion until about 4 weeks later when her PCV steadily rose to be at 41 today. I don't have any experience with atopica, but there are many on this forum who have, who I'm sure can help. Let us know if your little one is regenerating his red blood cells. It is great news if he is! I hope you can take comfort in the fact that my Millie is running around happy and healthy and dogs DO recover from this illness. The best thing I did was research and become informed so I could be an advocate for Millie, as in my experience with my local vet, there are vets out there that don't treat IMHA/AIHA very often - so they don't know what best to do! Good luck Terry, Samantha & Millie. |
| Samantha Geelong |
| Hi Terry, Cyclosporine is an excellent drug choice to use to combat this disease. Some dogs tolerate it much better than others but the Atopica brand is the best to use. My dog Tessy uses this drug (as well as prednisone and azathioprine). If memory serves me correct I think that she puked the first few times taking it. After that she started getting used to it and now there's no problems. I was told by several doctors and specialists that if they puke up their meds within an hour you should re-administer it to them. I figured out a little trick with this med in particular because it disolves very quickly. I bought a pack of 50mg and 25mg caps for when Tessy pukes (cause she takes 100mg each time). If she pukes half an hour after I give her a 50mg cap but if she pukes 50 minutes after I give her only a 25mg cap. Has been working for me so far and all the docs agree that it was a wise thing to do. Don't get discouraged about her puking....the body will get used to it eventually (hopefully). I give Tessy a handfull of food and then hide the cap in a teaspoon of pumpkin and she eats it no prob at all. The pumpkin solves two problems.....she gets her meds into her easily and the pumpkin also helps to firm up her stool. I actually give ALL her meds with food. Makes it much easier on their stomachs. Low dose aspirin is also a good thing. We want to avoid any unnecesary blood clots from forming this early in the sickness. Don't get discouraged from the PCV falling. This is normal after a transfusion. Since Timmy is eating and drinking now that is a good sign that the meds are starting to take hold (pred specifically). Keep a good eye on him. Try to keep him as calm as possible if you can and avoid any stress and excitement. If you get a chance you should post any results you can get from the doctors (rbc, hgb, wbc, plt, Retics, etc). This will make it easier for us to help you in the future and we can help you to make sense of what all the numbers mean. Oh yeah....If you can find any deals on the Atopica.....PLEASE LET ME KNOW! I think I just payed the salary for one of the Novartis execs. I'll have to sell the house soon the drug is so expensive. Hope Timmy gets better soon. I'll keep him in my thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery. Johnny & Tessy |
| Johnny |
| Terry: I am convinced that the Atopica is what made the difference for Sheba (now 12 1/2 GSD/Cocker Spaniel mix - 16 month survivor, 7 months meds free). Very expensive but worth every cent. When Sheba was taking it, the company was offering a rebate but you could get only one. It wasn't much but it helped. Up until we were able to reduce her dosage down to 50 mg. per day (started at 250 mg. per day) we were getting her Atopica thru Iowa State University's veterinary teaching hospital. It was cheaper and they would mail it to us if we weren't going to be in Ames or passing thru. Once we were able to significantly reduce her dosage and we were no longer visiting ISU but relying on our local vet we got it through him. I tried shopping around online but honestly never found any place cheaper than ISU or our local vet. Hang in there and know that we all understand what you're going thru and are keeping you in our thoughts and prayers. Rita, Mike and Sheba |
| Rita IA |
This thread was discussed between 21/07/2009 and 23/07/2009
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