Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - Transfusion for our lab Shaylee

cam, canada (Wpg), cam@csisports.net Hi, We have a a ten year old chocolate lab Shaylee that was diagnosed with IMHA and has been on prednisone for 7 days without any results. Her red blood cell count was 13.2 and then 12.4 on Friday and now 11.2 today. Our vet has now also perscribed Azathioprine. She is very weak, panting lots and her breathing is laboured. We are scheduled for a blood transfusion tomorrow and we are very worried about her pulling through the blood transfusion. Can anyone shed some light on anything that we can do to help our dog other than giving her the meds given by the vet. Also what are the complications of a blood transfusion for a ten year old dog and what can we expect in the upcoming days and weeks? Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks, Cam

CAM Winnipeg Canada

Hi Cam, i'm so sorry to hear about Shaylee. Unfortunately, this is a terrible way to meet, but be assured that everyone here knows exactly what you are going through, and there are many wonderful, kind, caring, and best of all knowledgable people who are here to help you and give you support. My dog Tiggs was diagnosed last July, his PCV was 10. He was only four at the time, so I can't speak to how seniors fare through transfusions, but it seems to me there are more than a few senior SURVIVORS here on the board. My Tiggs also needed a transfusion, and it was very touch and go. We made a promise to take it one day at a time, as that is what IMHA/AIHA will teach you. Nearly one year later, my boy is off of meds and back to his goofy self. In the meantime, you'll want to read as much as you can about this disease, and the best place to go is Meisha's Hope, this website was started by Joanne, who posts here. IT will give you hope through these difficult days. http://www.cloudnet.com/~jdickson/ Especially read the success stories. Don't be afraid to get a second opinion. IMHA needs to be aggressively treated, and it's very encouraging that she started on Aza, as this will take up to 6 weeks to see a result. Pred doses need to be very high, but you might see a result much soon, in about a week or so. The side effects are brutal, and you may need to homecook a diet low in fat, boiled rice, chicken, maybe some soft canned dog foods, etc. Please inquire ASAP about adding a very low dose of Asprin, as blood clots are the number one threat to our babies with IMHA. New studies have proven this is effective in the early stages. Please try to stay positive, you and Shaylee can beat this!

melissa slc

PS. Is Shaylee in the hospital now? If so, is it possible to transfuse her ASAP instead of the wait? You also asked about what to expect- generally, from my understanding, the first transfusion doesn't necessarily require a perfect match, but if she were to require more than one, the odds increas for a reaction if the blood isn't a good match. I know blood can be ordered through Hemopet in California- Dr. Dodds is a very well respected authority in canine blood disorders. She will probably perk up quite a bit after the transfusion, though it's not uncommon for the numbers to dip after a couple of days as the immune system destroys the new cells, but the hope is that by that point, the meds will kick in and she can start producing new baby red cells called reticulocytes. Please keep us posted, we'll be thinking of you! melissa and tiggs

melissa slc

Cam, I am so sorry that your are experiencing this sudden illness with your lab Shaylee. It is very difficult to learn everything you need to know to make appropriate decisions in just a few days. A PCV packed cell volume or hematocrit of 11.2 is very low and a transfusion is an appropriate treatment at this time. In addition, the fluid volume is very low so they will also provide a drip to increase it. Both of these things will make Shaylee feel better. A transfusion must be done slowly, at a certain rate, and she will be kept still for that period of time and constantly monitored. Dogs get their first transfusion "free." This simply means that they don't develop antibodies to blood types until after the first transfusion they receive. Unfortunately, dogs have as many as 12 different blood types. So subsequent transfusions must be cross matched and typed to avoid transfusion reactions. There are certain blood products on the market that attempt to minimize this possible reaction. One product called Oxyglobin is marketed to provide this kind of safe transfusion. However, literature I have read indicates that it has not shown to be an effective or safe product to use in dogs with AIHA that have extremely low PDV's. http://www.hemopet.org/products.html Hemopet.org provides safe Greyhound donor blood nearly around the world and prides themselves in their quality. This blood is appropriate for nearly all canine blood needs. Email hemopet @ hotmail.com (remove spaces) for more information. If you find that Shaylee needs another transfusion, and she may need several, ask your vet a number of questions about this *now* before they will need to be done. Where will they get the next blood from? How will they insure that this blood is crossmatched and typed to be used safely in Shaylee? Can they use Hemopet donor blood? How will they deal with possible transfusion reactions? How often do they perform multiple transfusions on the same dog? This initial transfusion may not last as long as you would wish. If there is still autoimmune destruction happening, the new red blood cells may be destroyed very quickly. Don't be discouraged about this, it buys you some time for the drugs to begin working. Meanwhile, try to educate you and your family as much as possible about this disease. Check out Joanne's website where you can read more about it and also some of the stories of success: http://www.cloudnet.com/~jdickson/index.html I am also partial to this website's webpage devoted to AIHA, it is a good summary and has some pictures and diagrams. http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_imha.html Since Shaylee is older, I would also ask about other diagnostics for her considering her age. An abdominal x-ray might be appropriate once she is feeling a little better. Keep copies of all blood and lab work in folder with you. Keep notes of her condition from day to day, along with meds that are given. Keep yourself busy doing these things and focus on being happy and positive when you are with her. She is sensitive to your emotions. Please don't give up hope. There are so many of us here who have been through these horrible first days of great sorrow, fear and confusion. There is a collective hug from us to you and your family. my best patrice

Patrice NYS

Hi Cam, Sorry to hear your dog is sick with this horrible disease... My dog Madison was diagnosed in Jan this year.. She had 2 transfusions within 4 days of diagnosise. These got her through until the medication kicked in. Madison was very sick but she made it and as of Friday she is now off all the Predistone medication and only on 1/2 Imuran every 2nd day - i think the transfusions saved her life. Her blood was so thick they could not tell which type she was. Luckly for she had blood from the same dog for both transfusions. I hope your dog starts improving soon - it took Madison about 2 weeks and then she started to improve.. Thniking of you both Samantha & Madison

Samantha Perth Australia

Please know that Shaylee is in our thoughts and prayers. If you can please let us know how she is doing after she has her transfusion. It does take a few weeks for the meds to kick in and you might want to do some research on the drug Cyclosporine and mention it to your vet. As others have said read some of the success stories and they will show you that there is plenty of hope and what type of treatments have worked for them. Cheryl & Ginger

Cheryl & Ginger Pineville PA

Cam, My 11 year-old Maltese Shihtzu was diagnosed with IMHA in late January this year. At diagnosis, her PCV was 14. We tranfused her the next morning, and she went to 27 after, which she held for about 4 weeks until she began her steady climb to get to 43 at last test yesterday. Being 11, I was also worried about Millie's ability to recover, but her resiliance is amazing. She has coped well with the meds, and is almost back to her normal self. Our vet did a thorough check of Millie's body (ultrasounds, x-rays) to rule out cancers or other diseases as the trigger for the IMHA. While doing this, we discovered that she had early stage congestive heart disease, so we were able to medicate her for that, which would have helped in her recovery also. I will be thinking of Shaylee and hoping that she can make the same recovery as my Millie. Millie is on Pred & Aza also. Though we have significantly reduced the Pred. It is such a scary confusing time in the first few weeks. The meds do take time to kick in, so hopefully the blood transfusion will buy Shaylee the time until this happens. Give Shaylee lots of love and ask lots of questions of your vet. Be informed - my vet was going to initially put Millie down when she didn't respond to the meds initially, but by researching, I was armed with the knowledge to ensure Millie got the best care. Good luck. Samantha & Millie.

Samantha Geelong

Cam, how's Shaylee doing today. Did she end up getting a transfusion? I know this can be a very nerve wracking experience to go through but know that it usually gets better with time. The first few weeks are the hardest. There were times I expected the worst for Tessy, but after the transfusion she was like a different dog. I'll be hoping and praying for Shaylee. Let us know how thiings go. Johnny & Tessy

Johnny

Bumbing this up, Cam, how is Shaylee doing? Laurie

Laurie CA

Hi Cam This is almost exactly what happened to Phoebe - gradually slowing up (thought she had bad leg - if only!) but just the start of IMHA - at first seems like nothing is working but this disease seems to take a long time to respond to medication. Just give Shaylee lots of love (I also massage Phoebe every morning) and attention and I'm sure eventually the meds will kick in. Hope the transfusion went well (Phoebe had two whilst hospitalised and I think this gives them a little time to adjust to the meds). In our thoughts and prayers Gill & Phoebe PS Please let us know how she is doing after her transfusion!

gill uk

This thread was discussed between 09/06/2009 and 19/06/2009

Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) forum index

This thread is from the Vetnet archive. The live Vetnet forum is active now.