Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - Treating Arthritis in an IMHA Dog

Hi Everyone - I'm wondering if anyone has suggestions for treating arthritis in a dog that is currently in remission? I am reading through the archives but wanted to put the question out there just so I don't miss anything. Any information you can share on what worked (or didn't) would be greatly appreciated as I know many of the standard approaches are contra-indicated for a dog that has battled IMHA/AIHA. Many thanks- Bonnie

Bonnie Chicago

Bonnie, I can highly recommend using fish oil or EFA capsules for arthritis. It is already acknowledged for humans with arthritis. I attended a workshop held by the vet in charge of canine nutrition at Cornell U and just about every canine health condition responds to higher levels of essential fatty acids. Omega 3. Dogs are unable to metabolize omega 3's that come from plant origin, so look for either fish oil capsules or salmon oil in a pump. I give 4 fish oil capsules to my healthy 85 lb dog daily. Other supplements that have been anecdotally recommended for humans with arthritis are glucosamine (skip the chondroitin, expensive and not shown to work well), vitamin c, amd Sam-e. None of these need to be expensive supplements. Avoid blends for canines that may contain ingredients that could cause allergies or might be contaminated with heavy metals. Human grade will be safer. If this were me, I would find a way to change the diet to eliminate all grains. These can cause allergic reactions in dogs that can worsen the pain of arthritis. Avoid deadly nightshade foods like potatoes, commonly thought to irritate arthritis. If you are willing to put some work into this, a well designed home made raw diet would probably be very helpful. Right now for my new puppy I am using both homemade food and I am supplementing with a dry food from a company called Orijen. It is grainless and very high quality. Skip the veterinary prescription foods. If you are up for it, the use of very low dose prednisone would provide good pain control and give you some extra protection from relapses. You could try a low dose of about 2mg a day to see if that helped. That low of a dose won't suppress the immune system but will probably do wonders for the pain. It's common sense to reduce weight, increase gentle regular exercise to tolerance, find a therapy pool for dogs, learn Tellington Touch (find a training program near you) which is a special method of massage for animals. Buy a heating bed for your dog so they can lie down in comfort when they sleep. There's plenty to try before you go for the big meds. Those are something I would not use until I had tried all these resources first. Be very careful if your vet offers you these kinds of meds (like Rimadyl). They do work but there can be side effects long term. Whatever you do, be very careful with common human meds like aspirin or ibuprofen. Dogs sometimes have allergies to these or can have kidney problems. my best patrice

Patrice NYS

Hi Bonnie, In addition to Patrice's great post, you might want to look into acupuncture. My IMHA dog Benson had many other health challenges as he aged and I was able to keep him relatively comfortable with regular acupuncture. We also used DLPA and DGP. For other suggestions, you might want to take a look at http://www.dogaware.com/health/arthritis.html - it gives a pretty good overview of the available options both conventional and alternative. I went over everything with my vet before giving it to Benson. Good luck, Aden

Aden Jerusalem

Bonnie: Our 13+ year old GSD/Cocker Spaniel mix Sheba suffers from arthritis, spondylosis, and rear leg weakness/muscle loss and is a 2+ year survivor of IMHA. Here's what we've tried: aspirin (worked well for awhile but eventually needed something stronger); Deramaxx (started w/ 12.5 mg per day - now give her 12.5 mg twice per day); DLPA (once per day); Dasaquin (2 tablets before bed); and a changing variety of Chinese herbs. We take Sheba to both a regular vet and to a vet who practices TCM (traditional Chinese medicine) - hence the herbs. He also does acupuncture and chiropractic adjustments on her. Both have really helped. We are still experimenting with which herbs work best as she also has a problem with always knowing when she needs to/is having a bowel movement. We used to give her a fish oil supplement but they stopped making the one she liked. We've tried several others but she hasn't liked any of them so we're still searching for a replacement. I would definitely recommend acupuncture if you can find a vet who practices it. We had several discussions w/ Sheba's regular vet before deciding to try the Deramaxx. I know there are many on here who wouldn't consider it but she really needed something. We make sure we get a CBC done every 3 months and carefully watch her. So far we have been blessed and things have gone well for us. Good luck and please know we are hoping for the best! Rita, Mike and Sheba

Rita IA

My 11 year old Golden Ginger has arthritis as and IMHA too. What has been working for her is the Cetyl M made by Response, she also gets fish oil 2x day. It is my understanding that some products work for some dogs and not others so if you don't see any results in about 6-8 weeks try another supplement. Also try to keep the weight down and short walks a few times a day if possible. Cheryl & Ginger

Cheryl & Ginger Pinevile PA

I will tell my my recent miracle story about Jake my 13 1/2 year old lab who has arthritis who went from barely able to walk to being med free and walking freely, he is my Wylies buddy who is in remission (med free since 4/09) at this time from AIHA. Jake has been on salmond oil and Synflex because of arthritis. About a year and half ago Jake started having weakness in his hind legs, usually only noticable when I would rub him down his back legs would collapse. He would walk stiff legged and the vet has alwasy said arthritis. About 6 months ago, he started limping, a problem with his right front leg. The vet again said arhtritis,put him on deramaxx, Wonder drug! he was not limping at all and was running around like crazy, Unfortanately, Because of this he really hurt himself. And I mean hurt himself, he could not walk, we were practially carrying him out, I took him to the vet, they xrayed and said it was only showing mild arthritis. He kept saying a possbile tumor on the spine, causing this, and wanted me to go to UC Davis, I did not agree as being on the dermaxx made his feel so good, but this time nothing, they gave also gave him additional pain meds, no change whatsover, he mentioned I could try accupuncture or chiropractic. I went home and thoight about it and decided to take him to my holistic vet I somtimes use who does chiropractic. He said Jakes back was a mess, totally out of alignment and adjusted him. The next morning Jake was not limping at all! Not only that but the weakness he had in his back legs has has had for so long is gone! It has been 3 weeks and still no limp, he has not been on any pain medication, and has so much more energy it is like I said a miracle. Laurie

Laurie CA

Hi Everyone - Thank you so much for replying so quickly and sharing your information. I may have posted my question too quickly - my vet was very sure Murray had arthritis but and xray on Wednesday didn't show arthritis but, subjectively, some disc narrowing between L4 and L5, which he believes is the cause of the pain. I think I would have preferred arthritis since there seem to be several treatment options that have worked and I think we're more limited with a disc issue. The doctors feel Murray isn't a surgical candidate because he has several neurologic issues (neuropathy, a probable degenerative cerebellar issue (he has tremors that have gradually worsened), probable cognitive dysfunction, several peripheral vestibular events) and has had several collapse episodes that are either syncopal events or seizures on top of his age and IMHA history. My doctor is recommending glucosomine (he likes Cosequin or Dasuquin), acupuncture and a low dose of Tramodol for pain management - does anyone has experience with this med? With respect to your suggestions, here's what I'm currently doing to address some of the issues I mentioned above: Wel-Actin (omega-3) - 2600 mg daily (1500mg EPA and 1050mg DHA) Vitamin C - he gets ~375mg daily from his supplements Sam-e - 225 mg daily (Denemarin) Glucosomine - 450 mg daily from Arthroplex by Thorne. Based on his weight, he could have a slightly higher dose and I'm looking into "better" sources or products - please let me know if you have any suggestions. His diet is a combination of homecooked (1/2 chicken breast and ground sirloin and 1/2 vegetables (zucchini, yellow squash, sweet potatoes and green beans) & Wellness CORE. Diet is the area where I struggle the most - I've put the homecooked diet together "as we go" and have never been sure it's properly proportioned for him. It gets general head nods from his vets but I don't think anyone has looked at it with a critical eye. Also, I've not been able to find a grain-free food that doesn't have potatoes. I've heard the same about nightshade foods and am wondering if sweet potatoes are considered nightshade vegetables? Also, a couple people mentioned DGP or DLPA - I will look into these more but is there a specific brand you use? If anyone has suggestions on supplements or pain management for disc issues or diet, I'd appreciate any information you can share. Thank you everyone - I really appreciate the help! Bonnie

Bonnie Chicago

Bonnie: I order Solgar brand DLPA for Sheba from iHerb.com. Dr. Dodds recommended this brand to us and in fact, takes it herself. I figured with such a personal recommendation - you couldn't go wrong! I hope you find some things to help Murray overcome this latest hurdle. Please know that we are thinking about you and hoping he feels spry again soon. Rita, Mike and Sheba

Rita IA

Hi Bonnie, Benson's other health issues included intervertebral disc disease and degenerative myelopathy. DGP is its own brand. It is made by American BioSciences and I believe that I purchased it through Vitacost. You could probably increase Murray's Vit C. Is there a holistic vet you could ask about this? Did your vet suggest acupuncture? Good good luck with this and keep us posted. Gentle scritches and massages to Murray. Take care, Aden

Aden Jerusalem

Rita, Aden - Thank you so much for your replies. I am looking into acupuncture with a holistic vet - we tried it about a year ago for his neuro sympotoms without much luck. I will ask them about increasing his vitamin C - right now, I'm having a hard time finding someone experienced in dealing with multiple issues simultanteously. I am at a loss as to what may have happened - he has deteriorated so much from the vet visit/xray on Wednesday - he was limping quite badly yesterday and having trouble supporting himself & finishing his walk this morning which I've never seen before. The xray didn't show anything but I'm sure there is much they can't see by xray and I don't think he would be considered an MRI candidate b/c of the stress, anesthesia. That's why my vet is recommending the acupuncture, glucosamine, and pain medication. Did either of you use MRI to get to your diagnoses or are there other things I should be asking for? And, did either of you use medication to manage the pain? Thank you so much, Bonnie

Bonnie Chicago

Bonnie: We have not had an MRI done on Sheba. Her arthritis and spondylosis showed up on x-rays we had done almost 2 years ago. We give her the Deramaxx for the pain. It's an NSAID for dogs. Before we started using pain medication she couldn't clean herself. Which frustrated her to no end. Now she's much more flexible (not like before of course) but she can clean herself and is much happier all around. She still has trouble with stairs but that may have as much to do with her worsening eyesight and rear leg weakness as it does pain. The acupuncture has definitely helped and we have seen great improvements in her mobility and pain levels, too. The Chinese herbs have also been beneficial and I think we may have found the right combination finally to help with her different problems. Since they are prescribed based on each individual dog's issues, you really need to see a vet who practices TCM for those. I know how frustrating/heartbreaking it can be when our dogs are in obvious pain and are having difficulty getting around. At one point this summer I seriously thought we might have to put Sheba to sleep before this winter because she was having so much trouble. Things are looking better now and I am hopeful we'll have more time together. (We are still praying for a mild winter as it would be helpful for getting her out, etc...). I wish I could offer up a magic cure for all of us with dogs facing these issues but all I can offer up is what's been successful for us. We hope you can find a way to help Murray with his mobility issues and he feels better soon. Please know we are praying for him and will help in any way we can. Rita, Mike and Sheba

Rita IA

Rita - Thank you so much for your kind words and sharing what has worked for you in caring for Sheba. You are right - it is heartbreaking to see them struggle and I am hopeful I can find a holistic veterinarian who is able to help Murray. Thank you again for your thoughtfulness - your kindness means a lot tonight. Bonnie

Bonnie Chicago

This thread was discussed between 09/11/2010 and 15/11/2010

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