Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - Trixie (X-Rays tomorrow)

The vet has finally called me,apparently Trixie's blood count is border line and it seems she really hasn't picked up despite being on Pred and having it increased 2 weeks ago. Red Blood he said is 38 and he said something else about 3.99? Anyway, he is concerned that there has been no marked improvement in Trixie and wonders if there is something else going on, he went on to say, if she had shown some improvement all well and good, but she has been like this too long now and it seems the medication is not really helping her. So, they are going to have her in tomorrow morning, she will be there most of the day and they will run x-rays and do an ultra sound to see if there are any abnormalities and check for lymphoma. He said she would be put to sleep for this as they will need to expand the lungs, I asked given that her breathing is quite laboured, would this be ok to do, he said there shouldn't be any problems. Oh my, I am getting really nervous now. Tricia

Tricia UK

Hi Sue I am just catching up with reading the threads. The 3.00 sounds like the white blood cell count. It is important but not so as the red blood count and Trixie's seems to be heading towards normal. What other meds is she on. I trust the vets who treated Georgie more than my local vet from whom I have since changed. Are you seeing a specialist in AIHI. Georgie had pred, imuran, antepsin and asprin. We lost her due to compkications with an infection in both her front legs but the specialists were fab and I still contact them from time to time. I would even ask for help from them for you if you like. If you need meds we still have some left. I want to give them away and can't bring myself to bin them. Let me know if I can be of any help. Steph

Steph Wales

Sorry I meant "Hi Tricia" and "complications". I type way too fast!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Steph Wales

Hi Steph. Thanks for your reply. The Vets where I take Trixie, have treated a few dogs there before so I think they are quite up on it. Trixie is on Prend 1 and 1/2 per day @25 mg, Antepsin x2 per day @1g, Azathioprine 1 per day @ 25mg. Her blood count has dropped slightly even though her prend was increased 2 weeks ago, so basically he thinks there could be something else going on as there should have been some improvement. Trixie has been on the medication now for about 10 weeks I think. Thanks for your offer of medication, I do have quite a lot here still though. Anyway, fingers crossed :+) Tricia p.s. You know I was reading a little while ago here, someone mentioning lumps, Trixie had a small one come up a few months ago, it has become a bit bigger, its rather squishy and at the top of her front leg, inside area, the vet knows about this but said they would have to leave it a while given that she is not 100% in herself

Tricia UK

Hi Tricia, Since my dog has been put on imuran, I've noticed that she's stabilized in paleness and indeed, looks to be slowly regaining some colour. She's much more active too, barking and looking frisky like before. I've not had mine given xrays or other diagnostics so far but I wish you and yours the very best.

Al Florida

When Ern was diagnosed he had x-rays, scans and blood tests all on the same day. Fortunately all his scans and x-rays were normal, it was just his haematology that was very abnormal. I hope all goes well for Trixie tomorrow, I'll be thinking of you. Sue

Sue Northants UK

Hi Al. It's good to know your dog has responded well to her medication, how long has she been on it and when did you begin to see an improvement? I suppose each dog is different, for some reason, Trixie hasn't really made and great improvement and it's for this reason the vet has decided that it might be good to see if there is anything else going on, hence the upcoming x-rays. Tricia

Tricia UK

Thanks Sue :+)

Tricia UK

Hi Try to get the lump checked. Could it be an infection? They can affect the PCV and cause it to drop. A course of antibiotics usually clears it up. I can't remember who but somebody on the forum has a dog who had something similar with its back leg I think. It took a while but the infection cleared up. Steph

Steph Wales

Tricia, I am just trying to catch up with your posts. Good luck to both you and Trixie, we will be thinking of you and hope things turn out okay today. Jasper has had a few really little lumps over the last few months which I ask the vet to just check each time we go up. Can't quite remember what the vet called it now but it was quite squishy and I could roll around if you know what I mean. That one popped last week!!!! Thinking of you both, Jackie and Jasper

Jackie pembrokeshire; west wales; uk

Trixie is still at the vets, he called me at my work at 12 to say they did the x-rays etc and her liver/spleen seemed to be fine, they did see some small bones, slivers and he asked if she had one recently, she did, she had one last night, a ham bone, it was pretty thick though, almost like a marrow bone, anyway that did show up and he said she will pass thoes slivers. She was still asleep as he spoke to me and said they could do a bone marrow check/biopsy at the same time, I agreed to that, he said the results could show something. I shall be collecting her after 3 today. It was awful leaving her there this morning. I decided to go to work, Ive been off all week with flue and now a chest infection! but felt I needed to be at work to take my mind of her, well I tried not to think about her too much, but it's not easy is it! Thanks for all your replies and support xx Tricia

Tricia UK

In my frantic search on biopsys (Bone marrow) and AIHA I have come across this: CLASSIFICATION AND DIAGNOSIS Immune Mediated Haemolytic Anaemia (IMHA) can be either regenerative or non-regenerative as determined by laboratory examination of a blood sample and/or bone marrow biopsy. Regenerative anaemia is characterised by the presence of increased numbers of large immature red blood cells (reticulocytes) in the circulation. Non-regenerative anaemia is an anaemia lasting longer that 5 days, with an appropriately low reticulocyte count in the circulation. Clinical presentation of AIHA may be acute, subacute or chronic. Dogs with acute or subacute intravascular haemolytic anaemia (within the circulation) have a rapid onset of the disease and have little time to adapt to the depletion of red cells, therefore signs of extreme weakness, collapse, vomiting, raised temperature and jaundice are often present. A Coomb's blood test is performed to check for antiglobulins. In chronic AHIA it may take weeks or months for clinical signs to show. This form of AIHA, initially, is very well tolerated and shows minimal, clinical signs, and the dog can adjust to the slow onset of the disease. Dogs with chronic AIHA may have episodes of jaundice, collapse, and show clinical signs that 'wax and wane'. Eventually, because this form of AIHA is non-regenerative, (the immature red cells are being made but are destroyed in the bone marrow by the dog's own immune system) the dog will become progressively, more severely anaemic. Without a bone marrow biopsy it is impossible to distinguish between non-regenerative AIHA and cancer, or other causes of non-regenerative haemolytic anaemia. Even in regenerative anaemias, a positive Coomb's test doesn't necessarily prove AIHA or a negative result rule it out. It appears that some vets' are not aware that an immune mediated destruction of the immature red cells can occur in the bone marrow and have wrongly assumed that cancer of the bone marrow is the cause of the dog's non-regenerative anaemia. Usually the prognosis given by the vet is grave, and very little or no treatment is offered. Surprisingly, very few owners are offered a bone marrow biopsy for their dog, which could confirm a diagnosis of cancer or an immune mediated disease.... continues http://www.champdogsforum.co.uk/board/topic/58850.html

Tricia UK

This thread was discussed between 05/12/2007 and 06/12/2007

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