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Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - Trying a different antibiotic and upping steriod
| Just talked to a different vet and she said that Oliver should take a different antibiotic that helps with any parasitic diseases that may cause the same symptoms and upped his steriod dosage. She also moved up his appointment to this saturday morning and I have another one scheduled for the following tuesday. If you could please say a pray for Oliver we would greatly appreciate it. We are heartbroken that he is not the Oliver that we know he wants to be. The one that runs around outside and plays with his toys and his fellow canine friends. If anyone has any advice for us please pass it along. I pray that every one in the forums dogs are recovering and are getting back to their playful selves. Mark |
| mark pennsylvania |
| Mark, We will definitely keep Oliver in our thoughts and prayers. What is Oliver's PCV? Many dogs require a blood transfusion from a donor dog upon diagnosis, because their Packed Cell Volume (pcv) is far too low, and thus no oxygen is getting to their cells. Every vet will have a different threshold for this, but if Oliver is below 20, you may want to inquire about a transfusion, or what point they would recommend. This was critical in Tiggs recovery, and he would have died had it not been for the transfusion. It buys time before the drugs start to work. Prednisone at very high immunosuppressive doses will take up to a week to take effect. Azathiaprine, which many vets will prescribe concurrently, can take up to 6 weeks! The side effects of pred at high doses can be brutal- extreme muscle wasting, panting, leaking urine, more lethargy, and hunger. That is why alot of vets do the Aza at the same time, in the hopes that they can ween off of Pred, but still be on another immunosuppressive (which hopefully eventually they can be off of as well). Learn as much as you can as quickly as you can, because you will have to be Oliver's best advocate and the timing is critical.. Don't be afraid to be a pain in the butt or get several opinions, it's very important. All our best. melissa and tiggs |
| melissa slc |
| Mark, I'm so glad you found another vet. Is Oliver taking doxycycline (not sure if I spelled that correctly)? You might want to take Dr. Dodds' protocol with you to discuss with the vet. I hope things go well for you. Please keep us posted. Karen H. |
| Karen H. MO |
| Mark, On Oct. 22nd of this year I had my 1o month old golden, Cooper diagnosed with AIHA. At the time he weighted 65 lbs. and was put on 40 mg. prednisone 2x a day, along with 50 mg. Imuran 1x day. The original vet we saw also put him on 30mg. doxycycline as he tested borderline for Lyme disease. When we went to see our regular vet the next day, she took him off the doxycycline. A week later she put him on 1000mg. amoxycillen. As it turns out he should have stayed on the doxycycline because that is the antibiotic of choice for Lyme. After about the 4th week of this nasty disease we found a new vet as our regular vet was not schooled on this disease nor did she try to educate herself on it. I can say today that Cooper is now off the steroids complete and only on 50mg. of Imuran, which will go to 50mg every other day for one week beginning tomorrow. His numbers continue to climb. I recommend you do major research on the internet regarding this horrible disease and keep reading the posts on this board. It has been a great source of information to you. I also wanted to let you know that it can be cured or at least controlled. Cooper is living proof of it! |
| Kathi Southern New Jersey |
| Mark, Doxycycline is the medication that this vet is referring to. It is used for a number of tick diseases. In the early stages it can cure most tick diseases if given at high enough doses and for a long enough period of time. More importantly, there is a simple test that can be done in the vet's office to rule out three tick diseases and heartworm. This test is called Idexx Snap4 DX. If you live in an area where there are other unusual tick diseases, then further testing needs to be done by a specialty lab (Protatek Labs). Your vet should be familiar with the tick diseases in your area. Tick diseases can insert themselves into the red blood cells and lead to anemia and even serious bleeding. The body can try to fight the disease and often does quite well. But sometimes it is not enough. Doxy treatment will often result in immediate positive results if administered early. (Within days) Living in an area where there are disease carrying ticks means routine testing for tick diseases. PA is considered a hot bed of ticks and tick disease. I live north of you, in NYS and it has not reached our area with the same degree as it is where you live. I have often thought that I could not live in PA because of that. Here is a link to a website that a friend of mine has developed that has a great deal of information about tick disease. http://blackgsd.googlepages.com/home If you have any more questions about this, please write me. my best patrice |
| Patrice NYS |
This thread was discussed between 17/12/2008 and 18/12/2008
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