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Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - Update on Mercedes bloodtests
| Hi Everyone Well we finally have Mercedes bloodtest results from Jean Dodds. There is "good" news and some "not so good" news. Good news first----Mercedes hemocrit has climbed significantly to an "almost normal" 34!!!! We are very happy with that, indeed. The not so good news is that her liver values have climbed significantly as well. Jean Dodds remarks are as follows:, "Severe liver damage and cholestasis are present here as shown by the sky high ALK P, ALT and GGT. She also has significant neutrophilia, band neutrophils and monocytosis, which likely reflects the drug therapy for her IMHA." We have now added antibiotics (for 3 weeks) and her prednisone has been cut in half again, as of today. We will keep decreasing it by half for the next few weeks. Hopefully this will assist in the regeneration of her liver. We feel quite confident reducing her pred. at this point, as her PCV is "almost" normal. We had this increase in PVC, even though we had significantly decreased her pred. around the same time. If any of you are interested in seeing the "numbers" I would be happy to post them when I get a moment. So for now, we see improvement with the red blood cells, but the liver still causes us some concern. Dr. Dodds feels with the change in Mercedes medications we should be okay. Thats all for now. Maureen and Mercedes |
| Maureen BC Canada |
| Maureen, I think that this very good, a 34, and I am really pleased that you are getting advice from Dr. Dodds. I can tell you that at one point in Chance's treatment, in fact when Dr. Dodds first came on board to help me, his ALKP alkaline phosphatase was well over 8600. And the ALT was high like that too. At that point she wanted to drop his prednisone as quickly as possible and get him on cyclosporine. And she wanted him on Denamarin. Both of those things quickly dropped those high numbers down to near normal. The liver is very regenerative, even on its own, but helping it with these two things is even more significant. His ALKP came down to near normal but remained around 300 (high normal 212) for the rest of his life. My vet saw nothing significant with that number. So Jean is correct, don't worry right now about it. Do stay with an easily digestible diet that is low in red meat. The liver must work extra hard to process the red blood cells in red meat. Best to avoid it right now. For short term her liver diet that consists of white fish and potatoes or rice (and some veggies) is a good choice. I have used jasmine rice for Chance and it smells so good when cooking. Offer lots of clean fresh water to help keep the kidneys flushed. my best patrice |
| Patrice NYS |
| Maureen, So glad to hear the news about Mercedes' 34! Mercedes is young, and has only been on pred for a couple months. Sending vibes for her full recovery. Best wishes, Jessi & Toqua |
| Jessi BC |
| Hi Patrice Thank you for your response. Mercedes ALKP is not any where near where Chances was! My goodness at over 8600---that was incredibly high!!! Mercedes AST is 80 (normal is 15-66), ALT 771 (normal 12-118), and Alkaline Phosphatase 2931 (norm. 5-131), GGT 262 (norm. 1-12). Her WBC is not great at 44.5, but I am hoping that the change to meds will help. We do have her on Denamarin, Pet Tinic, Azathiopine, prednisone, Thyroxine, Pepcid AC, and now an antibiotic as well. She is currently fed "Petcurean Go" (an all natural food with no grains, soy, wheat, etc.) It is primarily human grade deboned chicken, with veggies and fruits. Jean is very familiar with it, says its an excellent food to continue on feeding it to Mercedes. Anyway, it was good to hear that someones dog had higher numbers than Mercedes and that his liver recovered. That is very comforting!! Thanks again for the input. Appreciate it so much. Maureen and Mercedes |
| Maureen BC Canada |
| Maureen, good to hear the crit is up to almost normal! 34% is almost there! The liver cleansing diet would be MUCH better than the Petcurean Go....if you wanted to go that route. Just because it's natural doesn't mean it's good for the liver...I guess all ya got to do is read the bag to see the content ratios/%....might help you decide. Remember...smaller more frequent meals and ALWAYS food with meds! The liver has amazing healing capabilities so keep that in mind. When do you have to check them again? My thoughts and prayers are with you both. Johnny & Tessy |
| Johnny |
| Hi Johnny, We will check levels again in 3 weeks. By the end of the third week we will be down to 7mg of pred every "second" day. Dr. Dodds says the liver "peaks" at six weeks, and feels with the adjustments to her meds that we should be okay. Time will tell I guess. In the meantime, Mercedes continues to soldier on. We are very enthused about the crit of 34 though. We try to focus on the "positive side" of things at this point. The unfortunate part of this disease is that when you treat the IMHA, the drugs necessary for treatment, impact other parts of the body. Its alot like treating cancer---(something we have had the unfortunate need to address within our family in the past year.) Sometimes the cure for these diseases is worse than the disease itself!! Thanks for the well-wishes. Maureen and Mercedes |
| Maureen BC Canada |
This thread was discussed on 22/06/2010
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