Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - What might this be?

Ive noticed a tiny bit of red blood in Riley's stools which have been improving, so this is new, in the last day. Ive called the vet as Riley had an appointment for a blood test on Thursday, now its first thing tomorrow morning and she will do a smear to see what his platelets are doing. At last count they were up within normal range. Bit puzzling as Riley sometimes seems to be responsive, though he sleeps a lot - follows me around and outside, and barks when someone walks past or comes to the door. He has just started on cyclosporine and is also on cortisone and Imuran. Any ideas? The vet said she didnt like to say what it might be, could be some inflammation/colitis, but we should check.

Silka Melbourne Australia

Silka,saw your query on bioprep in my post, so please e-mail me direct on address link above, and I can send you more info on bioprep and the contact details of the guy who will tell you where to get it in Australia. Cheers Kathleen and Nollaig

Kathleen North Ayrshire

Thanks Kathleen, email sent.

Silka Melbourne Australia

Silka For some reason didn't receive your email, could you maybe resend it, as I'm keen to get the info to you. Cheers Kathleen and Nollaig

Kathleen North Ayrshire

Silka, Is Riley on some sort of stomach protectant and are you giving it 2 hours before or after the prednisone and imuran? It could well be that he has an ulcer. Blood in the stool is never to be taken lightly and I would go see the vet rather sooner than later if you can. Best wishes, Brigitte & Kahlu

Brigitte BC Canada

Dear Kathleen, I am so happy to read about how well Nollaig is doing! It made my day as I was thinking about you both often. I am also keen to get the details for Bio-Prep availability in Australia. Would you mind if I emailed you also to get this from you? Many thanks, Samantha & Millie.

Samantha Geelong Australia

Hi again Thanks Kathleen, I did receive the information on Bioprep, it is much appreciated. Samantha, given the time difference, let me know if you would like me to onforward it to you - my email address should be published I think. Re the "blood" in Riley's stools, I realised late last night that Riley had eaten some of my minestrone, with tomatoes in it, but I wasnt sure, though it did look funny, not quite like blood, but it was red, so I needed to get it checked. I gave them all a good laugh, but Kim, the vet, manually checked Riley's bowel and all look good and "formed" - Im sure you wanted to know that! A blood count was taken, so I will hear later today whether the cortisone can be reduced, so fingers crossed. I should receive the results of the Anti Nuclear Antibody test as well. Brigitte, Riley has had stomach protectant, Carafate, which I syringed into his mouth three times a day, separately from everything else, but then it ran out, also Losec. Kim did not think he needed Carafate as that is to repair damage, but she though Losec would not hurt as that helps to prevent, so I have Riley on that now also. Does that make sense?

Silka Melbourne Australia

Thanks Silka. I would greatly appreciate it if you could forward the email to me. I will send you an email shortly. Millie was also on Losec for stomach protection. We also added Carafate as she had some blood in her stool also. The Carafate stopped the bleeding. Samantha.

Samantha Geelong Australia

Samantha Thanks for your good wishes and thoughts for Nollaig, much appreciated. Did Silka forward my email onto you and all attachments? Please email me anytime if you've any questions, and I'll do my best to help. Take care Kathleen and Nollaig

Kathleen North Ayrshire

Hi Kathleen, I did send on your information to Samantha, and we have both already heard back from Russell. No distributors in Australia, but have to assess the possibility of purchasing from the UK. Your detailed information is much appreciated. Thank you.

Silka Melbourne

Silka and Samantha That's a shame no rep in Australia.Would Russell be willing to send you it from America,as I know he is a bigger company,so it might be more economical through him and might be able to offer you better cost plus he'll know if it will get through customs ok? If not then I have spoken to Anne (bioprep rep in UK) and she would be willing to send you it, I will email you her details if you want them, just let me know,but she said that because she is just a small business she would have to charge you the normal price of bioprep and then have to cover her shipping costs and paypal costs as that is how she accepts payment whereas Russell might be able to take credit card payments direct and not through paypal. I would suggest you ask Russell first,did he not offer to send it to you? I really hope you can get your hands on this soon. Kathleen and Nollaig

Kathleen North Ayrshire

Dear Kathleen, Russell has been a fantastic help, and I spent much of last night reading the information on his website. I was a little confused as to what BioPrep might be best for Millie, the F3 or F2. I am thinking the F2, or the F3 in smaller doses. What are your thoughts? Russell said that we can order through him from Australia. The only trouble being he has had some orders returned to him due to the quantity that was ordered attracting undue scrutiny at Customs. I guess that means we just don't order big quantities and we should be OK. Hope Nollaig is continuing to thrive, Thanks for your help and concern, your support is much appreciated, Samantha & Millie.

Samantha Geelong Australia

Silka, I had to laugh about the minestrone episode! We had something similar happening a few months ago. Kahlu was at the vet for a check up and the vet was concerned because it looked like Kahlu had blood on his muzzle. We realized pretty quick it was something else. He had beets for breakfast and it was just beet juice! :) Brigitte & Kahlu

Brigitte BC Canada

Samantha and Millie, My understanding is if the dog already has a health condition, then it should be on the F3+ bioprep as opposed to the F2+ which is a maintenance capsule and used to prevent or sustain recovery.Is Millie still on meds because the F3+ should allow her to come off them sooner and prevent relapse.It all depends on the current/past health of the dog and whether still on meds,sometimes they'll suggest a period of being on a small dose of F2+ and F3+ together and then eventually just F2+.I do know that with this illness they should stay on the bioprep for life to prevent relapses as I know of a guy who stopped it here in UK and the AIHA returned soon after in his dog. What one did Russell recommend?If you haven't asked him yet, then I would suggest he's the best to advise you,just tell him all about Millie's past and current condition and any meds she's on and her age weight breed etc and he will also tell you the dosage.He won't tell you to give her a high dose of anything, unless he thinks she needs it, just to sell more capsules, because at one point I thought of increasing Nollaig's dose, and he said no she was already getting all she required. Hope that helps. Kathleen and Nollaig

Kathleen North Ayrshire

A few months ago I noticed my other dog had what looked like tapeworms in his poo and so I took a sample in, it was sesame seeds from the bread I had given him! Samantha, I agree with Kathleen, give Louie her history and will advise which one to give Laurie

Laurie CA

Dear Kathleen & Laurie, Thank-you for your advice. I've just sent another email back to Russell letting him know about Millie. She is currently on 1.25mg Pred & 6.25mg Imuran alternate days (along with Vetmedin for her heart condition). His original email was quite broad - he talked more about the benefits of Bio Preperation in a dog that is in crisis, not one that's already in remission. That's why I was confused, so hopefully I get a response from him today and I can place my order tonight. I'm very keen to get Millie on to this. Thanks once again, Samantha & Millie.

Samantha Geelong Australia

This thread was discussed between 28/09/2009 and 01/10/2009

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