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Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - Wiley update & liver question
| Hi, Wiley went for his red blood cell count yesterday and he is remaining stable at 36%. So I think that is good but the vet did say she wants to check his liver function next time. I am not sure what that entails and what the results will tell me. I am concerned that he is on the predisone and really hasn't been tapered off since March. Also he did lose a little bit of weight. Is that possible while on Pred? It seems like he is eating a lot of food and treats. thanks for reading everyone! |
| Lisa CT |
| Hi Lisa, 36% is a great number! Because Wiley had been on pred without a taper since March is probably the reason they want to check his liver function. While on pred its always good to not only check the blood cells but the chemistry panel as well. This way you can keep an eye on other important readings such as liver and kidney function especially. As for Wiley losing weight....perhaps its all "muscle" weight that he is losing. Is he still on rather high doses of pred? Is he on any other meds? Teresa |
| Teresa va |
| Lisa, this doesn't sound concerning to me! Actually this sounds like you have a good vet for wanting to actually keep an eye on important numbers! Usually most vets will wait to see symptoms *before* doing necessary bloodwork and by then the numbers are high and it's even more work to repair them! I'd be watching the lymphoid response as well as microscope findings for spherocytes. A PCV of 36% is really good and perhaps one should be thinking about med tapering soon if the numbers support it. Are you doing any preventative measures to ensure a healthy liver? Milk thistle? Smaller more frequent foods? Liver friendly foods? All good options to lower chances of liver problems. I'm with Teresa in that the weight loss is likely muscle loss. Pred is known to wreak havoc on the bodies metabolism. No real need to worry unless he's drastically lossing weight. Give him some HUGS for me. Johnny & Tessy |
| Johnny |
| So glad to read that Wiley is doing so well, 36 is a very good number:) Did your vet reduce the pred dosage this time? How much pred is Wiley on and how much does he weigh and is he on any other drugs beside the pred? How long has his PCV been in the normal range. Cheryl & Ginger |
| Cheryl & Ginger Pineville PA |
| Hi everyone, He is 30 pounds and is on 20 mg of Pred, has been on it since March. He is also on Azo and some eye drops. I have been feeding him twice a day instead of once but other than that I haven't changed his diet. His RBC was normal for a little while then last month went to 25% then now back at 36%. I think that is why he is not tapering down yet. I guess I won't worry about the weight loss as he is verry enthusiastic about food!! Its hard not to worry about every little thing. |
| Lisa CT |
| Lisa, I can't remember Wiley's story. Can you shed some light on it for me? How long was he in the normal range before dropping back to 25% and was this due to a med reduction? Do you have all past and current blood results on hand? I read in a past thread that her was taking pred, aza and cyclo. Is he not on cyclo anymore? What were the starting dosages of each and what's the current dosages and how fast were each withdrawn? Sorry for the questions. It's always easier to help when one's got the full picture. Johnny & Tessy |
| Johnny |
| Hi Johnny, I will give you as much as I can remember. He has been off the cyclo for about 2 1/2 months now. I am not sure exactly how long he was normal, maybe 1 1/2 months? He started on 20 mg of pred, then it was reduced to 15 mg. Then when his eye got detached it went back to 20, then 4 weeks ago went he dropped to 25 RBC she upped it to 30 for just one week, she dropped it back to 20 when he was holding at 36 RBC. When he had the drop, it wasn't due to a reduction, we don't really know why that happened but he seemed normal to us. I didn't keep that good of records at first because I didn't realize how up and down things would be. Now I am doing better. Thanks for your help. This was an earlier post I had made with some info in it. Posted 10 June 2010 at 19:23:48 UK time Lisa, CT, Lisasev@comcast.net My Shiba Inu Wiley was diagnosed with Evan's Syndrome about 3 months ago. He had two transfusions and seemed to respond well. A couple of weeks later at his blood check, the vet was concerned about one of his eyes. After a visit with a specialist at Tufts, she said that he had a detached retina. I have been reading the boards and haven't seen anyone else with eye issues. I just wonder if this is related to the IMHA/Evan's or something else. The specialist felt that with the doses of medicine he had been taking (Pred, Azo, Cyclosporine) that wouldnt of happened and her thoughts were that it may be a cancer. They wanted to pursue additional testing of bone marrow but we didn't want to put the dog through any more especially since she said that the results may not be accurate because of the prednisone. |
| Lisa CT |
| Are the platelet numbers in the normal range now? You say you are keeping better records now...do you have copies of the latest cbc's? I'd be interested in knowing some of the other numbers. It's always good to watch for trends...for example...if you watch the lymphocyte numbers you SHOULD be seeing a gradual decrease. This is a really good sign of PROPER immune suppression...at least the part of the immune system we want suppressed. I think a lot of the time people will just start to reduce meds without looking at all the date and clinical signs. It's so so important to get used to! For proper immune suppression ...to turn the attack *off* so to say, the lymphocyte numbers should preferably be down to a third the normal range...at least that's what I think as well as some other specialists. |
| Johnny |
This thread was discussed on 18/06/2010
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