Annie Belle & Kristine

[Hope]

Kristine –
I’m in the states .. Had been trying to get insurance through ASPCA but cannot currently. Their rule is that you cannot get coverage on a pre-existing condition but if the illness is “cured” ( in remission and treatment/medication free for 180+ days), you are eligible to sign up and they would cover any future costs associated.
Hope this helps a little! I wish we had gotten pet insurance years ago as well. Husband talked me out of it — kicking ourselves, or him, for it now.
Hope and Steve

[Tamara]

Hi Kristine, I’m in the states too, but all the pet insurance companies I looked into have a pre-existing condition clause — they won’t cover any condition that the dog had when the policy is written.

Is there a veterinary school in Wisconsin or near you? I have heard that costs are much much less at teaching hospitals. You could take Annie there and they would do any diagnostics that haven’t been done already and put together a treatment plan. Then your regular vet could talk with them and do the on the ground work.

If you decide to go to a teaching hospital, make sure you have copies of ALL of Annie’s records and tests, don’t rely on the vets to send them; I had a consult with another specialist and the current vets did not send over complete records but I had them, thank goodness. And that way they will not have to repeat tests that have already been done.

In order to manage costs, you will need to be very proactive about testing and questioning the need for tests — always ask if the outcome of the test would change the treatment protocol. If it won’t, then it is unnecessary. Also, I’ll find a link to some websites that have financial resources for owners and post it here, it’s worth a try investigating and seeing if you qualify for any grants, etc.

Thinking of you and Annie and sending many hugs — this is such a scary disease. How is her PCV now? I’m hoping she is one of those dogs who responds very quickly.

tamara and ashki
in the fight since 4/30/2014

[kristine]

REPLY TO TAMARA – thank you.  My dog, a border collie, Annie, now has a PCV of 46 as of 8-7-14 and total solids of 6.4 which is a significant improvement. She is on 15 mg of prednisone twice a day, once every 12 hours. She also receives the chewable Denamarin of 425 mg an hour or more before her breakfast of high quality Blue Buffalo canned beef w/vegetables (all in the canned recipe) or canned lamb w/vegetables, and also the high quality Nature’s Variety freeze dried raw duck and turkey with fruits and veggies and probiotics – this is a kibble kept in the refrigerator also. She gets three full meals a day and plenty of fresh purified mineral water. She is drinking alot of the water, and has some excessive urination due to the prednisone. She also gets powdered digestive enzymes with her food and a Enzymatic Therapy acidophillus /bifidus capsule between meals. She also gets a VetriScience Renal Essentials chewable tablet every other day and also a capsule of Bio-Algae Concentrate which is highly refined specific strains of spirulina recommended for IMHA treatment – I simply mix it into her fresh canned meat food. For her skeletal and joint systems, she gets the recommended half dropper of Hyalogic hyaluronic serum for dogs because it reinforces her spinal and joint concerns, and an occasional Vetriscience Glycoflex III Chew supplement for the same. And also a daily capsule of powdered L-Glutamine 500 mg. for her muscle atrophy which has been a significant problem since she went on the prednisone .  Sincerely, Kristine

[Tamara]

Kristine, I’m sorry but you are going to do the legwork on these connections I have. If you’d still like them, let me know. It sounds like you take very good care of Annie. Just an FYI, the bio-algae is controversial, some don’t give it even though the seller recommends it for IMHA because bio-algae stimulates the immune system which is exactly what we do not want to do; however, I do know someone who had a consult with Dr. Jean Dodds, a hematology and auto-immune expert, and Dr. Dodds said the bio-algae will not hurt an IMHA dog — so your call.
It sounds like Annie is responding well, that’s wonderful.
tamara

[kristine]

Tamara – thank you for response. About Dr. Jean Dodds – yes, she is very knowledgeable and I have spoken with her in the past about rabies vaccines/exemptions, etcetera. I would like to know what she stated more comprehensively about the use of the Bio-Algae Concentrate in treatment of the IMHA. I already just sent you the complete list of supplements and the drug dosage of prednisone (15 mg twice daily) for my dear Annie — What medication and supplements did you put your dog on for IMHA and what is the current status of your dog also? Annie’s current problems are polyuria (excessive urination)/ panting (when she is not sleeping) and also muscle atrophy/and loss of weight. Did you have these problems also – what did you do – are you giving supplements, including L-Glutamine for muscle restoration, etc.??? Thanks again. sincerely, Kristine

[Vally]

Kristine, the polyuria, paintng, muscle atrophy weight loss, these are all common side effects of the prednisone. The PCV of 46 is excellent and I suspect your vet is suggesting that the prednisone can start to be lowered. You’ll see those side effects all start to go away when the prednisone can be reduced. Don’t rush the reductions though. It’s usually good to stick to 25-33% at a time to reduce any risk of a relapse.

Bingo is also still on cyclosporine now, as well as milk thistle and denosyl (SAMe). He does get other supplements, but they are all arthritis related as he also has rheumatoid arthritis.

Regards, Vally & Bingo.

[Linda]

Hi again Kristine. Sorry for not writing back right away. I am out of town with a new grand son being born (literally, hopefully in the next few hours) helping with the other three grand daughters.

Sadie is doing wonderful. She has gained weight from the long term prednisone and cyclosporine (she is STILL ravenous, even though she’s down to 5MG prednisone daily!!), but overall, fat and sassy. We are very lucky.

I hope you are hanging in and Annie Belle is progressing daily. I think it’s wonderful that you are active with helping animals. They need all the advocates they can get!!

Best of luck. Sending hugs to you and your pups.

Linda and Sadie

[kristine henricksen]

my computer is totally down and ATT cannot come out until a few days from now and even then it may not be repaired. I cannot receive or send any emails and I cannot access the internet whatsoever due to my computer disaster. Kristine, Wisconsin

• This reply was modified 10 years, 3 months ago by admin.