Chihuahua coming home today

[Vally]

Carol’s message:

 

We are hoping to bring our chihuahua home from the emergency clinic today or tomorrow. Initial labs showed his count at 8. Referring vet was surprised he was even alive. He maintained at 10 for 1 1/2 days after first transfusion. Second transfusion yesterday brought his count up to 20. If if maintains at that level we will bring him home. He also needed anti-nausea meds for lack of appetite caused by steroids. We are anxious to bring him home, but cautious and worried about a relapse. I hope little Clover is on the upswing by now. Best of luck to you and all of the others dealing with this horrible disease.

[Vally]

Sheena’s reply:

Goodness, Carol, you have been through a rotten time & your story is not unusual – it is incredible how low some of our dogs have fallen on the PCV front, then go one to make a complete recovery – but with a lot of hard work in between!

I see you’ve added onto another person’s story – you can start your own story here:
https://www.secondchanceaihadogs.com/forums/forum/aiha-dog/
Just page down until you see “new topic”.

Don’t think about a relapse – not an issue at this stage – just think about getting YOUR Clover better & into normal levels for now. Getting the treatment right is paramount – can you tell us more about exactly what drugs Clover is on? Do you know what caused the AIHA? The better the drug regime, the less relapses in our experience on here.

Nausea & lack of appetite is very common in the early stages – then the prednisone kicks in & they are SOOOOO hungry! Clover should also be given an additional immunosuppressant such as cyclosporine (Atopica) or azathioprine (Imuran). For smaller dogs, I feel the atopica is safer. Can you tell us more?

There is also a risk of clotting – the biggest killer of our dogs because their blood becomes easier to clot – have a look at this:
https://www.secondchanceaihadogs.com/AIHA_Terms/abnormal-clotting/
and chat with your vet. They should know all about this & be able to discuss it with you.

I hope you will stay with us here – we will try to help as much as we can & make sure Clover is on the right track on the treatment front, plus some moral support for YOU during this roller coaster ride.

Any questions, ask away!

Sheena, Worzel & Ollie xxxxx

[Vally]

Hi Carol. Now I’ve moved you, can I say Welcome!!! I’m sorry your boy is in the middle of this right now and it’s terrifying. You’ll meet a whole bunch of other paranoid people here.

What is your boy’s name?

Sheena’s right, once the prednisone kicks in, you’ll be wondering how much you can feed him to keep him happy. Stick with low fat foods. Pancreatitis is another problem that can develop, especially when on the high doses of prednisone.

We often see that after a transfusion, it’s quite normal for the bloods to drop down a little again, so don’t panic if they do go down a bit. A big drop is a problem of course. Has your vet dealt with this before? It can be complex to treat.

If you have a copy of any blood test results, and you’re not familiar with them, send them through on the Urgent Advice. That gets sent out to the moderators. Someone can help to explain what the results are showing.
https://www.secondchanceaihadogs.com/urgent-advice/

I totally agree with Sheena. Pretty much all of our dogs have needed a second immunosuppresent and Cyclosporine is the drug of choice after prednisone. It takes a little time to start working though but has much fewer side effects than the prednisone.

You can use the AIHA Terms which is a glossary. Here’s the entry for prednisone which explains a lot about the side effects – and there are heaps, but they all start to go away as the prednsione can be lowered when your boy is stable.

https://www.secondchanceaihadogs.com/AIHA_Terms/prednisone/

We’d all love to help as much as we can. Would love to see a photo too. You can upload a photo of your boy – go over on the right. It takes about a day to show up – that’s to keep the site here safe from hackers.

If your boy is on a list of medicines when he comes home, I’d be happy to make up a medicine chart for you. Just let me know.

My very best
Vally & Bingo (diagnosed Nov 2011, in remission)