Doberman with AIHA

[Karxlee]

Hi Ladies, thanks again for your advise, Louis is on 4ml once a day, this is given in a syringe direct into his mouth, he takes it well, but we feel awful giving him.

Like you say we need to keep going, Stefano has said he will give us a prescription to see if we can purchase it cheaper elsewhere, the next big thing is making sure we find the genuine product.

Keep smiling, he’s still here and I’m still able to cuddle him. :)

[Crystal]

Just found your site, wanted to add my Bruisers story. We started our battle with AIHA in 2012 Sept. We went thru the same sad journey of meds and ups and downs for three years, finally Briuser was put on 750mg Mycophenalate once daily a year ago. He has been healthy since.

[Vally]

Hi Crystal, and welcome. I’m so glad to hear Bruiser is doing well now. It’s important to get the message out there that dogs can survive this and thrive. Thanks for your note.

Vally & Bingo

[Karxlee]

Hi, we have just taken Louis back over to Rutland House for an emergency blood transfusion, his was struggling to breathe and we had already asked them yesterday to have the cross matched blood ready -just in case we needed it this weekend- and of course as we thought we do.

He is having his spleen removed on Monday, and I know everyone on here it dead against that course of action but we really have no other option.

Louis is not your normal AIHA dog, he has not tolerated any of the ‘usual’ medication for this condition, he has suffered every worse case side effect on them all. We kept him on the drugs long enough to see if they would work, but the side effects would have killed him if we hadn’t taken him off them.
We are facing another massive bill and we are really not sure were we will find it but, this is his last chance, we have been advised we could loose him on the operating table, or soon after the op due to infections, but we are willing to take that chance to get our boy back.

I’ll be updating his blog and gofundme page both links are below, I’m sure if they are allowed on here, so if they are not I apologise.

Love Karyn

https://www.gofundme.com/6snb33r6

http://louismynewlife.blogspot.co.uk/

[Sheena]

Hi Karyn

Please don’t feel we are always against a splenectomy without exception – I’m sorry if you feel that way & we should have been more understanding. It’s a case where we all (myself included) discourage it strongly unless everything else possible has been done. That does not apply where the spleen is diseased – you have no choice. It must be removed. And there are always speciak circumstances, exceptions where dogs cannot tolerate any meds where decisions have to be made.

Louis is exceptional because you have have tried every possible treatment option & nothing has worked so far. I know you have, I truly do. So, where do you go from here? You try any possible option left – you have no choice but to try to save him. I am hoping this will save him & I understand what a monumental & careful decision it has been to do this. I’m sure I speak for us all when I say I hope all will go well & this will work. We will be beside you always, wishing, praying & sending love. Don’t ever think we doubt you in any way – I don’t because I know you love him so very much. Everything you do & have done has always had Louis best interests at heart – you & your husband have the biggest hearts in the world – you are truly amazing.

Much love, supporting hugs & good wishes for a successful surgery. So glad you had the cross-matched blood ready & it will see him through this tough time.

Sheena xxxxx

[Patrice]

Chance had to have his spleen removed because he had a huge growth on it. It was an emergency and I wasted no time.

I am only concerned about vets who research older material like text books where it used to be considered a first line treatment to stop RBC destruction. Now there are better drugs and protocols and the role of the spleen is better understood.

The surgery can be very tough on a extremely anemic and deconditioned dog. The blood loss is significant because the spleen stores a lot of blood.

So, I think we all agree that this is not a decision to be made without a discussion with the vet about why the pluses outweigh the negatives. Having donor blood ready is a smart move.

I brought Chance home the same night but you probably want to consider letting him stay overnight if they are staffed. Chance developed a bleeder and had to return in the morning so they could open him again and tie that bleeder off. By then he had lost a lot of blood and needed a transfusion.

My best wishes for a speedy surgery and recovery with no problems!
Patrice

[Karxlee]

Hi everyone,

Sheena, Linda and Vally thank you for your support as always you always seem to be able to bring me back from the dark place. xxx

We are waiting to hear what kind of night Louis had at Rutland, I know they spoil him rotten there, and when we took him yesterday his favorite nurses were waiting for him, with duck sausages! They even get him ice cream if he wants it, it really is like a hotel for him. Of course all this makes leaving him that little bit easier.

Stefano isn’t on call this weekend but he has told them to keep him up to date with how Louis is doing.

I guess everything is out of our hands now, and it’s down to Louis to pull himself through this next stage of this disease, with the help of of the amazing surgeons at Rutland.
This disease tests every aspect of your life, from your relationship, your sanity, your nerves, your belief in anything higher than us. But I can say with my hand on my heart we have tried everything possible for Louis, and what will be will be.
I have found amazing support and friends on this forum, and you have kept me going during my darkest days.
The surgery is at 11am tomorrow, so as soon as I know how it went I’ll update in here.

Thank you so so much to everyone.
Love Karyn xxx

[Karxlee]

Hi Patrice,

Thank you for your comments, it means alot that there may be a light at the end of the tunnel, we have discussed this op with Stefano and he agreed there is nothing else we can do, he has spent hours going over the risks etc, so we are prepared for the op and the recovery – I can only think about recovery at the moment.

Louis will be staying in intensive care Monday night, and only when they say it’s safe for him to come home will we pick him up.

We are planning our work schedule to make sure he is never left for a min on his own, even if that means Olga has to have a few sleep overs at my Mums or our Son’s house, basically our world is going to stop for a while.
It’s amazing how many people have told we are mental at spending so much money on a dog, my reply has always been a polite “If that’s your attidude you should never own a dog!” they soon shut up.

Anyway we’ve just heard from Rutland and Louis has had a stable night, his PCV is 15% now, so they are not transfusing unless it drops anymore, they want to save the 2 bags of crossed matched blood for the op, however if he needs it before then they will give it him.
He will be having a transfusion before the op and the ohter bag will be on standby if there is a big blood loss. So we are as prepared as we can be, and Rutland are brilliant, the soft tissue consultant is on call this weekend, which is unusual because he normally has his interns doing weekend, but he wanted to monitor Louis closely.
There was a slight concern yesterday about his heart rate, but that has come back to normal today, and he is eating and drinking, which is a good sign to us.
The minute he stops eating we know he is going downhill, the nurses have been spending lots of time with him, and god love her Cornelia (his fav nurse) has been reading him stories – honestly I could cry at their kindness, so basically I don’t think he’s missing us too much.

Lots of love Karyn