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- Everybody, thinking back…..
First – Patrice – LOVE the name. Perfect.
Second (but oh, so important – Thanks Vally!)
1. My vet knew immediately that Sadie had AIHA from her white gums and tongue. After a stat CBC, it was confirmed that afternoon. He immediately put her on prednisone (and a shot to jump start). Later that week, after a consultation with a (internist and hematologist) specialist at Blue Pearl, he added Atopica. and then, thanks to you all – we later added something for tummy, liver, and clotting.
Sadie collapsed. That was it. Mid-afternoon – one moment she was great and the next down. I took her immediately to her vet. Her PCV was 21, so we were never real low. We think it was either spaying of the pond for algae (from shoreline, she may have walked in it) or home pest spraying, both of which had happened during the week.
2. I searched AIHA, low hematocrit, immune diseases, AIHA medications, AIHA survival rate and AIHA Cocker Spaniels (1/3 of the dogs with reported AIHA are Cocker Spaniels)
3. I actually found the site immediately and posted right then. I still tear up when I think of your fast and ever so helpful responses. I was taken back by the knowledge and empathy. Without you, without that forum, Sadie would not be here today.
Interesting, I just tried to search AIHA and was surprised that Meisha’s Hope did not come up. And Zimfamilycockers.com came up (which I have followed and they were helpful with Sadie’s palsy – apparently, it’s common in Cockers with AIHA).
Oh Joe – you and Dunes really have been through it all. Hug.
Love to all, Linda
Tilly’s diagnosis was a traumatic whirlwind that I still haven’t made sense of. We moved to a new city in January 2012 after I broke up with a cheating boyfriend. We established care at the end of the month with a local practice and the GP vet noted her spleen was enlarged, took aspirate samples to rule out cancer, but she wasn’t anemic (can’t recall the PCV) so we were to return in a week for repeat lab work. He said if her numbers dropped he’d treat her for “autoimmune disease” and to watch out for pale gums, low energy or anything else that didn’t seem right. Sure, she was moving slower on our daily walks and not eating all her food but I wasn’t alarmed.
I brought her in after work exactly one week later and got a nasty, yelling phone call the next afternoon from the old goat of a vet saying *I* should have told him we were coming in because he was just getting around to reading lab results and Tilly’s blood count dropped by 50%. I’ll never forget how he made me feel and guess what- we’ve never been back to see him. He wanted me to start prednisone immediately and repeat labs in a few days.
I called a college friend who was a recent UC Davis vet school graduate for support. She told me to drop everything and take Tilly to a specialist. Naive me responded something like “I have next Wednesday morning free” and she schooled me very quickly about this disease and looked up local speciality clinics to take her to that same day.
The GP’s office arranged us to go to the specialty clinic 15 miles away and with the famous Silicon Valley traffic slowing us down we made it with minutes to spare before closing. The internist sat with me on the exam room floor as I bawled my eyes out and told me she thought Tilly had AIHA even though we ruled out she hadn’t had any vaccines or swallowed a penny recently. She told me it tends to happen in girls more and cocker spaniels too (Linda, your sweet Sadie!) Tilly had to be admitted. Her PCV dropped the next day so they transfused her but the next day she dropped again so a dose of IVIG was given. Tilly developed an arrhythmia which kept her there longer and all in all she was hospitalized for one week.
I worked in (human) oncology and know the dangers of Googling diseases with so much misinformation on the web. It wasn’t until last spring that I took that chance to look up what’s out there as I was desperate to research splenectomy for recurrent AIHA as the internist had suggested. It led me to Vet Net and Meisha’s Hope and all of you kind and compassionate people.
I adopted Tilly from the Humane Society (she was found abandoned in a field) when I was 26 so she is and will always be be first born baby. I will do anything for her and appreciate and pray for the dogs before her who have faced this disease.
Thank you for being here for us.
Awe Erica – bless your heart. Tilly is so lucky to have your love and perseverance in dealing with all this. I think so many times, we never really know the cause of the AIHA onset. It is so scary. I just talked with a dear friend that has a cocker spaniel (Buster, that visits here often) and she was concerned about Trifexis and then if she takes him off, what heart med to use. He’s healthy, but she said he throws up with each monthly dose of Trifexis. Gee, that should tell us something. But here in Florida – you almost have to have something for heart worm prevention. Sadie has thrown up on TriHeart Plus. I haven’t given it in two months. I am so scared of a relapse AND on the other side, afraid of heart worms. It’s a conundrum. I need to figure this out – fast. Scary.
What ever the reason/trigger for the onset of AIHA – and of course, it is so helpful to know, i.e., vaccinations, pesticides (which is what we THINK triggered Sadie), flea/tick preventative, what ever – dealing with it and getting the right mix of meds and supplements (i.e., tummy, liver, stomach) is taxing.
So, can you tell me exactly where Tilly is now – with all this? She’s relapsed, but is she doing okay now? Again, from other post – go SLOW on weaning. No matter what anyone else says – go SLOW. It can’t hurt and it will definitely be better.
Maybe start a new post: Tilly? I would like to keep up with you both.
Love and hugs, Linda
Erica
What a story – poor Tilly, poor you. Having a medical background (I was a nurse – crushingly told I couldn’t be a Vet because I have allergic asthma, but that’s another story) makes you very wary of the duff information & useless dross on the internet & rightly so. I tended to look for “scholarly articles” or university studies to be sure I was getting the correct information. I was amazed at the depth of knowledge on Meisha’s Hope & VetNet, particularly from Patrice, who was my absolute rock with Worzel’s illness. A steep learning curve indeed as I was never particularly interested in haematology, but I am now! I hope I can return the favour by helping others in this situation. I think it is very important to get across the right information to people who have recently diagnosed dogs, both in factual medical information & practical help. I am sometimes disgusted at the lack of knowledge in this field – many vets have NEVER come across this disease & probably never will, but some of those who do need to be better informed. Sadly, this applies particularly in the UK. My personal “bugbear” is the lack of aggressive & correct treatment protocol at the diagnosis/start of the disease & then incorrect weaning. I find it particularly upsetting that many dogs are solely given prednisolone & NOTHING ELSE, only to waste away from the ravages of the long-term effects of this drug. It makes me so ANGRY that they were not given a chance. We all know that most dogs do recover with the RIGHT treatment & the RIGHT weaning protocol. Anyway, sorry to rant everyone, but it is very important to me that we can get this information across to people in a way that anyone, medical background or not, can understand & will be able to stand their ground with the vet if necessary because they have the FACTS. These are our dogs, our loves, not just another number at the vets – some have been adopted from animal shelters & have had an awful start in life as it is. There are some fantastic vets out there, but there are also some who are not so good. What can we do? Educate? “How” is a difficult problem. Thank goodness you fought like crazy for Tilly – what a great Mum you are.
Sheena & Worzel
- This reply was modified 11 years, 1 month ago by Patrice.
I agree with Sheena. There is an unevenness in the knowledge base for the profession.
In addition, I am always concerned when attending vets do not attempt to rule out the treatable causes of sudden anemia that may not be directly related to autoimmune hemolytic anemia. Many of these things are clear textbook conditions that would be found even in “The 5 Minute Veterinary Consult.”
The initial workup can be pretty simple, it shouldn’t take a lot of time and it certainly doesn’t need to cost the owner a lot of money.
A particular area of concern to me is the disconnect that vets seem to have understanding the relationship of certain tick diseases causing hemolytic anemia or other blood diseases. Now-a-days there are very few places in the world that have escaped the onward march of ticks due to warming climates. And our shrinking world, due to the ease of travel, helps move those tick populations around even more. A SNAP 4DX+ test is so easy and inexpensive. But yet I have seen many dogs become extremely ill and some of them die from these diseases. That test was one of the first things I requested for Chance when he was ill.
As with many health conditions, it is often grassroots efforts and support groups that draw attention to the expectation that doctors should look more closely at diagnosis and treatment protocols.
my best
patrice
hi everyone, so sorry I am late ate reply but the way it happened with Hayley. she had her yearly shots as always but not the rabies shot… never gave them together as I always waited two weeks between the yearly and rabies when rabies was due. Hayley had a very bad reaction. they didn’t think they were going to able to save her life. then a few day’s latter… Hayley ate her breakfast was fine I brushed her teeth her gums were very pink as always but at 3:00 pm she was not getting up she didn’t look right … I do not know why I did what I did but so glad that I did. I picked Hayley looked at her gums they were white I mean white. I was running out the door and using my cell phone calling her vet to let them know I was on my way to be ready. when I got there the vet was at the door took Hayley out of my arms .. he was sure what the problem was. blood tests showed pcv was 8 % they typed her and in one hour she was having her transfusion. the vey gave me ton’s of things to read and gave me vetnet web address. told me about dr.jean dodds and other pet parents that can help me as their own pets were going through this. but it took me 3 day’s to figure out how to even post on the website// as most know I am not very savy w/ the computer and I am not too young anymore so things do not come easy sometimes.when I looked up info I looked up what chance Hayley would have with imha so I looked up imha and the chance for out come, I think second chance for the aiha is just the very best name it is perfect. not many know when Hayley was triggered by this diseae imha so many times by reading the post Patrice gave the answer I was going to ask before I asked I thought of her as hayleys silent angel. and always so in depth.that was in early in treatment.hayley’s vet’s the team in the clinic are so wonderful they have a specialist,vet and hoilistic they are all a break off from U.T. and they will use U.T. many times just like when Hayley needed threaphy for her muscel wasting as many may remember Hayley had muscel wasting very fast and not just in her hind legs but in her shoulders and middle part she felt like mush. I even ordered a wheel chair but was told it could add to stress and the vet said when she was stable he would fit it to her in adjusting it I even made a sling to hold Hayley up as she could get up let alone stand for many weeks. Hayley seemed to take everything in stride she never panic she stayed calm and would wait for me to take her out with the sling. i would offer water very often as she would let me know by looking at her water dish. and getting her tummy protector was hard as they had to special order it and her azathioprine the vet always ordered larger amounts as it was hard to get for Hayley by size.my heart sank at one point as her 2 lbs went to 1 lb then one week from swelling she was 3 lbs. it was very concerning many times.one time her platelets were high for a few weeks but roberyt and joe both calmed me down by explaining because Hayley’s vet were gone two weeks and a stand in vet was there did I panic yes! what was bad both specialist and regular vet were gone at the same time, and my little one at the start was going two times a day then every other day and ect until it was once a week. all these little things to a new pet parent can be so such hopelessness until they know why they need to take their baby so often. not one time did Hayley ever act nervous she was ready to w/ the vet for testing but she knows him so well. and when I got Hayley I had blood test each year so we could look over what was normal and what wasn’t for her. that is one thing I would say each and every pet owner should do yearly. Hayley was 7 years old when triggered now she is 9 years old and has been off meds for a little over a year as of this past july and yes I still check her gums many times a day as that is what brought me to know something really bad was wrong and the fact she didn’t get up to play when I walked in.it hit fast with Hayley in just a few hours. lynn
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