Help and advice – Experience with Acute Respiratory Syndrom in AIHA dog – Page 3

Anne

Guest

Hello everyone,

Thank you all so much for your kind replies, it means a lot to us. We took the weekend off the internet to get some rest. We haven’t slept much for the past week, especially since we dreaded a phone call during the night. I assume that anxiety is something we’re going to have deal with from now on. But I’m back on track today and I wanted to take the time to share some updates and reply to your comments, prayers and suggestions.

Thank you all for the support regarding how people close to us judge what we do regarding Bilbo. We are so glad to hear that you guys all feel like we do and that no, it doesn’t mean that you’re crazy, selfish (how many other dogs could you help??), an unhealthy substitute for lack of children, etc. There are different kind of love, and it’s always comforting to see that people “get” what kind of bond and love unites you with your pets. So, yes, thanks for your encouragement in that regard. I assume our family will learn not to comment too much as well! :-)

Here us a picture of Bilbo and Penny.

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This is Bilbo at the hospital yesterday.

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Oh, and the difference between “French from France” and “Canadian Frencg” is like between American and British English – a matter of accent and idioms, not of language structure – so no problem, Sheena, I’ll be happy to submit the test results and you can see how they show reticulocytes counts and all the rest. You can compare them with yours. :-) David needs to scan them (along with today’s results, which apparently were sent elsewhere, as they cae back in a different format and in English), and I’ll upload them on the site when they are eady, hopefully tonight or tomorrow morning.

So, crux of the matter now: Bilbo spent the weekend in intensive care, but he MIGHT get out of intensive care tomorrow. We were so devastated last Thursday evening and Friday morning, we didn’t know whether Bilbo would make it. He was so, so lethargic, still had his tubes on and staying in the oxygen tent, etc.

But Friday evening, as you know, he ate when we visited him. And Saturday afternoon, boom!! His red blood cells count jumped to 25!!! His breathing improved, he only needed one oxygen cannula instead of two. He was able to take his medication orally and eat. Yesterday, his RBC climbed up to 26 and they were able to take off the remaining cannula. He suddenly was in such good shape that the vet thought he might be home this afternoon…!

Lab results from this morning showed improvement overall regarding anemia.

However, whereas his breathing had improved to the point where he did not need oxygen anymore, he had a bit of trouble early this morning after doing some efforts. After 30 minutes, his breathing was still difficult, suggesting it was more than exhaustion from effort. He needed to go back into the oxygen tent (still better than the cannula though). His breathing is the only reason he’s still in intensive care at this point, as he seems to respond very well to the medication now.

However, his white cells count is a bit high, so the vet suspects there might be an infection which might explain the edema – though she said it’s also quite frequent with anemic dogs, so it might not even be it. She added an antibiotic, just in case this might be the problem. She just wants him to be very good for 24h before sending him home, but clearly, she was as disappointed as us that he had this small “crisis” this morning.

David really wanted to bring Bilbo home. He was so upset about this setback, especially since Bilbo could walk around, eat, drink and seemed in relatively good shape when we saw him today. You can see there’s a small effort in breathing, but after seeing him in acute respiratory distress, anything else looks better I guess!!

However, she was very positive overall, asking us to see the “broader picture”: the “pattern” in his lungs is much, much better since last Monday’s crisis. But it has not disappeared yet, which concerns her, and that’s why she insisted on keeping him in intensive care for another 24 hours. We finally agreed. The pattern is one of small, diffuse inflammation: nothing localized.

I was very open with her and raised the issue of possible infection resulting from the transfusion, as some of you pointed out earlier. Though the article mentions that the reaction could occur up to 96 hours later, she thought it very, very unlikely. Cannot do much but trust her at this point. She is very caring (even when she’s not doing her shift, she calls the clinic to get updates on Bilbo, etc.). If it’s any consolation, after much research, I could confirm that Bilbo is indeed at the best vet hospital in the whole Montreal region. There would be no use of moving him anywhere else – the only thing I could do was threaten to do so to get the administration to reduce my bill. The vet managed to discuss with the administration and reduce our bill this morning. It remains huge, but it helps in making the decision to leave him there. It’s been 11 days already.

I’m considering contacting Dr. Dodds, but given the complexity of his case and the documents I have in hand(I do not have a copy in hand of his different lung radiologies, for instance), I’m wondering whether that would be helpful or whether I could suggest to my vet to contact her and submit the relevant documents, but using my credit card infos? Does anyone her know her well enough? For instance, would she be willing/able to call my vet directly if I provide her with a name to get the necessary medical details and information in proper English, and charge me afterward – and how much would such a call consultation cost, based on your experience?? She seems very famous, and busy. I just feel overwhelmed right now at the idea of trying to explain, in English, all the intricacies of Bilbo’s case, but if she can help wil trying to understand what it up with his edema, than it might be worth it. Does anyone know her enough so that I could give herthe name of the vet she could call, for instance, and charge me? Can I email her to ask?

Sorry for all the questions and the rambling. It’s just been a rollercoaster since he’s entered intensive care. We went from anxiously waiting for the phone ringing to dreading it, from thinking our dog was doomed to die to hoping he could be back home as early as this afternoon… And now we’re stuck to a point where we don’t know exactly what causes his lingering edema which, while fading, is still not totally gone.

Putting him back into the oxygen tent this morning was soooo disappointing, and it’s scary, as it means that he’s breathing is not exactly under control. It could improve, but it could worsen. This last set-back regarding his breathing is sure disheartening, as we finally received goods news regarding the treatment for anemia. It’s like we’re afraid to hope and be happy about his progress, just to be crushed again with a bad news – you know what I mean?

Anyway, I just wanted to share some updates, so that you know that there are some good news, despite the breathing issue. I’ll ask David to scan his last 3 blood tests, and I’ll upload them as soon as I can.

Love to you all,

Anne-Marie

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