IMHA Webinar

[Vally]

No I wasn’t able to see it either – I intended to wake up for it, but didn’t (I worked out it was on at 5am my time).

I’d appreciate finding out about the recording too Brigitte.

Vally

[admin]

I have looked around – can’t find a recording yet. It was directed at owners with little or no experience of the disease & most of us have heard the majority of it before, but it is still worth listening to. I loved the emphasis on sticky red blood cells forming clots. From their research, bee stings seem to be a pretty common trigger – more often than I thought. We have giant hornets here – they are HUGE & generally quite placid, but will sting to defend themselves if provoked. Worzel has been stung a few times as he just can’t  leave anything alone – it’s too tempting to try & bite buzzy things as they fly past him! There’s always something else to worry about with this disease.

[Erica]

I contacted MAF because the recording appears to have been removed http://www.morrisanimalfoundation.org/animal-lovers/pet-health/

[admin]

It’s up & running now on Erica’s link

[Brigitte]

While I found the webinar informative, I was disappointed the issue of vaccinations and flea control never came up. I don’t know if  any studies have been been done if vaccinations or flea control can be triggers, but we all know they play a role in our dogs immune systems. One thing I recently thought about was, what if the blood donor was recently vaccinated? Could that have an impact on the outcome of a dogs treatment? Also the issue of hypothyroidism never came up. I guess I have to write to them:)

[Patrice]

Here is a good resource for Dr. Dodds’ information on vaccinations, not necessarily how they impact IMHA.

http://drjeandoddspethealthresource.tumblr.com/post/66693331640/dodds-dog-vaccination-protocol-2013-2014

But, as always, I refer you to read this extensive paper Jean has written, here you will find some of the puzzle pieces about the interaction of vaccines and the immune system:

The Canine Immune System and Disease Resistance

By W. Jean Dodds, DVM

http://www.canine-epilepsy-guardian-angels.com/ImmuneSystem.htm

my best, patrice

[Brigitte]

Thanks for those links Patrice! I have written to Dr. Kelly Diehl who did the webinar and surprisingly answered me!

Hi Brigitte

Liz Nahon passed your excellent questions on to me.  I’ll see if I can answer them for you.

The vaccine question has been a hot topic for almost 20 years.  In the mid 1990s, one paper from the University of Pennsylvania made a suggestion that there might be a link.  Ever since, people have been looking but can’t seem to find a concrete link (and you’ll have to believe me, there are a lot of papers about IMHA out there).  Given that the disease is worldwide, and is present in countries that have different vaccination products and different vaccination protocols (for example, it is seen in the UK which is a rabies free area and where they don’t vaccinate for rabies), vaccination may be a factor in some dogs, but probably not as strong a link as people once hoped.  Given the thousands of doses of vaccine given each year, and the low incidence of IMHA, again, there are probably lots of other triggers.  That said, people are definitely cautious about using vaccines in patients that have immune diseases of any kind.  Luckily for us, the last 10 years has seen some advances in testing a particular dog’s immunity by checking vaccine titers – this really can help us in making decisions about whether a patient should be vaccinated or not.  We know that parvovirus, distemper virus and rabies virus are out there and can cause fatal disease if a dog gets infected.  It comes down to managing risks of infectious disease vs. immune disease, and is a delicate balancing act.

I haven’t seen anyone suggest a good link between IMHA and flea products, and again, given that we see a fair amount of IMHA out here in Colorado where there are literally no flea problems, suggests that while it could be a factor in some dogs, it isn’t the only trigger.  There are studies being done looking at the link between herbicides, pesticides, toxin exposure and exposure to second hand smoke and the development of cancer in dogs and cats, and is data starting to filter out of the studies that suggest there might be links.  I expect we will hear lots more on this topic in the next few years.

I have not seen any good studies that suggest there is a link between IMHA and hypothyroidism.  However, we do know that hypothyroidism in dogs may be just a different “flavor” of autoimmune disease, this one directed at the thyroid gland.

I hope this answers some of your questions in a little more depth.

Best,
Kelly Diehl

[Linda]

Wow – Dr. Diehl’s input was awesome. I have always thought that Sadie’s AIHA was pesticide toxin. Both our pond and my home were sprayed the week Sadie collapsed.

The pond was sprayed from shore and in investigating, found it had high levels of copper, among other very strong foliage killing ingredients. We had a major fish kill due to that spray – it was like red tide. Florida and it’s ‘tidy, bug free, weed free’ neighborhoods, just don’t seem to get the ramifications of being bug free and weed free. It seems to be a conundrum.

And the pest control company we use(d) swore that the ingredients they used were not harmful to animals. They won’t be spraying this year.

I’m glad they visited the clotting issues. My vet actually put Sadie on human, Plavix. What ever is used, it’s monumentally important that something be used. I thank this forum for guidance there.

Love to all, Linda