My 13 yr old just diagnosed – Page 13 – Second Chance AIHA Dogs

Keymaster

Hi Terri. I was away over the weekend and just back, but have been keeping up with the posts. I really wanted to be in front of the computer (as in now) to write you back – just felt I needed to give you the Full Monty (hard to do on my phone, iPad).

Please, please – don’t ever feel you shouldn’t post. As all have said, including Patrice (and she knows all this way too well) – we are here JUST for that reason. Your dog’s illness, is such a lonely place to be, no matter the situation. You have even more concerns, really, because of Koda’s age.

The team e-mails back and forth and one day I was so dog-gone angry (recently) about the death of a precious, beautiful dog, that I cursed and ranted and raved – IN the e-mail! I was literally sobbing and possessed. There have been many pups/kitties that have lost their lives to this horrible disease and it crushes me (all of us, of course). But this one was the one that hit me in anger, the last straw. Of course, this was not my pup, mind you, but could so have easily been Sadie. And I did not handle it well – or maybe I did – but I felt so badly about my e-mail because I lost it and wrote in anger. What I’m saying is – that is why we are all here – to vent, to ask, to learn, to teach, to hand-hold. Trust us, we are all telling you and mean sincerely, you are feeling nothing that we all have not felt. So, stay with us and “talk” with us. We will be here – good and bad. Always. Okay?! :)

Everyone too is right on – we feel you are part of this “family” now – don’t like at all how you had to find us, but sure are glad that you did. You have been so diligent and, how did Brigitte put it, resourceful (beyond and amazing) in your care for Koda. So true. The fact that you are making little socks for his feet just makes me smile, huge (Sheena, sound familiar?!). So you see, sweet wonderful friend, you fit right in with he rest of us. Yep – you’re stuck with us, through thick and thin.

These good/bad drugs play such havoc on their muscles. Sadie’s are so atrophied that it scares me to tears at times. And each time she relapses and I have to put her back on prednisone (and or Atopica, although did not add Atopica this relapse), she gets worse. Her little legs hardly have any muscle right now, and she will jump to the bed, steps, couch, and fall back down. But then she just tries again and up she goes. She does have her age going for her, but she’s not even six yet and I see this daily. There are many here that see this in their fur child. It’s sad, but we don’t and won’t give up, right?! The good news is that when and if we can lower to a small amount of autoimmune suppressants, the muscles will start to come back. It will for Koda too.

Sadie, being a Cocker Spaniel and very furry, has really long fur between her toes too. I have to trim it back with scissors and then use the clippers to go in between the toe pads. I can see a big difference when it grows and wella – time for another trim. We have tile EVERYWHERE (FL), so it’s a continuum. Koda is very lucky to have you and your resourcefulness. Heck, you make patent these ‘socks’ and sell them. Even an arthritic dog could benefit from them. Even without a patent – just sell them. :)

Don’t be too upset about Dr. Dodds. She gets to the point, with not a lot of fluff in between. She’s just so busy and I am sure goes ninety-to-nothing, 24/7. Please don’t take it personal. We have all been there. I know we all pushed for you to write her (and along with that the fee). But she is NOT in it for the money. It’s all about her love and devotion to the cause and her love for animals. And thank goodness, she is so gracious with her brilliance. And she herself has some elderly dogs, so it’s not that – although it may have sounded that way, agree with Sheena – it’s not Koda’s age. She may have just had a super crazy day. I know there is NO way I could do what she does, not that I have 1/100th the brain she has, but just the go-go-go that she does, every day. So, please know – it was not YOU, nor Koda’s age.

As all have said, we are here, good or bad, always. That, our dear friend, is a given. And of course, we still want daily posts. ;)

Much love and huge, hang-in-here with us hugs, Linda and Sadie

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Terri

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You all are so sweet. I feel like I don’t deserve all this attention yet it helps so much to hear all your stories and ups and downs. I’ve been researching and pondering the situation. I’m going to throw out all my thoughts on his anemia.
I was able to upload his cbc from Monday Yay.
Feel free to take a stab at it. All the highs and lows on it leaves a pit in my stomach when I see it. :(
Anyway, Koda’s vet Dr. M. is more convinced now that it is IMHA. Her treatment for it is just prednisone. She says she doesn’t want to hit his system so aggressively with steroids. Now here lies my love/distrust with her. On the one hand, she sent us out the door on day one with rimadyl. he was nearly dead 5 days later but she saved his life.
He seems to be slowly responding to the 20mg pred. 10mg BID. from a 20 HCT on the 6th (my birthday how nice) to 31.7 2 weeks later (Monday) Dr. Dodds said she didn’t think it was IMHA. Is it because she saw how high the WBC is? She said inflammation or infection. How did she determine that? 2 weeks on a strong antibiotic have barely budged the WBC.
Dr. M says the antibiotics will not do anything because it isn’t bacterial or viral. She humored me though and sent me home with clavamox. THEN I read that clavamox and penicillins should not be used for IMHA dogs as it can be a trigger.
One lady on the dog.com site said her dog relapsed after being given clavamox for an eye infection.
I’m no longer giving the clavamox. Not going to take the chance.
I’ve read so many stories that didn’t end well and I’ve accepted that my ol boy’s fate may not be a happy ending but I will continue the fight.
Dr. M says that high WBC can also be a part of IMHA. I read that too in a few sites after further research.
So I’m going with IMHA. We’re treating with Prednisone alone unless he starts going in the wrong direction. Adding integrative supplements to try to “regulate” not strengthen his immune system and provide some natural and healthy products to support the effort ie: Slippery elm/chlorophyll.
Making his booties tomorrow. It will be fun to sew again.
I’m sure Dr. Dodds is a wonderful veterinarian. I’m sure she just has too many irons in the fire right now. We will get by just fine.
Koda has lived a full life. Maybe that’s why I’m a bit more at peace with the whole thing.
Having a youngun going through this is just not fair.
Dr. M wants to get Koda over this hump and upped his preds Tuesday to 15 BID but he didn’t do well after that first dose. he seemed even weaker and had an accident in the kitchen and was laying in it when I woke from a nap (work 12hr night shift) Such a sad sight. I only gave him 10mg last night and 12.5mg this morning (1+ 1/4) he was better today so I’m going to leave it at that. I’ll go with 12.5 BID and see what the CBC says on Monday.
I feel like I’m babbling…signing off
Terri and Koda