My 13 yr old just diagnosed

[Terri]

P.S. Thank you Patrice for loading his picture. I would share one with his pink wraps on his feet but “someone” would rather not be humiliated in that way so I will keep it to myself.

[admin]

Hi Terri,
Why in heavens name would you not deserve our attention??? You love your dog and do all you can to make him feel as good as possible in his last years. We are here to support you in that, you definitly deserve that!!!
I must say I am still kind of baffled that you did not get a better response from Dr. Dodds. It is not like her at all. But as you say, leave it at that, move forward. I looked at the CBC even though I am not good at interpreting. Of course the rise of the HTC jumped right at me, Happy Birthday, that was timely:) This is a VERY positive developpement! How much does Koda weigh? The general rule is to give 1mg of prednisone per lbs of dog, it seems to me the 25mg perday is low, but maybe I am wrong and Koda is smaller than I think? The accidents are very common. Please don’t get tempted and restict his water. He really needs that. Just be aware that he has to go out much more, maybe even during the night. This is a very common side effect of the prednisone and it will go away once the drug can be slowly reduced. Keep an eye on frequent urinating/straining/blood in urine. That could be a urinary tract infection. This too is fairly common especially in older boys. I gave my boy some cranberry extract, just opened up the capsules and sprinkled the powder on the food. It has lots of vitamin C too. If it did not help I am pretty sure it did not hurt.
Is Koda still on the rimadil? I have absolutely no scientific proof but I know a dog that developped anemia from this drug. Of course the vet denied it but the owner was pretty sure the rimadil was the culprit. This was also an older dog with arthritis. She did recover.
I hope Koda is still on a stomach protectant like sucralfate/carafate. Sorry if I repeat myself, but I have heard too many emergencies because of ulcers and don’t want Koda to go down that road.
You are absolutely right Terri, you do NOT want to strengthen Koda’s immune system if indeed you are dealing with IMHA. This would be totally counter productive.
If you are thinking of supplements Koda could benefit from, Milkthistle is a good one to protect the liver. Also SamE would do that. After a few weeks of prednisone many dogs get very high liver values and these products can help with that. There is also a product called petinic that helps these dogs. It has Vitamin B, folic acid and iron in it. All of these help with the blood production.
You are right, it might be easier to deal with all this with an old dog that had a good life. But it is still YOUR dog and if your vet gets a handle on this there is no reaso why Koda could not have a couple of good years. How is he dealing with it all? Is he feeling better now that his HTC is higher? Old dogs are so very special, they can make you happy just by being there.
Best wishes,
Brigitte

[Terri]

Koda’s current med/supps 59lbs
Pepcid 10mg BID
Prednisone 12.5 BID
kidney support ( I need an alternative to standard process–so expensive and doesn’t last long.)
Salmon oil
B12 SID
bio prep micro algae BID
erythro pro blood support BID
Pet tinic BID
Denamarin SID
Slippery elm Cocktail BID
Dasuquin BID

I think that’s it. I’ll look into the cranberry powder. Good idea. I used to have it for my cat that was blocked. I have 6 cats. 4 in the house and 2 in my barn. My last rescue is a 3 legged FIV+ former feral. The most affectionate one of the bunch go figure. We couldn’t touch him for over a month but patience and time turned him into a softie. Trooper curled right up next to Koda the day Koda came home from vet. My others could care less. He’s a very special kitty.
Terri

[admin]

Terri,
the prednisone is definitly low, too low to supress the immune system. But then Koda responded so it might be ok, I don’t know. Ask the vet!
Pepcid is good, the sucralfate is just a much better stomach protection. It has to be given away from all other medications and food so it will not interfere with absorption. Slippery elm is also a great stomach protection but maybe not quite as good as the sucralfate.
Please leave the bio prep. It is an immune booster and I believe so is the standard process. Salmon oil or coconut oil is great. Petinic is great and so is the Denamarin. I have to look up the erythro pro blood support and Dasuquin, never heard of it:)
You sure have the house full! We have a dedicated cat person on this forum, that would be Mary. How wonderful that you were able to save a feral cat, a friend for Koda. Amazing what a little patience can do! You sure are a dedicated soul!

Brigitte

[Terri]

According to others bioprep is does NOT boost the immune system. I would think if anything I’ve been giving him is helping his system to attack that the HCT would be dropping not rising. If he falls backwards I will stop it. The standard process is just a kidney support.
Are there studies somewhere I can follow up with to research the effects of algae or chlorophyll to imha?
Now, I don’t remember who it was but they were adament about no coconut oil….again, studies? Anecdotal? Personal experiences?
Will continue to research as much as possible.

Terri and Koda

[admin]

Terri,
I think on their website it states that the bio prep boosts the immune system. I did give it to my AIHA dog, I was reaching for straws…. I showed it to my vet and she just shrugged. She did not believe it would do any harm but was not convinced it would help. I remember we have discouraged it on this forum but then you are not even sure you are dealing with AIHA. So if you think it helps Koda, keep giving it.
The coconut oil, I just threw that one in because I give it to my healthy dogs, sorry. The fish oil is good and you certainly don’t need something else.
Kelp and agea can contain iodine, which in turn helps with hypothyroid, which is also a side effect or cause of AIHA.
I looked up the erythro pro blood, it sounds like it could be beneficial but it contains iron. The petinic does too I believe so I would check with the vet if you are not giving too much iron now.
I hope I have not confused you more . I am sorry all my knowledge is anectotal, not scientific or based on any studies. I still hope it helps a bit.

Brigitte

[Patrice]

Terri,
I have researched BioPrep extensively in past years. It has a lovely website, full of promises, but it has failed on every request to post an ingredient list. In fact if you go to their website, the link to that list takes you to a “page not found.” It promises you that it saves you all kind of money by giving you a product with all the stuff you will ever need in a pill.

Algae in general, and specifically the ones they claim to use in this product, can be prone to contamination by dangerous algae, either during collection or in the processing plant, that are not beneficial and in fact can be hazardous to health.

Some of the algae in this product may contain extremely high levels of Vitamin K, something our body uses in the clotting process. Excess levels of K may lead to a clotting risk.

Some of these algae can also contain high quantities of iodine. While in small quantities this is appropriate for good health, in these large quantities it can affect the function of the thyroid gland. Dr. Dodds first pointed this out at a seminar I attended in 2009 on canine hypothyroidism. Studies done had just shown that exposure to higher levels of iodine in dogs (esp via seaweed supplements and additions to dog food) can lead to the development of hypothyroidism. We gathered around the door prize table at lunch and read the labels of the supplements. Oops. Really high levels of iodine in them. She advised us to either not use these, or use them sparingly.

Mind that I say “some.” Since this is a product that relies on harvesting from nature, where it is harvested can significantly change the level of contaminants and nutrients. Drying concentrates the ingredients to extremely high doses of “whatever.”

There are no controls over the advertising, claims and manufacture of these products. The US government has some legislation in place, but it is still based on voluntary compliance. Needless to say, if this website is not within the US, then there is little the US could do. So they get to make all the claims they want without a worry.

I can’t prove that the supplement you are using is hazardous and contains anything like I have mentioned. But I cannot also guarantee that it is pure and 100% beneficial. I can guarantee it makes that company a lot of money and breaks the budget of many families.
my best
patrice

[Terri]

It does thank you!! My thought again on all of this…these drugs aloneto treat this disease ravage and have killed dogs. If you’re lucky, you still have your dog or a shell of your dog to bring back. Some algae and coconut oil…products from nature will not do anything worse than what traditional medicine has to offer. It’s so hard to decide what’s best because what works for Sadie or Worzel may not work for Koda. Why is his HCT going up yet his PLT going down? 245 last week and 171 this week? Evan’s syndrome? I need to look further into that condition.
Why is Koda even responding to such a low dose? Why did 15mg pred lay him out? I can’t imagine giving him more. :(
I tried to ask for more Sucralfate but my vet says he doesn’t need it. I can’t get it without a prescription.
So many unanswered questions…
Day by day…it’s all I can do. Each week his HCT rises so I will hang on to that and hope his other values fall into place.
I know it’s asking alot. One can hope.

Terri