New to AIHA, dog in trouble

[Vally]

Tamara, so you keep the cyclo in the freezer. I thought it had to go in 30 minutes before. That’s even better that way, because you don’t have to rely on remembering to put it in ahead of time before dosing. There are enough things to have to remember.

I’ve been lucky in that Bingo was always a good pill taker and didn’t have bad reactions to his drugs. Pred was the worse but no different to anyone else.

Vally & Bingo

[Rick]

Okay, thanks. I will discuss freezing the cycle with the vet. I’m not sure that is what is upsetting her stomach. She seems to “feel” worse after she takes Plavix, if that is possible.

Brandy is doing very well. Her energy is back to normal (high) though I am limiting her to short walks in the morning – it is unusally hot here right now so I’m careful not to stress her.
Her gums are still pale, but are a much improved pinkish color from the pure white they were a few days ago.

It is a challenge to get food in her, and she is still quite skinny from the ordeal of the past two weeks.
She ate better yesterday and today her breakfast is in as well.
She eats about a mouthful of anything then refuses. 30 minutes later she is hungry again and will eat another small amount. It makes for a bit of a challenge when I need to get food in with Pred and can’t give food near Cycle or Sucralfate.
She will eat if “something tasty” is included. Unfortunately something tasty means more protein and fat than she can tolerate. We are using ground Turkey but not more than a 1/2tsp in one meal per day.
Rick

[Vally]

Rick, I’m glad she’s feeling better.

[Vally]

Rick, how is Brandy going?

Vally & Bingo

[Linda]

Hi Rick. Thinking about you and Brandy and hoping she’s continuing upward.

You are right, the drug regiment and figuring out what drug is the culprit of aggravating their tummies is exasperating. I hope Brady’s tummy is doing better. Have you tried Cerenia? It helped Sadie on many occasions.

Huge hugs to your girl.
Linda and Sadie

[Rick]

Hi everyone,
Brandy is doing great.

We checked her PCV on Sunday and it is still at 34. The external lab test confirmed the increase and showed significantly reduced spherocytes. Note that reticulocytes are now 15%.
Her doctors are very pleased with her progress to date and we will re-check on Thursday.

Saturday and Sunday morning were very difficult, with her refusing to eat much of anything.
We modified the meds schedule to put Sucralfate at the end of the day, food plus Pred first thing in the day, and reduced the Meto to twice a day instead of every 8 hours. We also reduced the Plavix and I stopped using rich foods (ground turkey, pill pockets) to get pills into her.
Not sure what worked but she is alert, focussed, and willing to eat.
She ate her dinner in 10 minutes tonight when it has been taking as much as 6 hours. She has gained back 1/2 the weight she lost and is currently ravenous.

Unless something changes I will give an update after I talk with the internal specialist on Thursday.
Rick

[admin]

Hi Rick
Sounds pretty good overall – good move changing the sucralfate to last thing at night. I found this the best way with Worzel & it is the recommended protocol. Glad Brandy is hungry again & gaining weight back. The reticulocyte production slows down when the PCV gets higher – that’s perfectly normal. Good news on less spherocytes – really glad things are looking much better!
Sheena, Worzel & Ollie

[Vally]

Oh rick, Brandy is sounding much happier. Great news.

Love Vally & BIngo