Staffie X Tiger Diagnosed with AIHA

[Vally]

Adam, I haven’t read this properly yet but I wanted to say hi. Work has been frantic today. Are you in Australia? What part. I’m in Sydney. What specialists are you using?

Let me have a good read later today so I can take it in. I’m Bingo’s mum. His story is in the stories at the top of this page and he’s another survivor. Diagnosed in November 2011 (in remission).

There are some wonderful people here and we all love to help as much as we can.

My very best
Vally & Bingo.

[Vally]

Wow, we’ve just worked out we’re neighbours! One suburb apart.

Vally

[Adam]

Hi Everyone, thank you so much for all your emails and support today. Tiger is home with me now. He was definitely very excited when he came home, running around and exploring the yard. He ate well this evening, I have been told to keep him on a very lean diet of low fat foods because of the medications.

I fed him 200gms of Kangaroo meat, mixed with pasta and carrots. He ate the whole dish. I also mixed his medicine into the meat.

I have a list of meds he is taking and the frequencies here.

Tiger is taking:

Cyclosporine 100mg 2x daily
Losec 20mg 1x daily (stomach protectant).
Macrolone 20mg 2x daily.

When I was at the Vet’s today, I asked all the questions listed here.

They don’t think he ingested any Rat poison, it was just an early suspicion before the blood work came back.

Tiger is currently highly-regenerative and is producing lots of new red blood cells to replenish the lost ones.

Tigers PCV was 24 last night (9pm) and 29 this morning (10am). an increase of 5pts.

Overall his energy this afternoon was good, he wasn’t sleepy or tired. Tonight however he has been dozing in and out, been very tired after dinner however and is currently asleep. He also seems to be breathing slightly faster than normal, but isn’t panting or breathing heavily. (I was told that heavy panting was a concern as it may indicate a clot).

Do you all find that the meds made your dogs sleepy?

Thanks for all your support. I will keep you updated.

Adam x

[Vally]

Yay Tiger. He is doing just great.

Now, business. The cyclosporine, ideally should NOT be given with food. Preferably 2 hours away from other medicine and foods.

The Losec and Macrolone (which I googled is a form of prednisone) are both okay with food. In particular, the macrolone is better given with food.

Let me know if you want a medicine chart made up for you. I’d be happy to do it.

Highly regenerative is the BEST news you want to hear with this disease.

Yes, keep foods lean, to avoid any chance of pancreatitis.

Prednisone has heaps of side effects. You can read them in the glossary above in AIHA Terms or the link is here: https://www.secondchanceaihadogs.com/AIHA_Terms/prednisone/

Were you able to get a copy of Tiger’s blood results? If not maybe ring and ask that they email them to you. You haven’t mentioned any aspirin to prevent clotting. If they’ve mentioned clotting, it’s very important that you double check. There are some times when a dog doesn’t need to take it – Bingo didn’t need it – but it depends on what the blood is doing. Some of the others mentioned it above. If you can get a copy of the results and attach it to the Urgent Advice it gets emailed to the administrators, or you can just email it to me and I’ll pass it on.

Yes, Tiger will be tired. Don’t exercise him for a bit. Whilst he’s looking good, his red blood count is still not yet in the normal range, so any sort of exercise will take a lot out of him. Just be patient.

Seriously, you’ve made my night. I’m so very pleased for you and Tiger.

Adam, any questions, ask away. Someone here has been through it.

My very best,
Vally & Bingo

[admin]

Hi Adam

So happy Tiger is home – I bet you missed him like crazy. Being highly regenerative is wonderful news & he is certainly doing really well. Good to know it wasn’t rat poison after all. Things are looking really good, Adam.

The drugs (prednisolone in particular) make them very tired, as does the anaemia. When they don’t have enough red blood cells (which carry oxygen), they can’t get enough oxygen circulating around to be active, so it’s no wonder they feel a bit lethargic! They also breath more quickly to try to get more oxygen into their system. Tiger is improving on the PCV front & you will see he becomes more active as his levels gradually come up to normal.

We always find they have much bigger appetites with the prednisone & get very greedy! They need more food than usual, so you will have to up the quantity. Your vet’s advice on low fat is given to people on these steroids too – a very good idea.

Tiger will drink a lot more too – they need to drink loads to keep hydrated. Of course that means more toilet breaks & more peeing. Don’t be surprised if you have to let him out more during the night. We all suffered from sleep deprivation at this stage!

I presume the vets don’t have a definite idea of what triggered this? Some owners never do find out I’m afraid.

Did your vet explain that you need to give the Losec (tummy protector) at least 2 hours away from any other drugs? That is very important because the Losec prevents absorption of other drugs & that is not what you want. Hope that helps.

Most of us have also given sucralfate as a tummy protector – a 1g dose twice per day, the last dose being last thing at night. I would chat about this with your vet as it is really good stuff & helped my dog a lot more than the losec-type protector. Sucralfate is unique because it forms a lovely “mucousy” protecting layer in the GI tract, preventing irritation & healing any ulceration already present. Again, the sucralfate must be given at least two hours away from other drugs. These things make drug timings a right pain to organise. Working out drug charts is Vally’s forte – I’m sure she would love to help you on that.

I read in your that you’re a bit concerned about looking out for a clot – did they look into this & tell you anything? Did they do a blood smear? This & a blood test would instantly tell you if Tiger is at risk from abnormal clotting.

So don’t you worry that Tiger is a bit on the tired side & breathing a bit faster – perfectly normal. He needs lots of rest, keeping nice & calm – & a lot of cuddles of course! You are doing a fantastic job – you need to get some rest & look after yourself too.

Keep us updated whenever you get a chance

Love Sheena, Worzel & Ollie x

[admin]

Sorry Vally – typing at the same time, but you beat me to the finish line! Apologies for any duplication of advice Adam.
Sheena x

[Vally]

Adam, Sheena is right about the Losec. Keep it away from the other drugs.

Vally and Bingo

[Adam]

Thanks for all the advice guys.

@Sheena So just to be clear, because I did give the Losec and the cyclosporine together tonight :/ I should be giving him the Macrolone and Cyclosporine morning and night as per the vet’s instructions but I should be giving the Losec at say 12 pm because that is one a day?

Thank you for putting my mind at ease about the breathing and tiredness. I did notice tonight, he seems to have an infected scab on his right rear leg I will need to get looked at tomorrow :( .

Other than that, I am going to tuck him in for bed now, and get some rest myself. Goodnight everyone, will update you tomorrow. Adam