Weaning: Atopica (cyclosporine) and Prednisone

Linda

Guest

Vally – funny gal. Bingo – how about a NICE warm bath today in the tub? Sadie loves that. Good boy.

Erica – Poor you and Tilly. I am so sorry about the relapse. It’s our worst fear (after the initial onset, of course).

Sadie has relapsed once before. At onset of AIHA, she responded VERY well to the pred and Atopica, fast. My vet was sort of feeling his way through this and at a weak moment (MINE) and against everything I was told on VetNet, I let him talk me into weaning Sadie fast. I think they now call it the ‘five day weaning plan’ and it should NOT BE DONE! Sadie, and others from what I understand, have not done well with it. It was a weaning that reduced all meds, normal dose; every other day for fives days, then every two days for five days, then every three days for fives days then, every five days for five days. Sadie’s PCV started to drop on the third day of the five of every three days. Not drastically, but by about three-five points (we were testing PCV every other day at this point….as I remember). Then on the fourth day of the fives days, she collapsed THREE times before I could get her to the vet.

When I rushed her in to the vet, I didn’t have to say anything – they knew – they were WRONG. We immediately tested her PCV – 20. Down from the 42 when we started weaning and one point lower than onset of AIHA on March 30th. I was in tears. We started her back at square one with full force of prednisone/Atopica, daily. Plus, and I had to remind them to give her a shot of prednisone to jump start her (da – look at her chart!) when her PCV did not climb right away. That did it – the shot, it started to climb again. That was the end of June. Her PCV rose a little slower this time, but we’re now back at 44 (as of last Saturday). We’re still weaning – BUT, very slow (again – thanks my dear friends here!!).

Listen to them HERE. And listen to your gut instinct. I knew to listen to all here and I was torn between my vet, that I knew wanted to do the right thing – but just lacked the experience – and the forum, that knew AND had experience. I’m not saying be confrontational with your vet – I’m just saying, tell them to listen to YOU. I actually printed pages from VetNet and took it in for them to read. I told them read it, these are fur parents that have been through it – for years – they know, they warned, I didn’t listen – now you, my wonderful vet, are going to listen to me AND them. SLOW, SLOW, SLOW weaning.

Now we are weaning at 25% (or about, not able to do with Atopica due to dosage/liquid capsules, so it ends up being 25% sometimes and then 33% sometimes….) for one month. This way there is time to adjust and hopefully, hopefully, the adrenal glands start to kick in and start working again, after being shut down for so long.

So far, so good with Sadie this time. Each pup is different. Sadie’s PCV was never that low. She was never in need of a transfusion. This is my experience – if I am saying anything wrong here, please correct me forum. Forum – nice to say that again.

You know – from the beginning my vet knew that the VetNet forum was right on target. I found the forum within a week (I was clued to the computer – researching – a deer in the headlights, I was). Immediately, I actually gave him the site of the forum and he was really impressed – we talked about it in length and he was glad that I was doing so much research and helping him understand this disease better AND how to treat it. He was very good in the hematology arena, so that helped immensely and how he caught the AIHA immediately at onset. I was lucky. I am not sure at what point he thought to wean fast. He was leaving the practice (he now does 90% rescue work) and had some health issues going on at that time. What I’m saying is – I truly believe the vets mean well, but with AIHA – listen to them here. I flub up all the time and they reel me back.

Good luck with Tilly. It’s all crushing and exhausting. Trying to stay just one step ahead of it all is a daily ordeal. Just remember – bottom line – SLOW WEANING. :)

Love and hugs to you and Tilly, Linda and Sadie

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