Forum Replies Created
Amber,
no vaccines does not mean that your dog is not immune! I am not a fan of dog parks to start with but I compete in dog agility so my dogs are exposed to all kinds of dogs, year round. You can titer test your dogs to check for immunity. I have done this every year (this is over kill, every 3 years is good) and so far after their first shots, my dogs have always been immune. There might have been one time that we had to immunize distemper but it is so long ago I don’t even remember. My dogs are 5 and 9, healthy and happy, no vaccines and I know they are immune to parvo and distemper. They are never immunized for Leptosirosis and Bordatella, the risk is too high. I had a dog that got AIHA because of over immunization so those two are out. Rabies is a different story. It depends on the law if you have to do it or not, if a titer will be accepted or not. Flying under the radar can be risky. Here in Canada we don’t have a law that makes us do it, but I did it anyway because I was traveling to the US. Rabies is extremely rare here, but it still happens so I decided to do it.
For now don’t even think about vaccines, cross the bridge when you get there. Your main focus is to get Dean healthy again and it looks like he is well on the way!
Best wishes,
Brigitte
Hi Amber
Really good news – I’m so happy to hear things are going well & that your vet is great – & open-minded too. I have never understood why some vets refuse to listen to others.
Goodness, we all worry ourselves silly when waiting for results – I always did – no-one understands how stressful this disease is unless they’ve experienced it, so you’re not alone there!
As Brigitte & Vally have said, the Denamarin is wonderful & will really help.
I’m so happy for you & Dean
Love Sheena, Worzel & Ollie xxxxx
Hi Amber!
it is refreshing and so wonderful to hear about a vet that is not only knowledgeable about the disease but is also not on a high horse and willing to work together with specialists and a TCM vet. it looks like Dean is well on the way to recovery and you can pat yourself on the back, you did a great job looking after him and being his voice. I was glad to read that you added milk thistle, ask your vet to also get Dean some Sam-E/Denamarin to help his liver recover from those high values.
Well done! Best wishes,
Brigitte
Amber – I can see you’ve really got your head round this now – pred reduction first this time is good. We all understand this disease costs such a lot of money & we all have to work within our “budget” sometimes, so don’t worry about last time – not worth it.
As far as I know, the thyroid problem would not affect neutrophil levels to such large extent, if at all. It is possible the corticosteroids could be the culprit to raise them – but I am still thinking infection of some kind though as something has caused a relapse – almost always infection is the cause of high neutrophils – & I would be happier if you get this checked out with your vet. There is a way they can tell – looking at the number of band cells (which are immature neutrophils) – large numbers or a “left shift” indicates infection / inflammation, rather than response to corticosteroids. There are no such figures I can see on the tests. Sorry if this is complicated – just print this & take it with you.
Have you had any other tests done? Snap 4 test for tick diseases would be a good start. My dog Worzel was ill for a long time before we realised what it was – we suspected a tick borne disease – he was given doxycycline, high dose, for 5 weeks. The problem is our dogs are highly susceptible to infection because of the pred – it would be easy for Dean to catch something. In my opinion (& my specialist’s) if you think a dog with IMHA has an infection, treat it straight away – don’t hesitate. Don’t waste time testing for things other than on the Snap 4 as it gives the infection a chance to really get hold. Let’s see what the band cells say too!
What I can categorically tell you is that hypothyroidism causes high cholesterol levels in dogs (and in people too) so that would explain Dean’s high level.
Off to bed now! Hope I’ve helped a bit more.
Hugs, Sheena xxxxx
Copy of our message:
Hi Amber
Been having a look through the blood tests, etc – thanks for sending them through. Looks like vaccinations were done whilst Dean was anaemic the way I read it (page 5 of the PDF) which is not recommended – this could be the original trigger, Amber. Can you confirm he was anaemic when they vaccinated? Or have I miss-read the report?
The specialist says to reduce the pred or the atopica according to side effects/cost implications on page 6 of the PDF & her suggestions on pred reduction look good actually. I think this message may have been lost “in translation/discussion” from your usual vets – I can only guess a communication problem & that’s why the atopica was lowered first? Don’t worry about that now – you can reduce the pred first this time – nothing lost.
The blood test from the 14th August was really good as you say – then the 4th September looks like an infection induced relapse to me – very high neutrophils are almost always due to infection – I’m so sorry this has happened, I really am. Just look at it as if you are starting all over again, as Linda has done with Sadie’s recent relapse – we’ll get you through it, so no more worrying, please. We’ll guide you through the conventional pred tapering when Dean gets back into normal levels, no problem!
Hope this helps
Love Sheena xxxxx
Hi Alyssa. You have already gotten great advice from the best. This group is incredible and without their help, Sadie would not be with me today. I am so glad you are here with us. Let’s get Dean back to wellness.
You asked about dog food. Sadie was on Nutrisca (it worked with her wacky tummy) for years. I actually JUST started cooking Sadie’s meals. I have seen an upward improvement in her coat, disposition, energy, and best of all, as gross as this sounds, her BM’s (Sadie has the worse time with this – has for years). I am still balancing the “supplements” but for now I am adding Nortic Naturals Omega 3 (Amazon), PetTinic (iron, plus minerals supplement – Amazon) and orgainc Tumeric (she is incontinent, long term, high dose prednisone, but as weaning, she’s getting better), along with 1/2 hard boiled egg and I grind to a powder, egg shell, 1/2 teaspoon for Calcium. We are missing some, like Vitamin E – like I said, still working that all out. So, I do supplement some left over Nutrisca kibble and also some Evanger’s canned vegitarian (complete blananced meal) dog food. Her kibble is now her “treats” – please don’t tell her. She also get Crananadin (Nutramax, Amazon) for her urinary tract health (hopefully). We this this last relapse was promoted by a really bad UTI, ending up with a horrible infection, but we’re not 100% sure.
I am actually using Dr. Dodds’ Liver Cleansing Diet, tweaked (Sadie does not do well with fish, surprise…), so I use ground turkey, chicken. I steam and Ninja potato, peas, green beans, carrots (and what ever else might be local and okay to use (Dr. Dodds has a list on her site, we have the link under Resources here on the forum). I can not stress enough the difference it has made with Sadie to cook her meals. I would love to have done raw, but her immune systems is so badly compromized that cooking it is. MUCH better though. And I do it all in one day, for two weeks. Love the ice cube trays for the pureed veggies (Ninja) and make burgers from the chicken, beef, turkey. I will keep trying to introduce fish…..slowly…..very small amounts. Oh, and also pureeing blue berries, apples in tiny ice cube trays, adding one of those too.
Sadie relapsed again (don’t fret, she’s very unique in her illness, read her story in Our Stories, although this last relapse is not included yet) in July, so she is still on high doses of immune suppressants. I am trying things a little differently this go around in hope that we can keep her from relapsing yet again. Her PCV yesterday was 40%! Not where she needs to be (regular for her is 46-49), but we’re happy she’s stable and maintaining. We have started the pred reduction – SLOW, SLOW, SLOW. Sadie weighs 31 pounds and is on 50mg Atopica and 22.5mg of prednisone daily, divided am and pm. We will reduce the prednisone first to a maintinence dose (Sadie is one that will be on a maintenance dose for life, most assuredly) and then start the Atopica.
I tell you all this because it’s a guessing game and you have to be on your best and be sharp. I mess up all the time and they reel me back.
You seem really on top of things. You’re an awesome fur parent and Dean is very lucky to have you on his side.
Love and hugs, Linda and doing AOK Sadie
Hi Matt
When you fill in the initial consultation request here
https://labordatenbank.com/cake/hemopet/onlineorders/hemopet_add
you can attach the blood tests – you can’t attach a lot on the initial consultation I’m afraid, so you could try your Drop Box in the message itself. List all the medications fully with a concise explanation of what’s happened – you will be able to expand on the info at a later date by e-mail.
After you have sent the consultation request, Dr Dodds will send you an initial contact mail – brief & with the treatment protocols attached. She is not “wordy” – she’s straight to the point, but very compassionate too. She is always happy to work with other vets, so you can ask your vet to consult with her (mine was happy to do that) or you can get all the info from your vets & send it to her yourself. I hope your vet will be prepared to work with her – it makes life so much easier!
The blood tests you have are informative for her for now, but YES – Hemopet can do all the required testing if you want them to
http://www.hemopet.org/veterinary-diagnostic-laboratory.html
All these links can be found here on this website – go to Second Chance Resources & click on the drop down box on Hemopet Resources.
I would certainly recommend using them for the thyroid panel:
http://www.hemopet.org/hemolife-diagnostics/veterinary-thyroid-testing.html
The B12 needs testing too – you can maybe do that locally – if not they can do it at Hemopet.
Dr Dodds can also advise you on diet – that is another one of her areas of expertise:
https://www.secondchanceaihadogs.com/nutrition-resources/
For Slaton, I would try the liver & GI tract cleansing diet.
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