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[admin]

Oh Wendy, this is so hard for you. It’s mighty expensive having them in hospital. I am concerned that they haven’t put Frank on an additional immuno-suppressant yet – that’s important. Perhaps they haven’t told you the full medications yet?

I understand about specialist help – we are also quite remote, so have to travel to a specialist. Not much fun. I hope you can get the full reports to us – we will do our utmost to help you. Try not to worry – these transfusions get them through the early stages whilst the drugs kick in. Keep positive, Wendy – you have to for Frank – it will be a long journey with lots of hills to climb.

Love & hugs Sheena xxxxx

[admin]

Dear Suba and Vikram,
I am so sorry for your loss of sweet Poppy. Of course I don’t know exactly how you feel, but believe me, I have a pretty good idea. Your heart is broken, you feel physically ill and you probably have no tears left to cry. No words can really ease your pain right now but there are a few things I want to say to you.
First of all, Poppy had a wonderful life with you. Nothing makes dogs happier than be with their people and being loved. Obviously you were the center of Poppie’s wonderful world and that made her happy. You did everything in your power to make her recover from this awful disease, you did everything right. Unfortunately even though we do everything right, sometimes it is not meant to be. I can imagine, it must be hard to think that you would have liked to be there with Poppy for her last breath. I have heard about dieing people not being able to let go because their loved ones where by their side. Maybe that was the case with Poppy? She was very ill but she loved you so much that she was not able to let go. Once you were out of sight she was able to die. I know that right now when you think of Poppy, what comes to mind is her sad face and her being ill. In time you will remember the good days, nobody can take away the wonderful memories of beautiful times with Poppy.
If you feel like it, go to “the bridge” on this website, maybe what is written there will help you a bit on your journey.
Please accept my sincere condolences,
Love and best wishes,
Brigitte

[admin]

My dear Suba

I’m dreadfully sorry to hear about Poppy – I know you are completely devastated. My thoughts are with you at this sad time. So unfair. I hate this disease & what it does to our precious pets. So sorry, Suba. No-one could have done more for her than you did. She is at peace now.

Love & hugs
Sheena xxxxx

[admin]

Hiya Arianne

My goodness, I take Worzel straight to the vet if I’m worried about any little thing – you are not alone on that score because we’re all completely paranoid. This disease makes everything seem extra frightening.

I’m so happy Carsten’s PCV is still rising – great news which puts your mind at rest. Good to here the eyes were nothing to worry about after all, but you are right to get these things checked out in case it’s something important that needs treating. If in doubt, a Snap 4dx test is always a good idea.

Just got back from Worzel’s check up – his HCT was 68.5, which has cheered me up. That is normal for a greyhound believe or not – they have very high PCV/HCT naturally. I had been worried as he had a terrible tummy upset a while back- it had dropped to 55 which is bordering low for greyhounds, so I’m relieved it’s gone back up – see I worry too!

We have been keeping in close contact with Linda – Sadie is holding her own – she’s had two packed red cell transfusions & they have made her feel much better. She’s fighting off a nasty infection which has caused the relapse. Thank you for asking – I will tell her you’ve asked about Sadie.

So Arianne, you’re never going to stop worrying – I never have either!

Love Sheena xxxxx

[admin]

Hello Wendy

A big welcome to you – I know you are stressed & worried at this point – it’s no fun seeing them poorly. Brigitte & Vally have given you some great information & I totally agree – not eating is normal at this stage. My Worzel didn’t eat at all either, until the drugs started to do their job. He couldn’t be bothered with anything at all – no energy, no appetite, very miserable. Then he started eating for England!!!!! Couldn’t get enough down him. One thing you do need to do is make sure Frank gets plenty of water -the drugs make them dehydrated sometimes, so he will probably be drinking loads & peeing loads too. Worzel drank gallons & was very hot & bothered – it’s the prednisone that does this. I had a bowl of water in the bedroom for him to drink during the night too.

If you can send us any test results – blood tests, blood smears, x-ray reports, ultrasound reports – anything that would be helpful to see what’s going on with poor Frank. We also would like to make sure Frank is getting the right drug treatment – it’s very important to enable them to recover as quickly as possible. Can you list exactly what he’s on & what doses for us? Is he with a specialist in internal medicine? Our dogs are usually at risk from abnormal clotting with this disease – it is the biggest risk, unfortunately. Can you please show the following link to your vet? Please feel free to print it off & take it to the vets with you:
https://www.secondchanceaihadogs.com/AIHA_Terms/abnormal-clotting/
A simple blood smear will show your vet what is happening. And DO NOT worry – most of our dogs – not all- need a simple anti-clotting medication to see them though the early stages – this is a normal part of the treatment.

Sorry to ask so many questions – I imagine you’re very confused & overwhelmed about what’s happening. Please be assured that we were all totally in the dark at the beginning of treatment – the lovely people on here helped me get Worzel through this disease (he had bone marrow failure) & he is now in remission after being diagnosed in December 2012. It has been a steep learning curve for sure – any help we can give you, just ask.

Remember – Frank can beat this stinker of a disease – keep thinking positive because he can make a complete recovery – young or old is not an issue – puppies have made a full recovery & so have our older pups. And we will be beside you all the way, of course!

Love & hugs – you need a hug at this difficult time
Sheena, Worzel & Ollie xxxx

[admin]

Hello Wendy,
I am so sorry you had to find us, but also glad you did! Day two and not eating, that is pretty normal. Please, please do NOT think the worst, think the best! Although this is a serious disease and I do not want you to have pink glasses on, there are many dogs that recover from this. Everybody on this forum has experienced their dog being very sick and we have accumulated a lot of knowledge and can help people understand the disease better. Many times we have questioned the treatment of well meaning vets that have not a lot of experience and it turned out we were right. In order to help you it would be great if you could download the latest blood test results to the “Urgent Advice”. Please check out the blue tabs at the top, “AIHA Terms” and the “AIHA Video library”. It would also be helpful if you could give us a list of the medications he is on, maybe we can make some suggestions there.
To have a dog getting ill with this, at this young age is rare, but not unheard of. We know of a little West highland White Terrier that was diagnosed at 5 months. He is still alive and well at over 5 years of age.
What are you feeding him? You might have to hand feed in the beginning. The most important thing is that the food he is getting is very lean. Poached egg, boiled chicken breast works well. Try not to make too much of a fuss, try and stay matter of fact, like: oh you don’t want to eat right now, that is ok we will try again later. Hopefully your pup is drinking, because you don’t want him to get dehydrated. If he does not drink you might want to syringe it into him (without needle of course) One thing that has worked for me sometimes was I cooked some lean chicken and gave the broth to my dog, he loved that. Once the

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