hemolytic anemia

quijibo

my dog collapsed on friday evening
she didn't wanna eat. started to have trouble breathing. and was completely lethargic

we're at the vet's saturday noon and today the vets performed a sonogram of her abdomen.
they determined these symptons lend themselves to hemolytic anemia
and she will be bustin' out prednisone for the new few months

does anyone have experience with their dog/s dealing with hemolytic anemia?

carnivore

I don't know about dogs, but in people there are many different causes of hemolytic anemia, with totally different treatments.

shishkab

in dogs it's the same, Carni.

Q, the most important thing is to find a cause if at all possible. a few possibilities come to mind: parasites? has she been taking antibiotics for anything? did she just have a checkup and get vaccines? does she eat objects off the street like pennies (zinc toxicity is rare, i'll grant you, but some dogs eat weird things like stones or coins)? has she tangled with any insects like spiders or bees lately? it would be ideal to find an answer, Q, but i need to state for the record that usually a specific cause is never found, so be prepared to never know "why" this happened to her.

I hope Kika responds to the pred -- if it's going to work you should see a positive response within a few days. One thing you must check for: if she becomes jaundiced, you need to call your vet immediately, okay?

Is she home now? What did the docs tell you? Feel free to PM me, sweetie -- I'm here if you need me. I'll provide you with whatever answers I can.

shishkab

by the way, i just did a quick search of sites describing the disease to owners, and this one does a very good job.

http://www.vetcentric.com/magazine/magazineArticle.cfm?ARTICLE=When%20the%20Diagnosis%20is%20Immune%2DMediated%20Hemolytic%20Anemia

caseopele

quijibo, my thoughts are with you and Kika. I hope she gets better soon.

quijibo

shishkab wrote: in dogs it's the same, Carni.

Q, the most important thing is to find a cause if at all possible. a few possibilities come to mind: parasites? has she been taking antibiotics for anything? did she just have a checkup and get vaccines? does she eat objects off the street like pennies (zinc toxicity is rare, i'll grant you, but some dogs eat weird things like stones or coins)? has she tangled with any insects like spiders or bees lately? it would be ideal to find an answer, Q, but i need to state for the record that usually a specific cause is never found, so be prepared to never know "why" this happened to her.

I hope Kika responds to the pred -- if it's going to work you should see a positive response within a few days. One thing you must check for: if she becomes jaundiced, you need to call your vet immediately, okay?

Is she home now? What did the docs tell you? Feel free to PM me, sweetie -- I'm here if you need me. I'll provide you with whatever answers I can.

thank you guys for your support.

kika had an ultrasound of the abdomen monday morning to rule out hemangiosarcoma, so it's probably not that. thank god.

she got an injection of prednisone monday morning and she's been reacting positively to this.
her urine on monday was a dark brown.
her urine this tuesday morning is much lighter with a small trace of dark urine. i take this to be the prednisone working to supress her immune system, and thereby the excess red blood cells are no longer being secreted in her liver at the same rate as before.

she's still lethargic but better. saturday morning all she could do was stand on all fours and sway back and forth. the lack of oxygen was causing her to become confused.

she's also taking an antibiotic to kill any viruses. once she stabilizes on the prednisone. we're gonna check her marrow.

the prednisone makes her real thirsty. and she can't handle the stairs yet.
so i'm having to carry her fat ass up and down the stairs

pitu

o sh*t!
thinking good thoughts for Kika . . .

and ummm, I just saw doggie diapers in the Revival catalogue, in case you have to go to work . . .
http://www.revivalanimal.com/search.asp?t=ss&ss=diapers&image1.x=0&image1.y=0

quijibo

pitu wrote: o sh*t!
thinking good thoughts for Kika . . .

and ummm, I just saw doggie diapers in the Revival catalogue, in case you have to go to work . . .
http://www.revivalanimal.com/search.asp?t=ss&ss=diapers&image1.x=0&image1.y=0

thanks for the link Pitu. it's good to know i have these as an option
i'm going to work today. luckily her dogsitter has a backyard that she can use at will

her appetite's not back yet. neither is her strength.
but her breathing is regular and her gums are a little more pink this morning

caseopele

Quijibo, how's Kika doing? Better, I hope. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

quijibo

she's much better. still weak but her vitals are pointing the right direction
her PCV values are stabilzing with the help of the prednisone

she's a "sensitive" patient.
she figured out i was sneaking her medicine into little meatballs.
so today she refused to eat her dinner of meatballs{her favorite!} and yogurt with kibble.
just to let me know that she knows what i'm doing.

so i had to stuff her meds inside some low sodium roast beef slices
if tomorrow she figures out i'm putting her meds inside the roast beef
i'm not sure how i'm going to give her the meds

next step is to get her on milk thistle to help support the liver -- the prednisone wreaks havoc with the liver.
the prednisone also makes her ravenous so i have to make sure she doesn't eat something off the street

what animal would eat garbage off the street when they have a dish full of meatballs waiting at home?
my dog!

caseopele

Kika and my dog Ripley apparently! Although, Ripley isn't smart enough or discerning enough to turn up her nose at drug-laden food. She'll eat the garbage off the street then run upstairs to eat her own food.

Sounds like Kika is too smart for her own good! You'll have to keep switching the food you hide her meds in. Maybe trick her by giving her 2 different treats but switch the one you put the meds in every day or so. I'm glad she's doing better, I'm sure she has no idea how many people are rooting for her. Go Kika!

P.S. Does she realize how lucky she is to have you as her daddy?

P.P.S. This is a great website, they sell products but also have a support community. http://www.handicappedpets.com/

alafairnadia

aww! just caught up with this thread. so glad she's going better. poor girl. and, yes, definitely glad she's got a daddy like you.