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Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia


Lemonlime
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Hi Poodle Mum

Our Vizsla was diagnosed with IMHA over a year ago (along with meningtitis) and he is a happy wiggly pup today (will be 2 years old in June). IMHA is an emotional battle for the owner, as you well know, and there are two great forums which have some great info and can give you a hand along the way. These are http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/CIMDAsupport/ and http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/K9Auto-...yguid=338270381. Flynn's PCV was 15 when diagnosed ... we climbed to 22 then came back to 19 ... at this stage we added azathioprine (but this does take a few weeks to kick in) as we were only using prednisone. We have slowly weaned him off prednisone and he is still on azathioprine ... looking at taking him off this completely this week.

Edited by Red Dog NZ
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Thanks Red Dog NZ....I was all set to say goodbye to my girl yesterday after her PCV dropped from 19 to 14 in 2 days. On Monday it had gone up to 16....so we decided to play it week by week & wait & see what happens with the meds.

She is on Imuran, cylosporin. cotrisone, AB's & a gut protectant - Losec tabs. She should be rattling!!

She is eating & following me around, so I am just enjoying her & spoiling her while I can.

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Poodle Mum ... you seem to have covered all bases with the meds which is good ... including the gastroprotectant. The latter being very important with high doses of pred .... as we were to find out when initially our vet would not let us add this to the mix when diagnosed with SRMA (the meningitis) .... five weeks later Flynn had gastric bleeding and then diagnosed with IMHA. Things can be a roller coaster with the PCV at the start ... with fluctuations ... it was with Flynn and I have seen this from reading others experiences. Great to hear she is eating and following you around. Take care.

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Thanks Red Dog NZ....I was all set to say goodbye to my girl yesterday after her PCV dropped from 19 to 14 in 2 days. On Monday it had gone up to 16....so we decided to play it week by week & wait & see what happens with the meds.

She is on Imuran, cylosporin. cotrisone, AB's & a gut protectant - Losec tabs. She should be rattling!!

She is eating & following me around, so I am just enjoying her & spoiling her while I can.

Hey Poodle Mum, so sad you had to join this thread. My dog's been a IMHA survivor since June last year and I understand that it can be a hard battle :laugh: but definitely hang in there! I agree with what Red Dog NZ said about the fluctuations. Even after blood transfusion and days of drugs, my dog's PCV still went from 30 and 20 over night so... yea :S

All those drugs can be really hard on the liver so one advice I have is giving her some Milk Thistle and giving lots and LOTS of it.When my dog's IMHA morphed into IMTP the vet added imuran to the drug cocktail and her liver values went off the charts. A few weeks with milk thistle and her liver was back to almost normal :D This disease is complicated enough as is and we defintitely dont want add liver/kidney failures to the list of problems she's already got!!!

Good luck, and i hope she gets better!

Edited by fungrzz
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Very sad news. I had to make the hard decision on Thursday afternoon to have my beautiful Tango PTS.

She is now running pain free. :cry: with her mother & brother.

At 12.5 yrs it was so hard for her to overcome this awful disease process. When I came home to check on her at lunchtime she looked miserable. It was then I decided she had given me enough & as a family we decided to let her go.

Her PCV again had dropped to 14 after going up to 16 on Monday.

Tango has given me & my family much love & pleasure.

Thankyou for all you help & support. :cry:

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  • 4 weeks later...

I had a little dog PTS about 12 mths ago now, who had IMHA too, she got it and her blood was 12 and she fought back the tough littl enugget she was, she relapsed twice, but eventually got cushings, she lived to approx 12 ( we will never know RSPCA adoptee) and eventually her system started to shut down and she was bleeding from the gums constantly, so we had to put her to sleep. When i was at the vets yesterday with my pup who has suspected menigitis, i saw a little old dog that reminded me of my Rosie, its amazing how much you miss them.

Sorry Group 5 for your terrible loss, there where two when my girl was diagnosed, only my girl sirvived, it is a horrible disease, it does make me question vaccinations.

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ph my goodness.. i am so sorry i missed this update poodlemum.

I am saddened by your loss. These immune mediated problems are a real challenge to fight.

Your sweet Tango is at peace now and enjoying that perfect place where all dogs go after their time with us is complete..

i know our spirits will all meet again ..

blessings

Helen

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