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- Help me. They want me to put him down.
Raya, first of all 1% is absolutely nothing. A I may have bee slightly more hydrated than the last test.
I would have preferred a slower reduction of the cyclosporine to be honest.
With any reduction in medication, I always noticed that it did seem to affect Bingo and often also saw a reduction in PCV. So whenever there was a drop (although honestly 1% would not have countered) we’d hold any further reductions until the PCV went back up again, or remained stable.
Can you check Ani’s gums or eye sockets? I’m not certain about the redness of a tongue to be honest. Always check when Ani is active though. If he’s been sleeping, eyes and gums will look pale.
Good luck tomorrow. Hoping there’s a nice rise in the PCV for you.
Vally
Xxx
Hi Raya. You really are a full-fledged member of our parinoid club, as Vally mentioned.
Sadie always dropped a bit and I would always worry and all would be fine. Do reduce slowly though (read Sadie’s story). Reducing too fast is what set her up for the continued relapses. I truly feel she would have been a classic perfect survivor had we gone slow. Her vet felt horrible, as he was totally on target up until the reductions. SLOW and by no more than 25% is our motto now.
And Vally is so right, variances in PCV’s from dehydrations or over hydration happen. Sadie always varies a few points from one PCV check to another, actually varying between 43-50. Actually, I check Sadie’s tongue and gum color daily. She is black and her “pink” tongue and gums are a good sign she’s well, AIHA wise. There are a few pics of her on the site and imbedded in her story, so you see what I mean.
Hang in there – you’re doing a wonderful job caring for Ani.
Hugs and doggie kisses from Sadie,
Linda
hey all :)
so this week (monday) when i went to get his pcv re-checked, i mentioned that i was worried about his tongue and gums being pale. it had increased from 36 to 40. the doctor was happy with it, she said everything seemed fine as long as he was eating/drinking/peeing/pooping and acting normal. so she said to decrease his prednisone even though i feel like something’s wrong after he’s stopped entirely with the cyclo as is..
but, i listened anyway. we had a new pcv check today, as well as a brief physical examination from another doctor at the vet (his usual doc isn’t working today, but we needed to re-check his blood ASAP with the pred decrease). they said he does look pale, so they’re sending out his blood today for a CBC and will be calling me tomorrow with any new news or results. his pred has now decreased from 80mg (2 20mg in the morning, 2 20mg at night), to 40mg in the morning and 20 at night (one full 20mg tablet reduction). i’m wondering if i could mention to the doctor that i think the less we reduce at once the better i think it will go. i don’t want to rush through the process of taking him off of this, especially if we don’t know if something else is up.
hopefully all is well, and whatever else is going on with ani isn’t nearly as bad as what we’ve already been through so far.
:)
oh! and i forgot to mention. his pcv came back still at 40, same as monday, so now we wait to find out what they say about the CBC.
fingers crossed!!
Raya,
I wrote this guideline about decreasing prednisone. Perhaps something I have written will help you here? Ask me questions after you have read this.
https://www.secondchanceaihadogs.com/AIHA_Terms/prednisone-dose-reduction/
my best, patrice
hi! update for ani again and a couple questions
he seems to be fine, we just had another physical re-check and he’s alright aside from the weight gain from the prednisone. we’ve been able to reduce his dosage again. his CBC/PCV results have not gone up or down with either of the two decreases we’ve done so far so his doctors are wanting to stay the course of the dose we’re on until we see an increase/more positive results.
i was wondering about how you all deal with taking your babies outside given their condition. are they allowed to go to the beach? come along camping? anything like that? ani seems so so bored, i don’t want to put him at risk but i do want to take him out. his small walks seem to be doing him good but i just want to know if it’s safe for him to try and do much else with me.
:)
Hi Raya,
Can you remind me what dose of prednisone Ani is on now and what was his PCV result.
Really while they are on a dose of prednisone, they will always be more susceptible to infections and the like as the immune system is being suppressed.
You can look up mind games for dogs to keep him stimulated in a less adventurous way.
Vally
Hey all again :)
Having a minor freak out- Noticed Ani’s body changing with all the prednisone in his system. The weight gain, fatigue, panting, etc. are all there. I was wondering if anyone has ever noticed what seem to be super swollen lymph nodes in the neck? His quadruple chin has been a thing for a bit now, which I wasn’t too worried about, but I’ve noticed in the last couple days that his neck is looking almost swollen and when I touch it, it feels like there’s a little pus ball on either side where his neck seems to be protruding. When I put pressure on these spots and touch them, Ani doesn’t care/seem like he’s in pain or anything like that.
Wondering if this kind of swelling is normal or not. Vet’s office is closed, I’ll be calling them as soon as they open tomorrow just to be sure. :) The last three times I’ve been worried about something like this it turned out that it was a normal side effect or something small/fine/normal for dogs even without AIHA. Let me know what you think or if you’ve had similar experiences! Thanks