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- 12yr old dog with aiha
My dog Candy is 12 years old and has been diagnosed with AIHA. She stopped eating for a few days and had no energy took her to the vet her PCV was 19% . Two days later she went down to 10% we did transfusion. Her pcv after transfusion was 20%. They did xrays or chest and stomach that was clear. She started on steroids prednisone and
mycophenolate. I’m windering how long does the medication take to work?
. She has lost a lot of weight and is very weak. She eats really good but other then that she is sad all the time. Vet has told me to think about putting her down but I’m so confused and sad.
Yessica, I’m so very sorry to hear about your Candy and I know you are very worried about her.
Do you have a copy of her blood test results? If not, it would be good to ask for a copy of them as they show a lot of information. If you have them, please use the urgent advice and attach a copy and Patrice, the site owner, will check them for you and help you understand what’s happening.
What does she weigh and what dosage is she on of the prednisone and mycophenolate? They do take a little time to work, but hopefully will kick in soon.
Is she on stomach protection? Prednisone and mycophenolate is very hard on the stomach and can cause ulcers. Make sure she takes them both with food.
Is she on any other medication? Thyroid medication or aspirin? Some dogs need aspirin if their blood is clotting too much. That would show up in a blood smear or blood test. Thyroid medication is recommended as it helps the marrow to make more red blood cells.
Candy will look worse before she looks better. She is not in pain right now, and is just very tired, as she doesn’t have a lot of oxygen going through her body. It’s best to keep her quite. She will drink a lot of water while on prednisone and that will make her wee a lot, so make sure she can go outside. Here’s some information on prednisone:
https://www.secondchanceaihadogs.com/AIHA_Terms/prednisone
The transfusion she’s had doesn’t do anything other than buy time for the drugs to work and your vet has done the right thing by not giving too much blood, otherwise her body thinks she’s fine and won’t try and make more.
Dr Jean Dodds’s protocol for treating this disease is on this page – it’s the third item:
https://www.secondchanceaihadogs.com/hemopetresources
She is an expert in this disease and you can do an online consult with her – there’s a consult form on that same page, the second item. She’s a lovely lady. The cost of the consult is very reasonable and once she’s responded you can email her with more questions (at no extra charge).
Yessica, ask anything at all. We’ve all been through this and know where you are right now.
Regards, Vally
Candy used to weight about 10lbs but it’s prob around 9 or less now she is very skinny you can feel all her little bones. She is eating good steak and chicken with vegetables about 4-5 times a day . And we are giving her the medication with food. But she is not on any other medication other the. The prednisone 5mg twice a day and mycophenolate 0.5 ml a day twice . Yes she is drinking a lot of water and peeing a lot. I am going back Thursday for another blood work. I don’t know exactly the resunt but they did say she is producing new cells and. The chemistry panel showed everything else was good. I will ask for the test result this Thursday.
Thank you so much for the information just having a place that people can understand what I’m going through helps. It has been such a hard week.
Yessica, if they’ve told you she’s producing new cells, that’s good news.
Please ask if she needs to be on a blood thinner, many dogs do need a small dose of aspirin to prevent clotting.
I know she looks terrible right now and to be honest, she may look worse still before she looks better. The prednisone will most likely make her put on weight as it makes them very hungry.
Good luck on Thursday, hoping she has improved.
Vally
![bingo-14-5_1200x775](https://www.secondchanceaihadogs.com/wp-content/gallery/aiha-dogs_2/bingo-14-5_1200x775.jpg "Vally\'s Bingo \\"Smile\\"")
![Brigitte_Cleo_Ripley_Enzo_4](https://www.secondchanceaihadogs.com/wp-content/gallery/aiha-dogs_2/Brigitte_Cleo_Ripley_Enzo_4.jpg "Brigitte\'s Cleo, Ripley, Enzo and Guest \\"Rockin\\"")
