Blue American Staffy just diagnosed with AIHA

[Mariah]

I’m posting here cause I need somewhere to turn to and someone who can shed some light on this disease, the more I seem to research the worse the out come seems to be.
I have a pure breed male blue American staffordshire called Storm. He is 5months old today. I noticed last week he had been abit “down” off coulor and more lethargic then what he ever has been. I kept an eye on him but just thought it due to the hot weather we had been having lately and abit of stress cause of different things going on in the house hold. On Tuesday afternoon I can home from being out for a few hours and within 1 minute of being home Storm passed out and had a seizure and lost control of his bladder. I immediately called the vet and rushed him straight in. They did a few blood tests and stool samples and found he was anemic and ruled out the possibility of intestinal worms. I was then told he has Autoimmune Hemolytic Annemia. The vet gave him a cortisone injection and I was asked to come back in the next day and pick up some Macolone 20mg tablets which he has to have one daily and to change his diet and put him on beef and give him iron tablets to help boost him back up. I have to go back in on Tuesday to another full blood count down and see if his medication is helping and he’s improving. He’s still quite lethargic but after he has his medication in the afternoon he seems to get a big hit of energy and hyperactivity for a little while before he gets tired again. Teading other stories of people losing their beloved dogs to this condition is terifying. I was wondering if anyone can give me some more information about the disease and what hope there is.
Thankyou

[Vally]

Hi Mariah

I’m so sorry to hear about your boy, Storm. First of all, your quick actions probably saved his life.

The disease seems to hit so very fast, one minute they’re fine and the next the vet is telling us they’re very sick.

It is a serious disease, but if it’s treated with the right drugs and hit quickly and hard, dogs DO get better.

Can I ask some questions. What does Storm weigh and what medicines do you have to give him. Prednisone is the major drug used, because it can work fairly quickly – I note he received an injection – that’s good. I have no idea what Marcolone is. Just Googled it and read it’s an inflammatory drug or an allergy drug. I have never heard of it used in treating AIHA. Do you know why Storm has been put on this?

Do you have a copy of blood test results? If you do, you can attach them to the Urgent Advice (at the top) or here’s the link:

https://www.secondchanceaihadogs.com/urgent-advice/

If you don’t have a copy, ask for a copy as soon as you can. Maybe you could ask that they email you a copy. I used to always ask for a copy. I had a huge file. It will help. Patrice can help you to understand what’s happening from the blood work.

Have any other tests been done? In particular, a tick test? There are different things that can trigger the disease. Any drugs or injections recently? Sometimes we never know. I never knew the cause. If there is an infection, which has triggered the disease, it’s important to treat the infection as well.

With drugs, the usual is prednisone and a second immunosuppresent (Cyclosporine or Atopica). Stomach protection is important when they’re on high dose prednisone as the drugs can cause ulcers. Also aspirin is often needed to stop blood clots, if the cells are damaged. They can tell if that’s needed by doing a blood smear and looking at the cells.

Diet is important, but it won’t cure this disease. That’s what the drugs will do. The body has gone haywire and thinks it’s red cells are the enemy and are killing them off. The drugs are switching that off and hopefully when reset, things go back to normal. It will take time though.

I know you’re terrified, everyone was/is and I’ve probably swamped you with lots of information. Ask anything at all.

Vally

[Mariah]

Hi valley thanks for replying. I haven’t been told what could have been the triggering factor yet and am keen to try and find out. I was told macrolone was a corticosteroid I haven’t had a chance yet to look it up and find out about it. And yes I have a copy of his blood test I will attach them now to the link. I will Defs be asking the vet a lot of questions on tuesday when we have get go back. I was just in so much shock when I was told the other day and with everything else that had happened. And I will be asking why they have chosen this medication instead of the prednisone, I have read that that’s what’s most commonly used.

[Vally]

Ahhh. I think it IS prednisone. What dose are you giving? And what is Storm’s weight. I’m still reading.

[Vally]

Sorry to panic you. I believe it’s prednisilone. Whereabouts are you. I’m in Sydney Australia. We use prednisolone. USA tends to use prednisone.

[Mariah]

Oh yes sorry valley he is 18kg and I’m in ocean shores just near Byron Bay nsw

[Mariah]

Oh yes sorry valley he is 18kg and I’m in ocean shores just near Byron Bay nsw I have uploaded his results now too

[Patrice]

Mariah,
I’m sorry to read about Storm. It is always disheartening when a young pup becomes sick like this.

I find your description very interesting and a bit unusual. The part that caught my attention is the mention of your vet wanting you to increase red meat and add iron tablets to his diet. Your vet either knows exactly what he/she is doing or they have some incorrect information they are using to develop a treatment plan.

So the bone marrow must have the right ingredients to make new red blood cells. Each day in our bodies old RBC die and are destroyed and recycled by the spleen. All normal. The marrow responds to the request for more new RBC by making new immature cells called reticulocytes. After a few days they mature and become RBC.

When there is more than a normal number of old RBC that need to be replaced, we call this state anemia, a shortage of oxygen going to the body cells. So extra reticulocytes must be made.

If the bone marrow doesn’t have enough of certain nutritional ingredients the new cells can be faulty and either not survive or they can be very pale, not containing enough hemoglobin to carry O2 to the body.

Two ingredients in particular that are important are vitamin B12 and the mineral iron. The cells that are made when there is low iron are hypochromic and a bit larger than normal. This means pale and not normal looking.

In humans we call this type of anemia “iron poor blood” but it’s a lot more detailed than I am describing.

B12 also contributes to the robustness of the cells. Without enough of this nutrient anemia can be quite serious as the body stores in the liver are depleted.

So, let’s assume your vet has been smart and tested for blood levels of ferritin and cobalamin (iron and B12). They were found to be low and he prescribed iron supplements. This “may” improve the level of iron needed.

But let’s say your vet sort of remembers this older knowledge about iron poor blood and guesses this could help. Feels it can’t hurt….

Most veterinary colleges and clinics would find this kind of logic incorrect or at least somewhat dated, if no testing was done to actually determine this is actually the problem.

Young dogs do not develop serious anemia like this unless there are certain criteria. There may be some genetic flaws that are contributing to a form of malnutrition that doesn’t allow the body to properly absorb nutrients in the small intestine. Another serious cause could be a congenital complication with the liver where the important blood vessels bypass it (a liver shunt) and the blood doesn’t pick up stored nutrients such as iron an B12 to carry to the bone marrow.

Young dogs like these are somewhat sickly and appear malnurished early in life. Any vet would notice this upon examination.

So, what about the “seizure? ” I believe this was not a neurological event but rather something called a syncope. Big word that means fainting. Simply, Storm is very anemic, the heart could be struggling due to low blood volume (hypovolemia) and develops a murmur. There are moments when blood flow to the brain is too low and the brain says “ALL STOP, DROP TO THE GROUND UNTIL WE GET ENOUGH OXYGEN”

Dogs with heart conditions have frequent syncope and they may vocalize, paddle, urinate or even deficate. It’s a common occurrence as the heart fails. But in general we are talking about older dogs. Why would a young puppy have a syncope other than the blood volume is way too low and there is anemia with dehydration?

So, first thing, help me to help you. Get copies of all the lab work and diagnostic discharge papers. Let me see what your vet has checked and what are the actual blood tests telling you. Please go to the Urgent Advice page and fill out the form and attach 3 at a time reports to upload to us. (The server can restrict too large a file size, so just 3 at a time please)

Next, are you still in contact with your breeder? Be polite but find out what kinds of genetic conditions your breeder has seen in their breed and their puppies. Try not to be combative or angry, get the information you need now.

I would be cautious about excess iron in the diet. If he really doesn’t have low iron, supplementing could lead to overdose which had its own side effects.

Think about getting a second opinion from another vet. You are not tied to this particular vet and another vet may see things that the first vet missed or misinterpreted.

Time is an enemy right now, I would not want to see a young pup be this sick for too long as it affects growth and maturity of the nervous system, organs, muscles, skeletal structure and even the brain.

Please ask any questions you have.
My best Patrice