4mo pup IMHA

[Amy]

WOW!!! Thank you all so much. I will start from the beginning and tell you what I know then we can go from there. My Puppy is a Standard Poodle. Her name is Coal. On friday Feb 19th Coal went in for her last distemper. She was also given ointment for her right eye had a tiny bit of infection. On Wed. Feb 24th she went to the groomer for her first time and the groomer noted that she has a small amount of yellow snot come out of her right nostril which I dismissed thinking her eye just drained into her nose and the infection was gone. fast fwd. to Friday morning. She wouldn’t get out of her cage and her nose was caked in dark green snot. So I called the vet took her and and she had a fever and was put on an antibiotic. By Sunday morning ( 2/28) she was almost dead. I rushed her into the emergency vet @ 4am. That is when they gave me the 20% chance of survival. She was given a blood transfusion and steroids and IV antibiotics. She got an x-ray and they found no foreign bodies but they were unsure about an infection in her lungs so they hit her hard with a strong antibiotic. The blood transfusion took 4 1/2 hours. they called and said her red count was up from 4.9% to 18%. Over the course of the rest of her stay at the hospital ( about 20 hours) her levels went down to 17% and up to 19% they said this is normal because of the IV fluid. I had to pic her up the next morning and bring her to my regular vet who took her in immediately and monitored her all day and evening. She maintained her levels @ 18% and 19% the entire time on maintenance IV fluids. She went back to the ER vet for over night observation on Monday night and her levels stayed @ 18%. Tuesday Morning I picked her up and brought her directly to my vet again for a day and evening of observation. Her levels remained stable so she was sent home Tuesday evening to spend the night. At the time of discharge she was holding at 17% again all the while getting IV fluids. She came home without her IV’s and did well through the night at home despite her mother ( me) waking every 20 min in a panic to check on her! She went into the vet at 11:30 am on Wed. (3/2) for a blood check and she was up to 22%. We decided to give her and I a mental health break and not check her again until tomorrow morning (3/4) at 9:30 am. So right now her meds are as follows: Prednisone 30mg once a day. Famotidine 20mg once a day. Amoxicillin 250mg 2x’s a day. Baby Aspirin 5mg once a day and melatonin 2.5mg once a day. Coal weighs 23.3 lbs as of yesterday. She has been switched to a high calorie low volume diet as she is eating but not enough to help her maintain her weight. If I haven’t covered something that you all need to know please ask. I have been praying and holding out hope that we can beat this horrid disease. With that being said My sweet Coal is a sassy girl. I truly believe her will to live and fight like hell is the only thing that saved her on Sunday. I hope she remains in the fight and as long as she does I will do what ever is in my power to help her. Thank you all for all of your help and your kind words. <3

[Amy]

As for contacting Dr.Dodds We are already in debt 3 grand in the last 4 days there is not an extra 75-150 dollars to get a consult with her I need that money for medications and visits to the vet and god forbid another transfusion . I just can’t afford it. :(

[Patrice]

Amy,
It is likely that Coal has/had some infection causing the nasal discharge, therefore her young immune system was very active fighting either a virus or bacteria. Your vet then administered a vaccine while she had this infection. This is a pretty common lead-up to an autoimmune reaction. The vet should have thought twice about vaccinating a puppy that has a purulent discharge.

Then she had a first time visit to a groomer which can be quite stressful. Combine that with possible exposure to other dogs that may have had illness.

A puppy immune system would respond very strongly not only to the virus or bacteria but also the stress of the vaccine and the grooming.

Purulent nasal discharges can be caused by foreign matter (grasses or weeds) in the nose, infection of the roots of the upper teeth or fungal infection. Young animals with infections caused by viruses or bacteria may have nasal discharge and sneezing in addition to other signs such as cough, lack of appetite, depression and discharge from the eyes.

What is the antibiotic your vet was using to treat this infection and discharge? Some of these antibiotics can be quite strong for a young pup.

my best
patrice

[Amy]

I don’t remember the antibiotic that the vet gave for the nose that friday I no longer have it. She was given the Vax before we knew she had an infection. about 6 days later her nose had a yellow discharge. As for the eye. She had previously had a slightly yucky eye that was being treated with Erythromycin ointment ointment and I was just finishing up the treatment at the time of the Vax. There was no discharge or anything from her nose or eye at the time of the Vax and she only had a day or two left on her eye treatment on the day she was Vaxed.

[Jill]

Hi Amy you have came to the right place, the people on here have excellent advice, and are always there to help you , you are not alone, you can ask them anything anytime, they have got me through treating my dog who is 5 and got aiha, he is doing well now,still on medication ,but he collapsed on us one evening, and has had blood transfusion and is on steroids and other drugs, i am quite new here to , my heart goes out to you but be reassured there is help here ask them anything, anytime and they will help you, stay strong for your puppy , much love and hugs, Jill xxxx

[Sheena]

Hi Amy

This is similar to what happened to Worzel – he had a rumbling infection that the vet didn’t pick up (despite me going many, many times) & then he was vaccinated, sending him into bone marrow failure. These things happen & more often than we think. Whatever the cause, the treatment is the same, so it’s water under the bridge now.

This disease costs a fortune, especially when emergency care is need – I quite understand your predicament with spending more. BUT in my opinion, it was the best 100-150 dollars I ever spent getting help for Worzel. Dr Dodds is worth every single penny.

How is Coal today? I hope she is holding her own & feeling a little better. Is the vet adding a long-acting immuno-suppressive? That is the usual treatment, but as I mentioned, puppies need special attention.

Sending all our very best wishes
Sheena, Worzel & Ollie xxxx

[Amy]

Question about Dr. Dodds…. What is my 150 dollars getting me? Is my vet not able to treat this with out her? what increase in her odd does this consult give my dog? As far as I can tell right now our vet is doing everything right. From all the reading and literature she is following all the protocols and thus far has kept Coal alive. Coal has not yet started an immune-suppressive medication but the discussion has come up. So I guess I can’t see what Dr. Dodds can offer beyond what is already being done. If you can give me any tangible reason that I MUST contact her and spend money I don’t really have to part with please tell me because right now I just can’t afford to spend $150 for another vet to say “there is nothing else I can offer here”

[Sheena]

Hi Amy

I’m so sorry – I didn’t mean to give any offence to your vet or to you – they absolutely have saved Coal’s life & done a great job, I agree. If you are happy with them, that’s fine.

Just for information, if you feel differently at a later date, Dr Dodds fee is a one-off for as many consultations you need her for. Her greyhound work is for charity & she has helped most of us on here. There is always something to worry about with our IMHA dogs. even after they go into remission & I often ask for her help even now. For example, we worry about what drugs are suitable or not suitable for our dogs.

I hope Coal will soon be better