Blood Count Plateau

[AcadiaJBro]

Thank you. I’ve really tried to do my best for her, researching everything I can. We love her to pieces and I just think she has so much life left in her :)

[AcadiaJBro]

Lucy does have an enlarged heart (confirmed with x-rays), which exacerbates her coughing. And, as you mention, her eyes have been more “goopy” since diagnosis. I think I found the study on Sam-E causing bleeding through the Mayo Clinic. I figured this was probably reputable and didn’t want to risk it, but I have never seen it elsewhere, so I’ll add that to her regimen. It’s so hard with online research to weed through what’s legitimate! I finally just dropped all of the extra supplements because I was worried about unintended side effects. I did add back a Blood and Energy multivitamin yesterday in case the missing minerals were causing her to eat dirt again. I’m also giving her slippery elm with chlorophyll, acidopholus, and aloe to protect her stomach, etc. and I give her beef gelatin as an additional source of protein and to protect her joints from arthritis from the Pred. I’ll plan to go back to Frontline next month (she used that prior to Vectra without issues but the vet recommended the switch because fleas/ticks had apparently built up resistance to it). I’ve never had a flea problem, so I’m not really worried about that. I also plan to have her thyroid tested on Friday and will forward along those results with the CBC on Friday. I’m excited to potentially find something else that might help her treatment. I really feel like I can’t complain because she’s doing so well right now. Was running around (yes running!) and super playful tonight.

[AcadiaJBro]

Lucy’s CBC showed 28.2 today, that’s her highest yet, so she’s moving in the right direction again with the Prednisone tapering. We dropped it again today and will likely stop next week. I’m going to attach the full CBC report to the Urgent Advice page like you suggested. I mentioned a thyroid test, but my vet said he doesn’t like to test it while they’re on pred because it usually skews the values to always show hypothyroidism. He also said he didn’t want to treat her thyroid unless a test without pred showed that it was low – he did say it was a good idea though, particularly since beagles are prone to thyroid issues. She’s doing really well right now, and he was concerned that treating it would increase her metabolism and make her sick unnecessarily setting her back, so we’re going to wait and test it after she’s off the pred. This seemed like a reasonable explanation and approach to me. I look forward to hearing what you think about the full CBC report. I’m also going to attempt to post a picture of Miss Lucy so you can see what cutie she is!

[Patrice]

Acadia,
Please reread Dr Dodds protocol on this page for Immune Mediated disease, read the section on supplementing with thyroid to encourage hematopoiesis. This was an essential treatment for Chance as it has been for many other dogs.
https://www.secondchanceaihadogs.com/hemopetresources/

Also please read this reference about thyroid supplementation and hematopoiesis.
https://www.secondchanceaihadogs.com/canine-hypothyroidism-resources/?mgi_33=16797/Thyroid%20and%20Hematopoiesis

My best Patrice

[Vally]

Acadia, I can only second Patrice. Bingo started to improve after thryroid medication was given CORRECTLY. I had started using it just before he was diagnosed with AIHA (they thought that was his problem) but it wasn’t until Patrice told me that thyroxine must not be given with food, that Bingo started to improve. He was also stuck in the mid 20s and didn’t seem to want to budge.

Vally

[Vally]

The lovely Miss Lucy.

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