Dog Diagnosed Easter Sunday

[Patrice]

My dog was diagnosed on Easter Monday with imha. Her pcv was 11 down to 10 up to 21 up to 28 and now at 32. She was on 50mg a day of prednisone. Seemed ok til last weekend when she had colitis. Now shes constipated. Shes eating and drinking but very sleepy and lethargic which im told is symptoms of the drugs. I dont know what to expect any more. Im in the uk. Shes 12.5 years old

[Patrice]

I am sorry to read this. It must have been stressful over the holiday to get treatment.

I see the vet prescribed prednisone immediately which was good, it helped stop the destruction of red blood cells. Are there any other drugs that your vet prescribed?

Prednisone does have many side effects that sometime seem worse than the condition it is treating. She has been very anemic and this can make her tired.

I am concerned about her age and I am wondering if the vet has done an extensive exam and testing to determine what conditions might have led to her developing IMHA. Do you have all the paperwork from the vet? We would like to see her CBC and chem screen along with any other lab tests and diagnosis. You can upload them on the Urgent Advice page, see the link in the upper right menu. From that we can get a better look at what you may expect.

I am often surprised at how well dogs recover when they receive rapid immediate treatment with the correct drugs and get excellent nursing care both at the clinic and at home. We believe strongly that many dogs can recover from this with the right treatment.

What kinds of questions do you have?
my best, Patrice

[Vally]

Hi Linda, just wanted to say welcome. As Patrice said, the prednisone can make them look so bad, but it’s only for now. Your girl has responded quickly, and that’s great news.

Regards, Vally