General Aiha advice please

[Leza]

Molly the Pinger – diagnosed 7 days ago with immune mediated hemolytic anemia
Pls help

Molly is a rescue Pointer/Springer cross. She’s approx 10 yrs old and was diagnosed with immune mediated  hemolytic anemia last Monday, likely cause is her vaccinations. She’s still in doggy ICU, has had 2 transfusions , has been on 50mg aza since the first day plus of course the pred. Her PCV was 24 but had dropped to 14 by Thurs but yesterday held at 19 across 12 hrs following her 2nd transfusion. On Fri night. This morning (Monday) she was at 21. Now waiting for latest full blood work to see what’s going on however she has been regenerating all along. Aza reduced from today due to bone marrow risk.  This is the worst experience we’ve ever had. Molly has never been poorly, just a few tummy upsets after eating snails, so this has hit us hard.

Our vet Team have experience of Aiha and have been amazing thank goodness.
I have a question about how to look after her at home in terms of avoiding secondary infections given her immune system is so depleted.

Please could someone offer advice?

This site has truly been a gift, thank you so much for being there at this truly desperate time for us :) .

[Vally]

Hi Leza, and you are very welcome here. I’m very sorry to hear Molly isn’t well and we’d all love to help.

Let me know what we can do to help you.

Hugs,
Vally & Bingo

[Vally]

Leza, I’m glad to see that Molly is responding. Yes it’s like living in a nightmare, but Molly is heading the right way so that’s great news.

When you get your results, you can attach them through the Urgent Advice (at the top) or I’ve put the link in here.
https://www.secondchanceaihadogs.com/urgent-advice/

They get emailed to the administrators and there are a few people (not me) who are great at interpreting them, and can help you to understand what’s going on.

Is Molly on stomach protection and aspirin. If not please ask your vet about it. Clotting is a big danger with this disease and the high dose prednisone can cause ulcers. The last thing you want is bleeding somewhere.

To look after her at home, the only change I had to make, was to feed cooked rather than raw. They recommended that to me because whilst a dog’s stomach can normally handle any bacteria from raw meat, whilst the immune system is shut right down, that can be a problem.

If you’d like a medicine chart made up, let me know. I’d love to make one for you. Just list the times, drugs and doses you give Molly and I’ll get it back to you.

Ask anything at all, we all love to help.

Vally & Bingo

[admin]

Hi Leza

I’m so sorry to read about dear Molly being diagnosed with IMHA – it is a worrying time for you, I know. I have sent you a message about AIHA/IMHA which I hope will help. You are so very welcome here & anything we can do for you, just ask.

Please let us know how Molly is doing.

Sending love & hugs
Sheena, Worzel & Ollie x

[Leza]

Hi Vally

I’m working on an ipad & they don’t always work very well with formatting :)

Thanks so much

Leza

[Patrice]

Hi Leza,
Please tell me more about Molly eating snails? Was this something you fed her at home or did she pick these up outside?

Snails in GB (in freshwater) can carry parasitic flukes which can cause an infectious disease called Fascioliasis, (also known as “the common liver fluke” or “the sheep liver fluke.”)

Liver flukes are parasitic flatworms that live in the bile ducts of humans, dogs, and livestock. They must spend a period of their life cycle passing through a small mud snail called Lymnaea truncatula before it infects the animal. This disease can cause anemia (among many other signs) and can be quite severe if the dog is severely infected.

It would be appropriate to rule this out if there is a chance that this happened.

If this is not possible then just ignore me. I tend to carefully look at everything when considering what may be the trigger.
my best
patrice