Help and advice – Experience with Acute Respiratory Syndrom in AIHA dog

[Vally]

Hi Anne, I’m sorry you’ve had to find us too. What is your boy’s name or did I miss it?

I know when Bingo was in hospital, he refused to eat the whole time. He was in for 9 days and in last few days they were force feeding him with a syringe to get something into him. They weren’t too worried about the food though. Once the prednisone kicks in, you have a monster on your hands.

I have no experience with respiratory illness but the frantic fear you’re going through now, yes I, and everyone here, understands that completely.

I also suggest you get in contact with Dr Dodds at hemopet.ord Everybody who has ever dealt with her has always been impressed, not only with her expertise, but her kindness.

I also feel very overwhelmed whenever I’m at the vets (total wimp here!!!). I always ask for copy of results and simply say, it helps me to cope if I can understand what’s happening. If you can get a copy of results, use the Urgent Advice at the top and you can scan them in. Patrice and some of the others (not me) are brilliant at understanding them and can help you to understand what they mean too.

It’s good that the transfusions are keeping your boy stable. That way they can get the respiratory issue under control and hopefully you’ll have your boy home soon.

Big hugs.

Love Vally & Bingo.

[Anne]

Hello everyone,

First of all, thanks to to you all for your replies, support, and understanding. I wrote this briefly, and forgot to even mention that our doxie’s name is Bilbo – like the Hobbit. :-) He’s 8, and like his namesake, has travelled a fair bit. From Ottawa to Philadelphia, from Maine to Virginia Beach, and now settled in the suburb of Montrea with our 2 other doxie rescues, Sam and Penny. . :-)

I don’t think I can answer you all personally at this point, but I thought I’d share some updates. My husband David and I went to see Bilbo this afternoon, and we spent a good 1 hour and a half there, talking with the vets and spending time with Bilbo. After the devestating news we received yesterday and this morning, we did not expect much. However, we got a pleasant surprise (finally!): his breathing had stabilized throughout the day, his chest X-ryas revealed that the inflammation was now gone, as was the water. (more in the second post!)

[Tamara]

Oh wonderful news, hooray!!!! Looking forward to your next update.
doing the happy dance :)
tamara and ashki xoxox

[Anne]

His breathing was better (30 per minute) and he moved a bit. I used Tamara’s great suggestion to present my case to the vet, and even forwarded her a link to this Forum, so that she knew it was a great place for support. She understood and became more friendly and cooperative. I got a copy of Bilbo’s test (1st one: August 8, second one, yesterday). The lab test are in French so I’m not sure if it’d be useful to scan them, but in short: while his hematocrit went from 22 to 16 during that period, she said that what encouraged her was that reticulocyte went from 18,9 (0,7%) to 100,8 (4,8%). Spherocytosis went from “present” to “rare”. Bilbo’s clinical signs were better when we visited him. He was more alert, and he ate a nd drank when I gave him food. I teared up and was so, so happy to see him eat – technicians were not able to get hi to eat before that. Based from all the amazing stories I’ve read here, I know how difficult the road is and I don’t want to rejoice too soon, but I like to think the last medication, started Monday, might start to work. At this point, we just cling to this hope, and pray that his respiration is stabilized for good. One day at a time. Hopefully we won’t get a call during the night, and his condition will continue to improve tomorrow. I tried to see if I could upload a picture of Bilbo, but I don’t think it’s possible (or am I missing something?). Anyway, you can see great pictures of him at the botton of this great trainer’s personal website: http://www.reparemonchien.com/album-photo/

All 3 doxies pictured are ours, and Bilbo is the black and tan shorthaired one, sleeping with the fiery little Penny.

You should also know that several family members do not understand how much we love and fight for our dog, and they find us crazy to care so much and spend so much for Bilbo. It is really heartwarming to have found this place, to see that we are not alone to feel this way, and that people took time to asnwer us. Thank you all for your time and kindness, it is really appreciated.

Love,
Anne-Marie, David, Sam and Penny

[Vally]

Anne-Marie, did you use the Upload Your Photo, on the right? If you did, Patrice will have received notification and she actually puts them on, so they don’t appear instantly.

I checked out the link though and love the pictures of Bilbo, Sam and Penny.

Many very good meaning people suggested to me that I should let Bingo go and I was ready to listen to them, seeing Bingo at his very worst. I was convinced it was cruel to keep Bingo going when he was so bad. It was actually his vet that convinced me Bingo wasn’t in pain, just feeling very tired. He convinced me to wait a few days in the hope that the meds would kick in. So I’m very very grateful to my vet.

I’m so glad the breathing is better and his chest is clear. That should make things so much better for him. The improvement in the reticulocyte count is great news too.

Post the results. Sheena lives in France. She is also amazing with results so I doubt the French will be a problem. Sheena you know everythign don’t you :) You can check out the glossary at the top, AIHA Terms. It has heaps of information that has been very well sourced.

I’m so glad Bilbo is looking better. Onwards and upwards Bilbo and lets go home.

Love Vally & Bingo.

[admin]

Anne-Marie,
It must be so hard to have Bilbo so far from you, I agree with Vally, onward and upwards Bilbo, lets go home! I hope this will be the case soon, but right now, as much as you hate it, it is better for him to have the 24/7 care at the vet clinic. Bilbo is probably much to exhausted right now to miss you much. He is well taken care of and once he is more stable he will come home and you will see vast improvements.
Don’t worry about writing to everybody personally, we all “know” each other here and you can respond to all in one post just as you did before. Until Bilbo gets home I would recommend to learn as much about the disease as you can. The AIHA terms on this site that Vally recommended are a great start. I want you to remember that many dogs have been in just as bad shape as Bilbo and have recovered. It is a serious disease but you can never loose hope. About your family and friends thinking you are crazy…. my comeback was always: Yes maybe I am crazy, I am not into drugs or alcohol, don’t spend money on cars or fancy clothes, I don’t gamble or go on expensive holidays, all I am into is my dogs so just let me be crazy and spend my money on them! So there:)
Keep us posted on how Bilbo is doing, best wishes from the other side of Canada (Vancouver Island)
Brigitte

[admin]

Hi Anne-Marie.

Wonderful news! I am so pleased to hear that Bilbo is feeling a little better and I know you must be thrilled. I agree with “one day at a time”, but this seems really encouraging. Improved clinical presentation can be a really important indicator. The reticulocyte count also sounds good, although I’m no expert and it is difficult to tell without the RBC count. However, that’s quite a high retic count, so good news I reckon! Reticulocytes take a few days to mature, so fingers crossed you’ll soon see a rise in PCV. I’m so glad that he
managed to eat something. That’s lovely for you to see and a good sign he’s feeling a bit better. As Vally said, they often don’t want to eat at the vet, but once the steroids kick in, there is no stopping them!

You mentioned inflammation and fluid on the x-ray? Did your vet have any suggestions for what caused this? I’m really glad your relationship has improved and this will help you to work together for the best outcome for Bilbo.

I love the pictures of them. Do I spot a cat in there? I’m the resident cat owner here and my cat Molly had IMHA last year. It is an emotional rollercoaster for sure, but there is hope, as many of the stories here show.

Please don’t worry about replying to us individually, as Brigitte said. We can all reply to the same post. Also, don’t worry about people thinking you are bonkers about your dogs. They are your precious babies and there is nothing wrong with loving them to pieces!

With very best wishes for more good news today,

Mary & Mable x

[admin]

Hi Anne -Marie & the family too!

I’m Sheena from France (I am English though) – apologies – I’ve only just seen your messages & I know you must be out of your mind with worry at the moment. Trying to deal with this & a foreign language is very hard – I can vouch for that! Vally remembers well how stressed I felt too. I am sorry to hear Bilbo has been extremely poorly & I concur – suspect a transfusion reaction & everyone has given you fantastic advice. I would also not consider moving him (especially if you are happier with the vet now) until he is stable & the fluid has dispersed. I am really pleased to read about his improvement – wonderful to see them a little better when they’ve been so ill.

By the way, we are all completely mad, bonkers, nuts about animals so you have good company & I hope we can help you through this. My dog Worzel’s tests are all in French so I had to learn quickly – I’m more than happy to help you with this & on interpreting the results too. I’m assuming French Canadian is very similar, so we can manage just fine. The reduction in the number of spherocytes is good news & we would like to look at how they’ve done this reticulocyte figure on the actual test, if you wouldn’t mind. You can scan & send us any tests or reports on the urgent advice page. The more information you can give us the better.
https://www.secondchanceaihadogs.com/urgent-advice/

I am relieved to see Bilbo is on anti-clotting medication – I am the resident pest on here about this because it is the biggest risk with AIHA – you will probably see we repeat the most important bits between us! You can have a look at this when you get time
https://www.secondchanceaihadogs.com/AIHA_Terms/abnormal-clotting/

Please try not to worry about understanding everything at this stage – there is so much to take in all at once. We will gladly answer any questions or worries that you have & try to put your mind at rest as much as we can. I wouldn’t hesitate to contact Dr Dodds about Bilbo (I did about Worzel, from France & she was wonderful!) as she is highly knowledgeable & very caring. Many of us on here are eternally grateful to her for her help. I know this can be awkward with some vets as they may not be happy, but at the end of the day, you need do specialist experience with this disease as it is so rare & complicated.

I had a look at your beautiful family photos – Bilbo is a very handsome boy & your family are obviously huge animal lovers. We all completely understand your determination to get him better & you are doing a really, really good job. As Tamara says, we fight as hard as we can because we know this disease can be beaten with the right treatment. I hope Bilbo is better when you see him next, poor chap. Once the drugs start to do their work & they can get his breathing settled down he should start to feel better – they never like to eat at the vets so don’t worry about that too much at the moment. Getting the sickness under control will help him immensely too.

I’ve wittered on enough for now, but wanted you to know I will be thinking about you & crossing everything possible for an improvement

Loads of heartfelt support to you all,
Sheena, Worzel (diagnosed Dec 2012 in remission) & Ollie xxxx