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

[Patrice]

Did not get upload on photo, please try again.
my best
patrice

[Tamara]

Bonjour Anne-Marie :) —
I’m thrilled to hear how well Bilbo is doing (I love his name, I’m a big Tolkien fan) and especially that his bone marrow is successfully producting reticulocytes! That is so very important, as I’m sure you’ve read a few of us here have had dogs that were not regenerative initially and that is the most severe form of the disease. It’s wonderful too that he ate for you! I’m very much looking forward to the next update and keeping all appendages crossed for a good one.

My friends and family have learned not to comment on my commitment to my dogs, I can be rather forceful in my response. You are in good company here, the best.

Sending you and dear Bilbo much love and many hugs —

tamara and ashki xoxoxox

[Tamara]

ps I’m so happy I could be helpful with your vet, and I’m even more happy that she responded well to your explanation!
hugs —
tamara

[Hope]

Bonjour Anne-Marie et Bilbo!
I took several – specifically: 10 years – of French growing up and sadly, my writing is very poor so I won’t even offend you trying that! lol!
Welcome to the board — I’m sorry I missed all of your earlier posts but you are truly and honestly in the VERY best of hands here. Everyone is the best here.
I’m sorry about your scares with the IMHA and the respiratory problems with your little doxie (I grew up with a doxie and she is still probably my favoritest lady in the whole world – she’s 11 and grumpy as all hell but I adore her). I’m so glad to hear that she seems to be coming out of the respiratory issues and that the fluid is gone.
This disease is a marathon for sure.. its a roller coaster and you will soon see that heightened awareness (or in my case, absolute anxiety) is the new normal. Most people don’t get it — no one in my family and none of my friends get why we care so much about my Steve either (diagnosed 6/2/14). So there’s kind of an understanding now that they are not to comment on Steve or the things we do (ex. cancel vacations, home cook, bring him to work, etc.) and pay for him. We all understand here so feel free to let it all out!

Hugs to y’all!
Hope, Steve and his smelly nelly brother Jeffrey

[Anne]

Hello everyone,

Thank you all so much for your kind replies, it means a lot to us. We took the weekend off the internet to get some rest. We haven’t slept much for the past week, especially since we dreaded a phone call during the night. I assume that anxiety is something we’re going to have deal with from now on. But I’m back on track today and I wanted to take the time to share some updates and reply to your comments, prayers and suggestions.

Thank you all for the support regarding how people close to us judge what we do regarding Bilbo. We are so glad to hear that you guys all feel like we do and that no, it doesn’t mean that you’re crazy, selfish (how many other dogs could you help??), an unhealthy substitute for lack of children, etc. There are different kind of love, and it’s always comforting to see that people “get” what kind of bond and love unites you with your pets. So, yes, thanks for your encouragement in that regard. I assume our family will learn not to comment too much as well! :-)

Here us a picture of Bilbo and Penny.

 

This is Bilbo at the hospital yesterday.

 

Oh, and the difference between “French from France” and “Canadian Frencg” is like between American and British English – a matter of accent and idioms, not of language structure – so no problem, Sheena, I’ll be happy to submit the test results and you can see how they show reticulocytes counts and all the rest. You can compare them with yours. :-) David needs to scan them (along with today’s results, which apparently were sent elsewhere, as they cae back in a different format and in English), and I’ll upload them on the site when they are eady, hopefully tonight or tomorrow morning.

So, crux of the matter now: Bilbo spent the weekend in intensive care, but he MIGHT get out of intensive care tomorrow. We were so devastated last Thursday evening and Friday morning, we didn’t know whether Bilbo would make it. He was so, so lethargic, still had his tubes on and staying in the oxygen tent, etc.

But Friday evening, as you know, he ate when we visited him. And Saturday afternoon, boom!! His red blood cells count jumped to 25!!! His breathing improved, he only needed one oxygen cannula instead of two. He was able to take his medication orally and eat. Yesterday, his RBC climbed up to 26 and they were able to take off the remaining cannula. He suddenly was in such good shape that the vet thought he might be home this afternoon…!

Lab results from this morning showed improvement overall regarding anemia.

However, whereas his breathing had improved to the point where he did not need oxygen anymore, he had a bit of trouble early this morning after doing some efforts. After 30 minutes, his breathing was still difficult, suggesting it was more than exhaustion from effort. He needed to go back into the oxygen tent (still better than the cannula though). His breathing is the only reason he’s still in intensive care at this point, as he seems to respond very well to the medication now.

However, his white cells count is a bit high, so the vet suspects there might be an infection which might explain the edema – though she said it’s also quite frequent with anemic dogs, so it might not even be it. She added an antibiotic, just in case this might be the problem. She just wants him to be very good for 24h before sending him home, but clearly, she was as disappointed as us that he had this small “crisis” this morning.

David really wanted to bring Bilbo home. He was so upset about this setback, especially since Bilbo could walk around, eat, drink and seemed in relatively good shape when we saw him today. You can see there’s a small effort in breathing, but after seeing him in acute respiratory distress, anything else looks better I guess!!

However, she was very positive overall, asking us to see the “broader picture”: the “pattern” in his lungs is much, much better since last Monday’s crisis. But it has not disappeared yet, which concerns her, and that’s why she insisted on keeping him in intensive care for another 24 hours. We finally agreed. The pattern is one of small, diffuse inflammation: nothing localized.

I was very open with her and raised the issue of possible infection resulting from the transfusion, as some of you pointed out earlier. Though the article mentions that the reaction could occur up to 96 hours later, she thought it very, very unlikely. Cannot do much but trust her at this point. She is very caring (even when she’s not doing her shift, she calls the clinic to get updates on Bilbo, etc.). If it’s any consolation, after much research, I could confirm that Bilbo is indeed at the best vet hospital in the whole Montreal region. There would be no use of moving him anywhere else – the only thing I could do was threaten to do so to get the administration to reduce my bill. The vet managed to discuss with the administration and reduce our bill this morning. It remains huge, but it helps in making the decision to leave him there. It’s been 11 days already.

I’m considering contacting Dr. Dodds, but given the complexity of his case and the documents I have in hand(I do not have a copy in hand of his different lung radiologies, for instance), I’m wondering whether that would be helpful or whether I could suggest to my vet to contact her and submit the relevant documents, but using my credit card infos? Does anyone her know her well enough? For instance, would she be willing/able to call my vet directly if I provide her with a name to get the necessary medical details and information in proper English, and charge me afterward – and how much would such a call consultation cost, based on your experience?? She seems very famous, and busy. I just feel overwhelmed right now at the idea of trying to explain, in English, all the intricacies of Bilbo’s case, but if she can help wil trying to understand what it up with his edema, than it might be worth it. Does anyone know her enough so that I could give herthe name of the vet she could call, for instance, and charge me? Can I email her to ask?

Sorry for all the questions and the rambling. It’s just been a rollercoaster since he’s entered intensive care. We went from anxiously waiting for the phone ringing to dreading it, from thinking our dog was doomed to die to hoping he could be back home as early as this afternoon… And now we’re stuck to a point where we don’t know exactly what causes his lingering edema which, while fading, is still not totally gone.

Putting him back into the oxygen tent this morning was soooo disappointing, and it’s scary, as it means that he’s breathing is not exactly under control. It could improve, but it could worsen. This last set-back regarding his breathing is sure disheartening, as we finally received goods news regarding the treatment for anemia. It’s like we’re afraid to hope and be happy about his progress, just to be crushed again with a bad news – you know what I mean?

Anyway, I just wanted to share some updates, so that you know that there are some good news, despite the breathing issue. I’ll ask David to scan his last 3 blood tests, and I’ll upload them as soon as I can.

Love to you all,

Anne-Marie

[Vally]

Anne-Marie, I can only image how heartbreaking to think Bilbo is going home, but to have this set back with the breathing. Personally I think the vet did the right thing to keep him in for the extra day just to be on the safe side. I’m glad they are looking at their costings too to help a bit.

His RBC is a fabulous number and it sounds like his little body is getting into gear and getting things sorted out, so that’s really good.

The pet owner’s consultation fee with Dr Dodds is $100, so she’s incredibly reasonable and the Online Consultation Request is very simple. If you prefer your vet to contact her, perhaps ask your vet to contact Hemopet directly.

Love Vally & Bingo

[Patrice]

Anne,
You are not rambling, you are a wonderful caring owner who wants to help her dog survive. We applaud you for your dedication to Bilbo.

Dr. Dodds helped me for over a year with Chance. If it were not for her, he would not have survived. Out of all the things I spent money on, it was the little I donated for her consultation that made all the difference. She cares deeply about Bilbo and I am positive that he was on her prayer list last Friday night.

Even great vets do not deal with canine hematological diseases every moment of every day of their life. Especially complicated ones. This is what Dr. Dodds has done every day of her adult life. She actually started her work in human medicine, here is the beginning of her career:
“Dr. Dodds received the D.V.M. degree with honors in 1964 from the Ontario Veterinary College, University of Toronto. In 1965 she accepted a position with the New York State Health Department in Albany and began comparative studies of animals with inherited and acquired bleeding diseases. Her position there began as a Research Scientist and culminated as Chief, Laboratory of Hematology, Wadsworth Center. In 1980 she also became Executive Director, New York State Council on Human Blood and Transfusion Services. This work continued full-time until 1986 when she moved to Southern California to establish Hemopet, the first nonprofit national blood bank program for animals. ”

Since then she has become recognized world wide as an expert in canine blood products and transfusions and also in canine thyroid and vaccination. She and her colleague Dr. Ron Schultz are performing the first 7 year Rabies Challenge study to determine if that vaccine is effective for much longer than it currently is.

Send her the information and see what she has to say.
my best
patrice

[admin]

Hi Anne-Marie,
it sounds like you have a very caring and excellent vet on your side, in Bilbo’s corner. many people have contacted Dr. Dodds and I have yet to hear from someone that was not happy having done so. When we were fighting this disease over 4 years ago I was urged to do so as well. I hesitated because of the language barrier (my mother tongue is Swiss German). When my dogs PCV did not climb over 38 we and our vet were looking for help. I still remember the vet sitting on the floor with my dog in her lap saying, maybe you should go to a specialist, I need some guidance here, I don’t know what to do. That is when I brought up Dr. Dodds. Tutteli (Finnish roots) jumped at the idea and called Dr. Dodds the next day. It worked out for everybody. I can’t remember what I was charged, but it was certainly not very much, maybe $100 or even less. Most vets know of Dr. Dodds. Some love her and some don’t. My vet was happy to learn more and I know other dogs benefited from that phone call. We later also sent blood to hemopet to have it analyzed by Dr. Dodds. This is a bit complicated because it has to go over the border, but it is possible. Talk to your vet and see if she is interested in learning more from the best!
Best wishes,
Brigitte

[Patrice]

Did not get upload on photo, please try again.
my best
patrice

[Tamara]

Bonjour Anne-Marie :) —
I’m thrilled to hear how well Bilbo is doing (I love his name, I’m a big Tolkien fan) and especially that his bone marrow is successfully producting reticulocytes! That is so very important, as I’m sure you’ve read a few of us here have had dogs that were not regenerative initially and that is the most severe form of the disease. It’s wonderful too that he ate for you! I’m very much looking forward to the next update and keeping all appendages crossed for a good one.

My friends and family have learned not to comment on my commitment to my dogs, I can be rather forceful in my response. You are in good company here, the best.

Sending you and dear Bilbo much love and many hugs —

tamara and ashki xoxoxox

[Tamara]

ps I’m so happy I could be helpful with your vet, and I’m even more happy that she responded well to your explanation!
hugs —
tamara

[Hope]

Bonjour Anne-Marie et Bilbo!
I took several – specifically: 10 years – of French growing up and sadly, my writing is very poor so I won’t even offend you trying that! lol!
Welcome to the board — I’m sorry I missed all of your earlier posts but you are truly and honestly in the VERY best of hands here. Everyone is the best here.
I’m sorry about your scares with the IMHA and the respiratory problems with your little doxie (I grew up with a doxie and she is still probably my favoritest lady in the whole world – she’s 11 and grumpy as all hell but I adore her). I’m so glad to hear that she seems to be coming out of the respiratory issues and that the fluid is gone.
This disease is a marathon for sure.. its a roller coaster and you will soon see that heightened awareness (or in my case, absolute anxiety) is the new normal. Most people don’t get it — no one in my family and none of my friends get why we care so much about my Steve either (diagnosed 6/2/14). So there’s kind of an understanding now that they are not to comment on Steve or the things we do (ex. cancel vacations, home cook, bring him to work, etc.) and pay for him. We all understand here so feel free to let it all out!

Hugs to y’all!
Hope, Steve and his smelly nelly brother Jeffrey

[Anne]

Hello everyone,

Thank you all so much for your kind replies, it means a lot to us. We took the weekend off the internet to get some rest. We haven’t slept much for the past week, especially since we dreaded a phone call during the night. I assume that anxiety is something we’re going to have deal with from now on. But I’m back on track today and I wanted to take the time to share some updates and reply to your comments, prayers and suggestions.

Thank you all for the support regarding how people close to us judge what we do regarding Bilbo. We are so glad to hear that you guys all feel like we do and that no, it doesn’t mean that you’re crazy, selfish (how many other dogs could you help??), an unhealthy substitute for lack of children, etc. There are different kind of love, and it’s always comforting to see that people “get” what kind of bond and love unites you with your pets. So, yes, thanks for your encouragement in that regard. I assume our family will learn not to comment too much as well! :-)

Here us a picture of Bilbo and Penny.

 

This is Bilbo at the hospital yesterday.

 

Oh, and the difference between “French from France” and “Canadian Frencg” is like between American and British English – a matter of accent and idioms, not of language structure – so no problem, Sheena, I’ll be happy to submit the test results and you can see how they show reticulocytes counts and all the rest. You can compare them with yours. :-) David needs to scan them (along with today’s results, which apparently were sent elsewhere, as they cae back in a different format and in English), and I’ll upload them on the site when they are eady, hopefully tonight or tomorrow morning.

So, crux of the matter now: Bilbo spent the weekend in intensive care, but he MIGHT get out of intensive care tomorrow. We were so devastated last Thursday evening and Friday morning, we didn’t know whether Bilbo would make it. He was so, so lethargic, still had his tubes on and staying in the oxygen tent, etc.

But Friday evening, as you know, he ate when we visited him. And Saturday afternoon, boom!! His red blood cells count jumped to 25!!! His breathing improved, he only needed one oxygen cannula instead of two. He was able to take his medication orally and eat. Yesterday, his RBC climbed up to 26 and they were able to take off the remaining cannula. He suddenly was in such good shape that the vet thought he might be home this afternoon…!

Lab results from this morning showed improvement overall regarding anemia.

However, whereas his breathing had improved to the point where he did not need oxygen anymore, he had a bit of trouble early this morning after doing some efforts. After 30 minutes, his breathing was still difficult, suggesting it was more than exhaustion from effort. He needed to go back into the oxygen tent (still better than the cannula though). His breathing is the only reason he’s still in intensive care at this point, as he seems to respond very well to the medication now.

However, his white cells count is a bit high, so the vet suspects there might be an infection which might explain the edema – though she said it’s also quite frequent with anemic dogs, so it might not even be it. She added an antibiotic, just in case this might be the problem. She just wants him to be very good for 24h before sending him home, but clearly, she was as disappointed as us that he had this small “crisis” this morning.

David really wanted to bring Bilbo home. He was so upset about this setback, especially since Bilbo could walk around, eat, drink and seemed in relatively good shape when we saw him today. You can see there’s a small effort in breathing, but after seeing him in acute respiratory distress, anything else looks better I guess!!

However, she was very positive overall, asking us to see the “broader picture”: the “pattern” in his lungs is much, much better since last Monday’s crisis. But it has not disappeared yet, which concerns her, and that’s why she insisted on keeping him in intensive care for another 24 hours. We finally agreed. The pattern is one of small, diffuse inflammation: nothing localized.

I was very open with her and raised the issue of possible infection resulting from the transfusion, as some of you pointed out earlier. Though the article mentions that the reaction could occur up to 96 hours later, she thought it very, very unlikely. Cannot do much but trust her at this point. She is very caring (even when she’s not doing her shift, she calls the clinic to get updates on Bilbo, etc.). If it’s any consolation, after much research, I could confirm that Bilbo is indeed at the best vet hospital in the whole Montreal region. There would be no use of moving him anywhere else – the only thing I could do was threaten to do so to get the administration to reduce my bill. The vet managed to discuss with the administration and reduce our bill this morning. It remains huge, but it helps in making the decision to leave him there. It’s been 11 days already.

I’m considering contacting Dr. Dodds, but given the complexity of his case and the documents I have in hand(I do not have a copy in hand of his different lung radiologies, for instance), I’m wondering whether that would be helpful or whether I could suggest to my vet to contact her and submit the relevant documents, but using my credit card infos? Does anyone her know her well enough? For instance, would she be willing/able to call my vet directly if I provide her with a name to get the necessary medical details and information in proper English, and charge me afterward – and how much would such a call consultation cost, based on your experience?? She seems very famous, and busy. I just feel overwhelmed right now at the idea of trying to explain, in English, all the intricacies of Bilbo’s case, but if she can help wil trying to understand what it up with his edema, than it might be worth it. Does anyone know her enough so that I could give herthe name of the vet she could call, for instance, and charge me? Can I email her to ask?

Sorry for all the questions and the rambling. It’s just been a rollercoaster since he’s entered intensive care. We went from anxiously waiting for the phone ringing to dreading it, from thinking our dog was doomed to die to hoping he could be back home as early as this afternoon… And now we’re stuck to a point where we don’t know exactly what causes his lingering edema which, while fading, is still not totally gone.

Putting him back into the oxygen tent this morning was soooo disappointing, and it’s scary, as it means that he’s breathing is not exactly under control. It could improve, but it could worsen. This last set-back regarding his breathing is sure disheartening, as we finally received goods news regarding the treatment for anemia. It’s like we’re afraid to hope and be happy about his progress, just to be crushed again with a bad news – you know what I mean?

Anyway, I just wanted to share some updates, so that you know that there are some good news, despite the breathing issue. I’ll ask David to scan his last 3 blood tests, and I’ll upload them as soon as I can.

Love to you all,

Anne-Marie

[Vally]

Anne-Marie, I can only image how heartbreaking to think Bilbo is going home, but to have this set back with the breathing. Personally I think the vet did the right thing to keep him in for the extra day just to be on the safe side. I’m glad they are looking at their costings too to help a bit.

His RBC is a fabulous number and it sounds like his little body is getting into gear and getting things sorted out, so that’s really good.

The pet owner’s consultation fee with Dr Dodds is $100, so she’s incredibly reasonable and the Online Consultation Request is very simple. If you prefer your vet to contact her, perhaps ask your vet to contact Hemopet directly.

Love Vally & Bingo

[Patrice]

Anne,
You are not rambling, you are a wonderful caring owner who wants to help her dog survive. We applaud you for your dedication to Bilbo.

Dr. Dodds helped me for over a year with Chance. If it were not for her, he would not have survived. Out of all the things I spent money on, it was the little I donated for her consultation that made all the difference. She cares deeply about Bilbo and I am positive that he was on her prayer list last Friday night.

Even great vets do not deal with canine hematological diseases every moment of every day of their life. Especially complicated ones. This is what Dr. Dodds has done every day of her adult life. She actually started her work in human medicine, here is the beginning of her career:
“Dr. Dodds received the D.V.M. degree with honors in 1964 from the Ontario Veterinary College, University of Toronto. In 1965 she accepted a position with the New York State Health Department in Albany and began comparative studies of animals with inherited and acquired bleeding diseases. Her position there began as a Research Scientist and culminated as Chief, Laboratory of Hematology, Wadsworth Center. In 1980 she also became Executive Director, New York State Council on Human Blood and Transfusion Services. This work continued full-time until 1986 when she moved to Southern California to establish Hemopet, the first nonprofit national blood bank program for animals. ”

Since then she has become recognized world wide as an expert in canine blood products and transfusions and also in canine thyroid and vaccination. She and her colleague Dr. Ron Schultz are performing the first 7 year Rabies Challenge study to determine if that vaccine is effective for much longer than it currently is.

Send her the information and see what she has to say.
my best
patrice

[admin]

Hi Anne-Marie,
it sounds like you have a very caring and excellent vet on your side, in Bilbo’s corner. many people have contacted Dr. Dodds and I have yet to hear from someone that was not happy having done so. When we were fighting this disease over 4 years ago I was urged to do so as well. I hesitated because of the language barrier (my mother tongue is Swiss German). When my dogs PCV did not climb over 38 we and our vet were looking for help. I still remember the vet sitting on the floor with my dog in her lap saying, maybe you should go to a specialist, I need some guidance here, I don’t know what to do. That is when I brought up Dr. Dodds. Tutteli (Finnish roots) jumped at the idea and called Dr. Dodds the next day. It worked out for everybody. I can’t remember what I was charged, but it was certainly not very much, maybe $100 or even less. Most vets know of Dr. Dodds. Some love her and some don’t. My vet was happy to learn more and I know other dogs benefited from that phone call. We later also sent blood to hemopet to have it analyzed by Dr. Dodds. This is a bit complicated because it has to go over the border, but it is possible. Talk to your vet and see if she is interested in learning more from the best!
Best wishes,
Brigitte