I need some honest advise

[Kelli]

My 10 year old mini schnauzer Rocky was just diagnosed with anemia( there was a specific name but honestly can’t recall hypo something ) along with that he has a large tumor in-casing his left kidney they are almost positive is cancer and last but not least Lyme . We have started him on the immune suppressants and the Doxycycline for the Lyme. They want to have surgery and remove the kidney. I am more than willing to do it but I’m scared I am doing this for me and not him. The vet said it will take him longer to recover because of the immune suppressants and he is at a high chance of infection.
I love him so much I don’t want to loses him. I know me I will do everything to keep him here with us to the point that it’s not fair to him.
I just want someone to be honest with me and tell me I am not being selfish.

[Kelli]

So I had a bit of a breakdown there. We learned all of this just this week so I’m a bit of a mess. I got that out now lets get to business!!! Rocky is on 10mg of Prednisone 2 times a day. 1/4 tablet of 50mg of Azathioprine 1’s a day. a sliver of asprin and 10mg of Pepcid. Doxycycline for the lyme 50mg 1’s a day and Tramadol 25mg twice a day for the pain. I am only giving this to him at night. He gets kind of out of it when he takes it. At the ER vet his PCV/TS was 32% /10 we has his hematocrit tested yesterday and it was 29 last Saturday it was 28. Today he seems a little more lazy not moving much he is following me with his eyes and getting up for water. We went for a small walk around the yard this morning and wear him out. We are working on scheduling his surgery to remove his kidney.

[Sheena]

Hi Kelli

I can tell you are frantically seeking help. Don’t worry about feeling overwhelmed at this point. I think we have all been in your situation with trying to understand what is happening. Try to be positive about Rocky’s problems, which can be overcome. Please think about these things:

1. Dogs & people can survive quite happily with one kidney. It’s great that we have a spare.

2. People who have kidney transplants are on high dose immuno-suppressants, but do have to be careful about infection but do NOT live a restricted life because of that.

3. To my knowledge, lyme disease doesn’t cause kidney cancer but can impair their function in the long term. I am unsure why your vet has not given a definite diagnosis, but 2 different ideas. Is it that your vet thinks Rocky has both?

4. His PCV is not bad, certainly not in dangerously low levels.

5. Has Rocky had a Snap 4dx test? If so, what results please.

6. What is Rocky’s normal weight?

So in order for us to help you, can you do this for us? Phone your vet & ask for the name of what Rocky has & write it down & tell us. The drugs look about right for IMHA. PLEASE ask for copies of all the tests & reports for Rocky, then send them to us via the urgent advice area:

https://www.secondchanceaihadogs.com/urgent-advice/

None of us would let our dogs suffer. I promise we value quality of life & will give you our honest opinion. In the meantime, never think you are doing this for YOU. I know you are trying to do what is best for Rocky.

You need to understand we have all put our dogs through very harsh drug treatment & most ( by far the majority) get better & are still here with us. It is worth trying hard – it really is. My dog Worzel has had an extra 3 years of happy healthy life after a horrible few months with the drugs. He is looking right at me while I write this message!

Sheena,Worzel & Ollie

[Vally]

Hi Kelli (and Rocky), and welcome.

I’m so sorry you’re in this at the moment. We all totally understand the absolute feeling of panic and despair. Breakdowns are part and parcel and we’ll all been there.

I’d really encourage you to go through Sheena’s list and get that information back to us asap. If you don’t have a copy, ask for copy of all blood tests and scan results and send them through. Someone can help you to understand what they all mean – I’m not one of them.

I wouldn’t be too worried about Rocky’s laziness. That could very well be the drugs. They will do that. Prednisone in particular has a lot of side effects, but it’s a vital drug. https://www.secondchanceaihadogs.com/AIHA_Terms/prednisone/
Once you wean Rocky back off the prednisone (which should be done slowly), the side effects all go away. Keep Rocky quiet for now.

Ask anything at all. We’d all love to help.

Vally & Bingo (diagnosed Nov 2011, in remission)

[Kelli]

Thank you both… I submitted the blood work and the Urgent advice.I have an bunch more if needed.
I learned that I am not giving him his meds correctly thanks to the link on Prednisone. The vet said to take the Prednisone with the pepcid and I was not waiting 12 in between so we are fixing that. We saw a new vet today so we have new blood work and its not great. He is telling us he is not a candidate for surgery right now.

[Sheena]

Hi Kelli

Firstly, no wonder you have been climbing the walls with worry – Rocky is a lucky lad having you to help him. I am glad you’ve found our info useful on drugs etc – so important to know how to give them properly. Our wonderfulVally will do you a drug chart – she is the best at sorting that difficult schedule out properly.

The blood results came through fine & I have had a good look – anaemia is present, but not terrible or life threatening – good! But I can see exactly why the surgery is not an option just yet. Rocky is not stable enough. I hope we can help get him well on the anaemia front.

He does have Lyme disease & he does have kidney cancer – neither are insurmountable but it will be a battle. You must get the Lyme disease under control with antibiotics before Rocky can have surgery. His neutrophil levels show the Lyme disease is affecting him badly & long-term antibiotics are the only way to treat this. Do not stop the doxycycline, please.

I was thinking about your mention of “hypo” someting – could that be hypothyroid? It is a common cause of anaemia & needs treatment with doggie thyroxine called soloxine. Please forward any other results you have, so we can look for this.

Info: Hypothyroidism is a common cause of anaemia. So is a kidney problem. Have a look at this (EPO – erythropoietin -is produced by the kidneys):
https://www.secondchanceaihadogs.com/AIHA_Terms/erythropoietin/
https://www.secondchanceaihadogs.com/AIHA_Terms/hypothyroidism/

The main thing I would like you to remain positive on is that the drugs used for IMHA are chemotherapy drugs, so you are not compromising Rocky in any way. I will not lie – for you, this is a long haul treatment. My dog Worzel had a tick disease (ehrlichiosis ) which was well established to the point of him having bone marrow failure, so I sympathise – I didn’t know he had this horrible thing & he had a vaccination in the meantime, which sent him into a terrible spiral. Lyme disease is an even tougher treatment, but you must try to beat it. No way can they operate just now.

Do you have any blood smear results? I want to know if Rocky will need ongoing anti-clotting meds – this is very important because our dogs are highly prone to blood clots & Rocky may need to continue the aspirin for a long time, at least until he is stable.

If Rocky were my dog, I would certainly not give up at this point. Get the Lyme disease under control ( the most important thing ), get the anemia (not bad at all, really) improved & get that kidney removed when safe to do so.

Rocky’s liver enzymes are starting to rise, so you must add something containing milk thistle to counteract this – We suggest denamarin which is available on amazon. I used organic milk thistle, but denamarin is better:
A link I found http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=a9_sc_1?rh=i%3Ahpc%2Ck%3Adenamarin+for+dogs&keywords=denamarin+for+dogs&ie=UTF8&qid=1454193933

How is Rocky feeling today? This is by far the most important thing in the world!

Love Sheena, Worzel & Ollie xxxx

[Kelli]

Thank you so much… I will send over the rest of the blood work I have.
Rocky is a little lazy to day which is to be expected and panting a lot more. He is eating but the 3 steps to go potty has been hard I need to carry him. Do you think I should give him the pain meds? I don’t like how he acts on it but I don’t want him in pain.
He is still barking like crazy when someone comes to the door so that is good!!!
Giving the med are so tricky. It will be great to have some help with a schedule. I didn’t plan on stopping the asprin I had a feeling that was wrong.
I do know it is not Hypothyroidism I would remember that. I suffer from that so I would remember that. I will check with the vet to see what he called it.
We had a blood smear test on 1/23 at the ER if they are not on the first docs I sent I don’t have those results I will have to check again Vet.
I will order the denamarin tonight.
Again thank you for all your help.
Kelli & Rocky

[Vally]

Kelly, I’d love to make up a chart for you. I’ve got the list from the email. Can you tell me what time you’re giving them now, or give me the times you are available to give them. Eg. Earliest (I’ll try and be kind) and latest (ditto). Middle of the day, is someone available to give drugs? Some need to be spread out. Eg Denamarin should be given 2 hours away from food.

Denamarin is great stuff and works a treat helping livers to cope with these drugs.

I also agree, I was a bit suprised that surgery would be suggested at this point. The surgery should happen when Rocky is stable.

What are the pain meds actually for?

Would you like to post a photo or Rocky? Use the Upload Your Photo on the right.

Regards, Vally & Bingo