I need some honest advise – Page 2 – Second Chance AIHA Dogs

Sheena

Guest

Hi Kelly

You are so welcome – we all want to help you as much as we can – Rocky deserves our help – we’d love a photo when you get time!

You are one brilliant, brilliant lady – what you have sent us is exactly what we needed to see. Do not stop the aspirin please – there are 3 reasons why he needs it at the moment – spherocytes, Howell Jolly bodies & platelet clumping. Although the platelet numbers look on the low side, the figure is probably inaccurate because of the clumping, which messes up the machine calculation. The lab has done a great job looking at the smear in detail – this is what tells us the most about what is going on. The nRBCs also falsify the White Blood Count (WBC) as the machine thinks nRBCs are WBCs. I hope this makes a bit of sense – if I haven’t explained something properly, please feel free to ask me anything at all.

There is some really great news – the presence of nRBCs (nucleated red blood cells) in abundance shows he is regenerative & they have mentioned this. His bone marrow is pumping out lots of baby red cells in an effort to correct the anaemia – I am so happy to read this.

It isn’t clear from the report what has caused the anaemia in the first place – I suspect the infection might be part of the problem – but they have mentioned blood loss – you would have noticed that though, so probably not that. The results on all the other organs are good – & the other kidney is fine too, all of which is good news.

I am reluctant to give any other advice on medications for IMHA because of the added complication of the Lyme disease & kidney cancer. I think you should contact our wonderful Dr Dodds for help & advice on this. She does work on a Sunday (not Saturday – the Sabbath), so you can do this as soon as possible. We have her contact by e-mail details on here under Second Chance Resources – Hemopet Resources. I am putting the direct link in a message below this one because links sometimes mess up the text! She is extremely knowledgable, compassionate & a reknowned expert on IMHA, haematology & many other things – you would be in the best possible hands. Her one-off consultation fee (you don’t pay any more than this unless you send her samples for testing etc) is about $150 I think. The initial consultation message – include Rocky’s weight, current medications & a brief succinct history of exactly what has happened up until now, especially the kidney cancer & Lyme disease. You can’t do many attachments on this initial form, so just send her the one you sent us numbered 006 as that has good info on it. She will e-mail you back – unless she’s out of the country, she is normally pretty quick to respond. When she does, it will probably be her protocol for IMHA & then you can reply & attach everything you have in the way of tests & reports, just as you have to us. You can then discuss the best way forward to getting Rocky fit enough for surgery – I know she will be completely honest with you – she is no quitter, I promise. She has helped so many of us on here get our dogs into remission – I have the utmost respect & admiration for her. We never give up hope but I promise we would never put any animal through suffering either. Most dogs make a full, complete recovery from AIHA/IMHA & go into remission. Rocky is definitely getting better already – those baby red cells are the best possible news.

Do you think Rocky has any pain? If he doesn’t, I agree with you about the painkillers. I think he should only have then when needed if they are affecting him badly. It’s a difficult scenario if he is not tolerating them very well. But pain is not acceptable either – that’s the last thing I would want to hear & I know you wouldn’t let that happen. Could you tell your vet he’s not very good on them? Perhaps there would be a better alternative. You have to be very careful with this disease as some drugs can’t be given – for example, I would not recommend using NSAIDs at all. You could also ask Dr Dodds about this. She knows exactly which drugs can & cannot be given.

I’m not surprised Rocky is tired – anaemia makes them feel very lethargic & the prednisone does this too – they are a bit weak. It’s good to hear he goes nuts with someone at the door though! That does mean he’s feeling not too bad & that cheers me up. Worzel was really weak, wobbly & we had to help him a lot – lifted him in & out of the car, onto the settee & onto the bed (yes spoilt rotten) because he couldn’t manage. He also was very shaky when he need the toilet – it’s horrible to see them like this, but it’s the drugs & the anaemia & it will pass when he starts to have a better PCV – hopefully this will rise as he is producing those baby red cells, but the trick of the drugs is to stop the body destroying them, so the drugs are necessary.

I’ve gone on long enough – I hope I’ve answered everything – please, please don’t hesitate to ask anything at all. I can see you are already getting a good understanding of what’s happened to Rocky. He is a lucky boy to have a lovely Mum & I know you will do everything you can to get him better. I just want Dr Dodds to advise you on medication, what to do for the Lyme disease & kidney cancer, then get Rocky back on track. He has a lot to contend with, poor lad, but is really putting up a good fight – like Vally said, his demeanour is really important. And staying positive of course!

Love & hugs to you – you also need to look after yourself – don’t forget to get some rest!

Sheena, Worzel & Ollie xxxxx

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