My 13 yr old just diagnosed

[Terri]

Hi, My name is Terri
My dog Koda was weak and wobbly what seemed to happen overnight. He had trouble getting up.
I took him to the vet last Tuesday and he was diagnosed with arthritis. Rimadyl and Tramadol and dasuquin was prescribed. He declined over the week and yesterday morning I met them at the door with my boy who needed to be carried in on a stretcher. Practically lifeless. Today is day 2 of hospitalization. His white cells were over 40k and she said red cells low. She didn’t give me any numbers but suspected autoimmune. He’s on antibiotics steroids and a stomach protector. Today he isn’t much improved and vomited so no food yet.
I’m so worried about him. My vet doesn’t offer up a lot of details but I know this threw her for a loop because she kept pressing the arthritis as the issue until the bloodwork came back. We lost a whole week. I’m so upset about that. I’m going to try to learn as much as I can for as long as Koda keeps fighting.
When I talk to her later, I will ask what his pcv is..she is recheck in him later today.
Anything I should be asking her or things I need to know just starting on this journey?
I’m so scared but will try to take it one day at a time.
Terri

[Terri]

Well, just got off the phone. After 24 hrs on antibiotics his white blood cells have gone up. I don’t know if this is the end or not but the vet is not too hopeful as she thinks there may be a few things going on…kidneys and cancer. I guess this isn’t the group to join :(. I don’t know if it’s time to let go or give him a couple more days to respond.

[Jen]

Hi Terri, my baby went through this just few months ago. I know it is terrifying & confusing. The folks on this site have been amazing at guiding and educating me throughout this process . I know they will do the same for you. For me the hardest part was waiting for the meds to work & feeling helpless. It took two weeks on 20 mg prednisone, 20 mg aziathioprine. Leflunomid, 100 mg cyclosporine, 1/2 baby aspirin, stomach protector & 4 blood transfusions before her RBC started climbing. What meds & doses is Koda on? Is she taking anything to protect against blood clots (baby aspirin)?
Stay positive!
Jen

[Patrice]

Terri,
Oh dear, you have had a terrible time. This is so unfortunate. I am so sorry you have had to go through this. We are here to support you and help you not only understand what is happening but also provide you with the information you need to make good choices and care for Koda properly.

I wish I could say that this situation is unusual, the way this played out, but I have seen vets sidetracked like this before. But let’s move forward from this point and get Koda healthy again.

If you would please ask your vet for copies of all the paperwork that has been generated, most especially the lab work CBC complete blood count and the chemical screen, and upload those to us using the Urgent Advice page. I will look it over and explain the important things to you that you need to understand right now.
https://www.secondchanceaihadogs.com/urgent-advice/

We have an AIHA Terms page that explains many of the medical terms that are being presented to you now.
https://www.secondchanceaihadogs.com/aiha_terms/

There are two introductory videos in the AIHA Video Library.
https://www.secondchanceaihadogs.com/aiha-video-library/aiha-introductory-videos/

It is unfortunate that any of these medications were administered without first doing a complete health checkup. I can’t say for sure that these are the only factors that are responsible for this sudden anemia, but it’s possible for them to trigger any dog with a genetic susceptibility to develop AIHA-IMHA.

Right now nursing care is very important. Since he is so sick, fluid loss via vomiting needs to be controlled. Undoubtedly, the exposure to so many different medications has upset his stomach. They need to monitor his PCV, packed cell volume, carefully to see if he is still destroyed red blood cells. They may suggest a transfusion if this goes too low and we will help you understand that. They are monitoring other body functions, such as the liver and kidney, as well. I can read these values and help you understand what they are showing.

You will need to learn a lot, but there may be a lot of things that you will not understand because there isn’t enough time to learn it all. This always makes it very complicated to make good decisions. That’s where all of the moderators will come in. We can help you work through these decisions by explaining things in a way that you will understand. All of us have been through this and we have all of our experiences to guide us.

Stay here with us, throughout the upcoming weeks, and ask as many questions as you need answered.

Have I explained things in a way that you understand?
my best, patrice

[Patrice]

Terri,
Please stay here. This is the group to be in. We can help you with this.

I understand why the vet is talking about the high white blood cell count. It is not always an indicator of cancer. If I can see the bloodwork and I can explain some of this to you.

Please do not give up hope. We have seen many dogs over the years that were this sick survive. There is hope. We are here to help you.
my best, patrice

[Jen]

Terri. I am by no means an expert on any of this but my cocker spaniel had elevated white cells & RBC was 12-both conditions existing were called Evans Syndrome & it is an autoimmune disease. It is a terrible disease but there are success stories on this site & Meisha’s Hope site. Unfortunately it does take time for these meds to kick in & stop the body from destroying the RBC. Do you have the RBC?

[admin]

Hi Terri

You must be very worried & stressed – you have come to the right place for support & help. I’m sorry you had to find us because poor Koda is so very ill, but I promise we will do our best to answer your questions. We have all found ourselves in this horrible situation & I can assure you that most dogs do get better. My Worzel was at least 12 when he was diagnosed, so it affects the older dog as well as the younger ones – we can fight it, so don’t give up.

Patrice has given you some sound & useful advice – she helped me immensely when my boy was diagnosed & her knowledge is amazing. If you can provide some more information, for example a full blood count – anything that you have would be great as it would give us an incite into what is happening. Often, a high white blood cell count is found with this disease & it could be due to infection or for another reason apart from cancer, so you cannot assume anything without the appropriate tests being done. It is possible that the arthritis drugs may have triggered an auto-immune response in some way, or it ould be something else entirely. Some drugs can do this & it just happens out of the blue to certain dogs, but not others. It’s “luck”.

As Jen so rightly says, the drugs take a while to start working & it’s really hard to wait – but wait you must as improvements don’t happen overnight.

Please know we are all on your side & we will be here to help you. There is a lot of good information on this site that you can look at, or you can ask us anything at all.

Love Sheena, Worzel & Ollie xxx

[Vally]

Hi Terri, I’m so sorry Koda is so very ill right now. My vets also ummed and arred for about 3 weeks as they couldn’t work out what was wrong. They ended up referring me to an internal specialist, who worked it out quite quickly.

Terri, don’t worry right now if this is AIHA or what and if you’re in the right group or not. We all love our dogs (and cat) to bits and totally understand the terror you’re going through and all would love to help in any way.

I think the most important thing right now is to ask for a copy of the blood tests done. Patrice, Sheena, Mary and others are very clever at understanding them and can help to explain then to you. Attach a copy on the Urgent Advice up the top of the screen and they get emailed out. If that’s not possible, you can just type them up in a post here.

It does take time for meds to work, as much as we want them to kick in immediately, and waiting in just terrible.

Ask anything at all. We all just want Koda to feel better.

Prayers and hugs for you.

Vally & Bingo