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What does Sassy weigh and how many milligrams a day is she getting? 25% every few weeks is acceptable, that’s the fastest I would do now lol!
OH and we love pics! There is a place towards the bottom of the page to upload pics, they are moderated since this is public but the moderators will post to your thread shortly.
Sassy was 71lbs at the start of this, a little bit overweight. When we rescued her from neighbors that were using her as a puppymill, she went through 2 pregnancies back-to-back and her mammaries were super enlarged/hanging. She still has that and that’s where I think her extra fat is stored. We’ve tried lots to lose the weight, but it just doesn’t want to come off her mammaries.
She went through about 4 days of not eating when she first got sick, though, and I am sure shes lost a bit of weight but the only way I can make sure is to pick her up and hold on her the people scale but she won’t like that right now! I’ll have her weight rechecked at our next visit.
Her prednisone tabs are currently 20mg each and she is currently taking 2 a day.
Hi Alyssa, wow your experience was shocking and you’re just the best in your fight for Sassy. I love her name.
I’m so glad you’re through the crisis. Your vets sound great.
Don’t panic about the steroids. Yes they are the dregs of drugs, but they do their job and then when you start to reduce them, you’ll see all the effects going away. The panting is scary, but same with that, as the dosage is lowered, it goes away. Muscle loss, that too. That will improve.
Bingo is a rescue mixed terrier, mainly maltese shi-tsu, he’s most likely going to stay on 1.25mg pred daily (he weighs 7.5 kg). He has a lot of joint issues, so this actually helps to keep him comfortable too. He went a little lower but a few other problems came up so I took him back to the daily dose. I may try again but he’s just hurt his back knee, so not right now.
Don’t anticipate it either, most dogs do manage to come off the steroids totally, just do it slowly. 25% is a good reduction, personally I’d probably go for 3-4 weeks at a time, mainly because I did have some problems doing the reductions too fast and had to keep going back up in dose and then tapering again. So I’m a little on the paranoid side.
Post your photos on the site using the Upload Your Photo – just on the right. They don’t appear immediately. One of the administrators will load it.
Keep up the good work you two.
Vally & Bingo
xxx
Hi again. Wow – you certainly have been thorough. That’s great.
What test are you saying was not sent out? I am glad you did the 4dx test for ticks. They did that on Sadie too, but I still sent her blood off to a specialist. There is s doctor in Arizona that specializes in tick borne diseases. If you want to send Sassy’s bloid to get, I will send you her information. She is rebound for her work in this field.
I am in FL where we have fleas, ticks and mosquitos. Sadie is on no flea/tick preventative, but as heart worms woukd certainly kill her, she IS on heart worm meducine. Although, she takes it every 45 days, instead of every 30 days. Got the fleas I use food grade diatmachious earth, a flea comb and diligent bathes with Dr. Richards holistic fkea/tick shampoo AND Dr. Richard’s fkea/tick spray (spay on brush and run the brush through her fur, legs, feet, ears, eye. Has Sassy been tested for heart worms?
You may want to contact Dr. Dodds. Her contact information is on this forum. I cannot toggle back and forth to set the link (still on phone), but will send from computer in a bit. Dr. Dodds is incredible and so wonderful about helping any and all dogs dealing with AIHA. She has helped almost everyone here on this forum. She even talked with Sadue’s vet when he called get in California – with time change, the wee hours of the morning there. Dr. Hamilton felt horrible and apologized and said he would call back. She said absolutely not, let’s talk about Sadie and see what we can do for her. De. Didds is an awesome, brilliant person.
I know the others will be on board soon. Hang in here with us.
Love and hugs, Linda
Thus phone is NOT conducive to posting! And neither is toggling back and forth. Consequently, I JUST saw Sassy’s pictures. She is BEAUTIFUL! I wanted to add again, as Vally and Tanara said, weaning should go slow, by no more than 20-25% every two to three weeks (I’m with Vally and a charter member of the paranoid club – every three to FOUR weeks). You don’t want a relapse due to rushing the weaning process. Sassy’s adrenal glands need to ‘wake up’ and rushing the weaning process can throw her right back to the beginning of the disease, better safe. And, as Vally mentions, still with this there are no guarantees. Some dogs, not all, will be on a maintenance immune suppressant dose. Sadie will most likely be one of these pups, as is precious Bingo. That’s okay though – we’ll go with that, life is good.
![bingo-14-5_1200x775](https://www.secondchanceaihadogs.com/wp-content/gallery/aiha-dogs_2/bingo-14-5_1200x775.jpg "Vally\'s Bingo \\"Smile\\"")
![Brigitte_Cleo_Ripley_Enzo_4](https://www.secondchanceaihadogs.com/wp-content/gallery/aiha-dogs_2/Brigitte_Cleo_Ripley_Enzo_4.jpg "Brigitte\'s Cleo, Ripley, Enzo and Guest \\"Rockin\\"")
