Sunny

Keymaster

Hi Maura, I’m so glad you’ve posted. We’ve all been wondering about your girl.

You’re not alone in this. We all know how terrifying this horrible disease is and how lost we all suddenly found ourselves.

Don’t feel guilty about the vaccines. You gave her the vaccines because you were being a good mum and were doing your best to protect her.

With a PCV of 25, it’s not a good idea to transfuse again right now. The reason is that the body thinks it has enough red blood cells and won’t bother making any, so the vet is right, keep an eye on her gums. If they seem to become suddenly pale, or she’s suddenly very lethargic, ring the vet and maybe make the trip down. Be aware thought that the gums will be pale if she has been sleeping. Blood pumps through them as they need it, so if Sunny is sleeping, they’ll be pale, when she’s say a bit more active, you should notice they should become more pink.

There’s a whole heap of information on the AIHA Terms up the top. For example on transfusions:

https://www.secondchanceaihadogs.com/AIHA_Terms/transfusion/

The medications take a bit of time to kick in, that’s why a transfusion is needed sometimes, to buy time for the medicines to start working.

What medications is Sunny on and what does she weigh? Predisone is usually the first drug used in this disease but often a second one is needed. Bingo is still on prednisolone and cyclosporine. Now prednisone is a terribly drug, but it’s a LIFE SAVER. It has a lot of terrible side effects, but they all go away when the drug dosage is reduced. Some of the side effects are panting, drinking lots more and therefore weeing lots more, loss of muscle tone, lethargy. Once it’s kicked in, they usually have huge appetites.

Is Sunny on stomach protection because prednisone is very harsh on the stomach and can cause ulcers. Also blood clotting can be a major problem with this disease, so is Sunny on a blood thinner, like aspirin?

Is the vet a specialist? Most of us found that being referred to a specialist made a difference in treatment as it is a complicated disease.

If you have a copy of Sunny’s blood results, you can attach them to the Urgent Advice at the top. There are some people on the forum that can understand them (I’m not one of them). They can help you to see what’s going on. If you don’t have a copy, ask your vet for a copy of the results.

The people here are really wonderful. We’re from all over. I’m from Sydney Australia. We’ve all been through, and some are going through, this disease. We all love our dogs to bits so we know what you’re feeling now.

My very best,
Vally & Bingo (diagnosed Nov 2011 in remission).

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