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Hi Alyssa,
I think trusting the vet (and his staff!) that treats your dog is the number one thing not just with this disease. If that trust is not there, you are stressed, your dog does not feel safe and it goes down hill from there. Be open with your new vet, tell her you live in paranoia land, I know most of them do understand where we come from. The two vets I still deal with know our history and understand why I am the way I am and do things a bit differently than your average patient mom walking in the door.
I can’t imagine how stressed you were with all these things going wrong. Try and just put that all behind you and look forward. Give that new vet all the info you can, it will save you some money. I would go to the old vet and very politely ask for Sassy’s file or at least copies of it. These files belong to you, they can not refuse.
Good luck and keep us posted!
Brigitte

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Hiya dear Tamara

It’s soooo lovely to hear from you & to know Ashki is a such a happy boy. Great to hear his PCV is good now too. How did the kidney testing go for the glomerulonephritis? My goodness, this disease costs a lot of money & takes a lot of our time. You have been absolutely brilliant, Tamara – no one could ever do more than you have for their dog. You two deserve some nice, steady times after such a long battle.

Worzel’s coat took an age to grow back, as you know – the long-term wound he had on his leg has never grown hair back on it. I’m not surprised as it didn’t heal up at all before we got him off the pred. Bizarrely, sometimes the skin is pinkish, sometimes it’s almost black. As you say, these drugs are life saving, but have some very odd side effects! I don’t really care what colour his leg is, as long he’s OK. Baldy bits are a small price to pay.

I hope your new job is working out well – sending loads of love & cuddles from me & the boys

Sheena, Worzel & Ollie too! xoxoxox

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Hi Alyssa
Good luck with the new vet tomorrow – you have done the right thing trying to find someone else, someone better. It’s always more difficult when the critical care has been OK initially & you somehow feel obliged to continue with them. There are quite a few people on here who have changed vets for similar reasons & no-one has regretted it – sometimes, you must take things into your own hands & trust your instincts. You are one great Mum – Sassy knows that too. Please let us know what happens as soon as you can – give your beautiful girl a big cuddle from Auntie Sheena – you deserve a huge hug too
Love Sheena & the boys xoxoxox

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Hey Alyssa

Don’t you dare let this get you down – we are here to back you up completely. All our information in the AIHA Terms glossary comes from bona fide medical research, veterinary sources & experience with many owners. Like Brigitte, I have never seen such a strange pred reduction in my life – sorry to be blunt. It is not logical at all. There is no reason at the moment for Sassy to stay on pred AT ALL if the normal weaning protocol goes to plan. The goal is to reduce it to nothing – occasionally some dogs have to stay on a small dose, but this is unusual, certainly not the norm. Careful weaning to avoid a relapse gives you a far better chance of getting her off the pred completely. And if she is one of the few dogs who needs a small dose, so be it.

If your vet is being difficult & will not listen, contact Dr Dodds straight away by internet consultation (see below). We have ALL learned a lot from Dr Dodds too – she is an extraordinary person – so compassionate, kind & clever, & she has a great team around her. Although she is away, her team will deal with your request & if they need to contact her, I’m sure they will. I always e-mail her via her team at Hemopet – they reply straight away saying they have received the information, then Dr Dodds usually e-mails me straight back. If not, one of her team does. Please remember there is a one-off consultation “fee” which is actually more of a donation – you will NEVER pay any more than that, no matter how many times you contact Hemopet. It’s the best $100 I’ve ever spent, I promise. You can send a message via our site’s Hemopet Resources page or use this direct link to a consultation:
https://labordatenbank.com/cake/hemopet/onlineorders/hemopet_add
Do not hesitate to mention us – she knows all about this site & many of us have consulted with her several times. Try to be as precise as possible with the information – list all the current medications in the appropriate box – include in the text what your vet wants you to do with the pred – then she will get back to you with any questions she or her team has. They might want blood tests results etc. I don’t think you have a choice now. It’s either that or you get stroppy with the vet & go in & tell them you are doing it the “usual way” & they will have to lump it.

Like some of the other owners, my local vets often ask me about things – Worzel is unique at that surgery in having this disease & they had no idea what they were dealing with at the beginning. They are really impressed with the information on this website & what we do to help folks. Shame your vet can’t be a bit more open-minded!

Please don’t let them railroad you into doing this – it’s not fair. You have done such a great job with Sassy & it would be a real pity to mess things up now with the wrong weaning protocol. I am annoyed on your behalf, Alyssa – you can sort this out though. Have no fear & keep fighting for Sassy. She’s YOUR dog, not theirs – how dare they treat you like this.

Love Sheena & the boys
xoxoxox

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Hi Pam

So happy you’ve found a compromise – that’s brilliant news & has put my mind at rest. Congratulations on the PCV too. Ella’s tummy will gradually return to normal – these pot bellies are really common with the pred. I do think adding extra milk thistle will help her too, Pam.

Wishing you lots of luck for the next test,
Love Sheena & the boys xxxxx

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Good luck tomorrow
Love Sheena x

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Alyssa,
you have done so well with Sassy’s treatment and I am sure that part of that success is, to have a knowledgeable vet by your side. However I find the drug reduction protocol your vet wants to follow more than a bit unusual. In over 6 years and reading about hundreds of dogs I must say I have never heard of it being done that way. I also agree with you that the doses she wants Sassy to stay on for life are very high. I understand that vets and MDs are fed up with people coming to them after consulting with Dr. Google, but this is a phenomenon that is here to stay and whether they like it or not, they will have to deal with it one way or the other. I remember my vet even asking what the people on the forum said to certain issues!!! She realized that although we are not vets, we had heard of more cases than she had. She was thrilled when I suggested consulting with Dr. Dodds. Would your vet be willing to do that? My vet got to talk with Dr. Jean Dodds on the phone and she had nothing but praises and saying that she learned so much from consulting with her. I know that money is tight but I am pretty sure a consult with Dr. Dodds would run cheaper than doing it with an internal medicine specialist. Switching vets in the middle of this ordeal is not easy and I think you mentioned it would be difficult to do so in your small town. Maybe a consult with Dr. Dodds would be a last ditch effort to stay with this vet? If she does not want to do that it is up to you to take the consequences. Either you trust her and do what she wants or you find someone else that is working with you and possibly a specialist. Not an easy road and I wish you all the best.

Brigitte

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Hi Pam. I am so sorry about your precious Ella.

Please also read Sadie’s Story. She relapsed just because of this reason – an abrupt and way too fast dose weaning. Her vet too, insisted it would be fine. It was not and he felt absolutely horrible. But it did not change the fact that she was back to square one and all the bad side effects.

Sadie had originally responded SO well to the immune suppressants. Now, today, we are dealing with yet another relapse and she is being weaned again – VERY, VERY SLOWLY.

My heart goes out to you and Ella. Hang in there. Listen to these folks here – they know.

Love and hugs, Linda and Sadie