 The Meisha's Hope Bandanna |
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The Meisha's Hope Bandanna |
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When a dog is diagnosed with autoimmune hemolytic anemia/immune-mediated hemolytic anemia, its owner/caregiver is seldom prepared for dealing with such a serious life-threating illness. Many times their first question will be, what can I expect in terms of survival and quality of life for my dog.
The "Success Stories" page is presented in order to answer those questions. We hope to show owner/caregivers whose dogs have recently been diagnosed with autoimmune hemolytic anemia/immune-mediated hemolytic anemia that there is indeed hope. Over the coming months we will feature dogs who have been diagnosed with this disease and who are now living normal lives. Many of them have had no reoccurrence of the disease whatsoever. I hope you will be encouraged and filled with hope as you read these stories. I plan to change the stories on a monthly basis, so stop back often.
Lily is a 7 year old spayed female Cocker Spaniel owned by Peter and Kristin of Forest Hills, NY. Lily was diagnosed with immune-mediated hemolytic anemia on September 7, 2008.
When Peter was asked to comment on Lily’s symptoms prior to her IMHA diagnosis he replied, “Prior to Lily’s illness, she was a dog who had a very spunky personality, was playful, loving and always hungry. This all changed over the course of about 3 days when Lily became extremely lethargic, had no appetite and began to vomit. By the third day, I knew that Lily had more then just a ‘tummy ache’ and that something was very wrong. Since it was a Sunday I took Lily into the emergency veterinary clinic.
”Upon admittance to the emergency veterinary clinic blood work was done. At first it was thought that Lily may have been bitten by a tick so antibiotics were prescribed and Lily was going to be sent home. As we were waiting for Lily to be discharged we were told that Lily’s PCV was very low (in the teens) and that she would need to hospitalized so medications could be started. Lily was given IV Dexamethasone, IV Ampicillin and started on prednisone and Azathioprine. The next day we transferred Lily to our regular veterinarian where blood testing revealed that her PCV had dropped to 13. Lily was given a blood transfusion, the Azathioprine was discontinued and Cyclosporine (Neoral) was started. Lily was hospitalized for 5 days and nights before she was allowed to come home. Her discharge medications included prednisone, Cyclosporine, Sucralfate, Pepcid, Prilosec as well as an antibiotic. Since blood work showed that Lily also had low thyroid function she was started on Soloxine. Until Lily became stabilized we went back to the veterinarian every three days to have blood work done. As Lily’s PCV continued to rise and then stabilize we reduced the prednisone by 25% once per month until it was finally totally discontinued. At the current time Lily takes 50 mg Cyclosporine per day as well as Soloxine for her thyroid.
When Peter was asked to comment on the current state of Lily’s health he replied, “Lily is doing well. She is energetic, playful and loves chasing our 4 year old daughter all around the house Her PCV at her last blood check on January 16, 2010 was 39. Lily lost a lot of her hair as a result of the mediations used to treat her illness, but all that hair has since grown back. Because of Lily’s bout with IMHA, she will no longer be vaccinated. Lily is back to her spunky, playful self. She loves to play with her toys, take long walks around the neighborhood and of course have her tummy scratched. We feel fortunate for every day that we are allowed have Lily with us. If I were to give any advice to someone who has a dog newly diagnosed with AIHA/IMHA, it would be find a veterinarian who has seen several cases of the disease and knows how to treat it properly. Be sure to ask a lot of questions of your veterinarian. The medications (especially the prednisone) can change your dogs personality. You need to be as caring and loving as possible because your dog will need to urinate a lot and may not want to be held and cuddled. Set up some space where your dog can be alone and rest. Be patient and have hope, it is going to be a lot of work and a lot of struggle but there is a light at the end of the tunnel.”
The Meisha's Hope Award
Do you have a wonderful veterinarian who has gone beyond the call of duty in treating your AIHA/IMHA dog? If so nominate him or her for the 2010 Meisha's Hope Award. To learn more Click Here
New!! To read about the winner of the 2009 Meisha’s Hope Award and the Honorable Mention Nominees Click Here
To read about the winner of the 2008 Meisha’s Hope Award and the Honorable Mention Nominees Click Here
To read about the winner of the 2007 Meisha’s Hope Award and the Honorable Mention Nominees Click Here
To read about the winner of the 2006 Meisha’s Hope Award and the Honorable Mention Nominees Click Here
Editor's Notes
To view more Success Stories, click below to visit the Success Stories archives.
If you have a dog or know of a dog who has survived AIHA/IMHA for at least one year and you would like their story told on this page please email me at jdickson@cloudnet.comBack to TOP of page All contents on this site Copyright © 1998 - 2010 Joanne Dickson. All rights reserved.