Dog Community

Immune Medicated Thrombocytopenia - Maltipoo

Posted : 3/10/2011 1:47:51 PM

Hello, I am new to this forum and I was going to ask a few questions that might help with the sickness my wife's dog. First of all she is a 2 year old Maltipoo mixed with a pickapoo and she was diagnosed with IMT after seeing spots all over her face one day while we were washing her. We have her on Atopica and everything has been good for a while but just recently we had to take her in because she was having a hard time using the bathroom, so they put her on fluids and some antibiotics. Got her back home and a week later she is not playful, not eating much and acts like her balance is off so I talked to the vet and he said to take her off Atopica b/c it causes GI problems well it has been 3 days now and she is starting to walk around more and eat more she is still drinking water and wagging her tail so there is no need in taking her to the vet b/c we are $2000.00 in credit card bills for one and she is doing somewhat good. Question is has anybody had any side effects like this with the Atopica? she has had 2 mucus like slimmy bowel movements but there is no blood or discomfort when she is going. My wife did change her food from those cheap purina packets from walmart to a lamb and rice diet and It was either that or the Atopica that has effected her stomach. Thats about all I got right now any ideas? Thanks and I love the forum by the way!

glenmar

Posted : 3/10/2011 2:15:24 PM

Honestly, it's probably both.

When you improve a dogs diet suddenly its one heck of a shock to their digestive system. What BRAND lamb and rice are you using? There are many and some are far superior to others.

Wishing the little one good health!

bubbles21

Posted : 3/10/2011 3:23:21 PM

that is what I am thinking too. I told her not to give her anymore Lamb and Rice due to the sensitivity of her stomach. We are now feeding her Small portions of chicken breast and trying to mix in small dry dogfood Im not sure what kind it is but its not with lamb. We took her off her Atopica 2 nights ago and have seen a significant amount of difference. The dog food she fed her with the lamb and rice is Purina one by the way. I am concerned why her balance is off a bit! would that be from not eating mabe Thanks for your reply Glenmar

glenmar

Posted : 3/10/2011 3:39:18 PM

I'm not a vet and even if I were, I honestly couldn't offer an educated guess without actually seeing the pup. PERHAPS the loss of balance is related to not eating, but dogs don't react physically as humans do, so that is an UNeducated guess. Maybe the meds are still in her system? That too is a guess. The vet is really the one to give you definitive answers.

With an iffy tummy I'd be feeding boiled chicken breast or ground beef and majorly overcooked rice. No kibble at all or any other "dog" food.

Our resident expert on sick dogs is herself recovering from a nasty infection AND the loss of a beloved dog, but I'll email this to her and ask if she is up to helping. All of us here are always willing to help as much as we can....even if it's just moral support.

calliecritturs

Posted : 3/10/2011 6:27:00 PM

Hi -- I've emailed you already.

Ok -- now I have a bit more of the story - your VET told you to take her off the Atopica? what other immune-supressor are you using? In the other thread you just said you stopped it and man, you usually just can *not* do that.

How long had she been on the Atopica? One of the side effects of it *is* stomach /intestinal problems, however typically it's something you just plain have to work around -- you find something to counterbalance it.

As Glenda says -- **overcooked** rice (literally cooked to mush in lots of water) and ground beef would be my choice rather than white chicken (very little nutrition there -- dark meat chicken at the very least).

In the other thread I also mentioned -- Atopica is formulated *for* dogs but if she's small then the vet may need to have a compounding pharmacy do the 'modified' version of the human drug in **liquid** form so you can dose it differently.

Usually they tell you to give Atopica on an empty stomach, but you *don't* have to and it can be far more well tolerated given with food.

I did email you -- if you want to send me your number I would be happy to talk to you on the phone if that would help you. These drugs are tough to deal with but they do save their lives.