imha disease

Where is your article Elie?  Or do you mean your posts in the IMHA thread?

They don't understand ALL of what causes auto-immune diseases to begin ... and a disease usually isn't the cause.  But some drugs can trigger and auto-immune reaction.  What drug was given to her to treat the urinary tract infection?

Hi: Since I am not computer literate, not sure if article is in right spot BUT if you go into "Search", then put in IMHA Disease, the article shows up on the 2nd page (dated 6/9/09). I am grabbing at straws trying to find out what caused Rosie to get sick. It had been a year since she had seen a vet (always extremely healthy) and only thing she got prior to getting this disease was her heartguard chewable about 2-3 weeks earlier. Vets had asked me if she had any infections, poisoning, bites, etc. NO, to all questions. Now I am wondering if she had a bladder or urinary infection because of all the piddling that was done in the house while I was gone 11 hours a day (4 days a week). Not the dogs fault, I had to work and those were my hours. I now have a job close to home so only gone approximately 7 hours a day. Tried for a long time to get something closer to home because I always felt guilty leaving the dogs that long but never found anything --- then after Rosie died, just by coincidence I found one close to home. Sure wish Rosie could be here with me to enjoy the time I have at home now. I did tell the vets how long I was gone every day and what went on in the house, what they ate, how many times they were outside, plus every last little thing I could think of at the time. The piddling always looked the same, same color, same amount so it could be that the girls were disgusted waiting for me to get home so they just did it in the house. Like I said, I always blamed Hollie because she is older and always seemed to drink more. Now I realize it was Rosie that was doing most of the piddling. A couple of weeks ago I attended a group therapy session on grief at the shelter and the woman in charge was not only a licensed therapist but also a vet tech. After telling her all about Rosie and every little detail of how life was before she wound up at vet office, she said Rosie may not have been feeling well for awhile but did not show it until I took her to vet OR this just came on very suddenly. She even said this is a rare thing and just horrible. I never neglected my girls, always kept up their shots, etc and they were always very healthy. Other than Rosie not eating day before I took her to vet, and not her usual rambunctious self, you would not have suspected anything by looking at her because her coat was shiny and she was still going up and down stairs, playing with the cat, barking, etc. It was mind-boggling to hear vet say she had a horrible disease and hopefully she will pull thru. I was in shock, could not accept it, and that is why next day I took her to another vet (Rosie's former vet who just signed on with another vet hospital). Diagnosis was the same. My neighbor thinks maybe a deer tick caused the problem because even though we live on typical residential street, we have deer running thru the woods below my house and then they come up thru my driveway and go across the street and up over the hillside behind those houses. My yard is all fenced in and Rosie never left the property but there is a little beagle from street behind me that escapes his fence, runs thru the woods and comes up to my house and jumps the fence, running all over my yard (while Rosie is in the house). I don't know if he had a tick on him that dropped off in my yard --- or the raccoons that come out at night --- or the squirrels running thru my yard ---- or the birds or anything else that hang around my yard. WHO KNOWS what caused this --- it just drives me nuts not knowing what made her sick, what triggered her red blood cells to go awry. I have thought of every last little detail of what she ate, what we did, where we went in the car, how she acted, how she looked, etc and I still cannot come up with a definite answer. Hollie is fine and healthy so how did Rosie get sick. My cat is also healthy and he and Rosie were always playing together. I just miss that beautiful girl so very much. It wasn't fair to her to get that awful disease. It isn't fair for any animal to get it. YES, I will have other dogs in my life and even though all my dogs (and cats) were (and are) very special, Rosie had an endearing quality about her that was outstanding and I miss her. All for now, Carol.