tab1220: I have a 7 year old German shepherd named Champ. In may we noticed that he developed a rash on his nose and was acting kind of sluggish. We took him to his vet and he informed us that he had dermatitis. He gave us cream and said that it should clear up. Well since May he has be getting worse and has been seen at his vet's office numerous times. They have now told us that he has an auto immune deficiency. He is constantly on steroids and antibiotics. He can no longer go outside, because when he does, it causes him to become worse. His legs have become so swollen that he can barely walk. He has sores from head to toe that won't heal, and also has a very bad odor and green puss coming from his ears. He is so miserable. He also has to wear a cone on his neck because he is self mutilating himself to the point where he has blood dripping everywhere.
I'm honestly not sure I can help you. In an auto-immune or 'immune-mediated' disease the body attacks itself. What you are talking about could be many things -- Cushings, Lupus, or simply an immune-mediated systemic infection that causes swelling and infection in various places on the body. You never know with auto immune -- it's heinous.
Often you just have to keep testing and you chase it all over the body. The drugs are horrible -- they are debilitating to the body in the extreme and the very drugs that suppress the immune system to get it to leave the body alone are also the drugs that invite infection in to begin with.
Your post is pretty general really -- how does going outside "make him worse"? What does the vet attribute the swelling to? Is that where he sees the auto-immune response?
The severe ear infections alone are very dangerous -- what are you using to treat those?
bottom line -- auto-immune is difficult to treat. It's incredibly expensive -- the drugs alone are fantastically expensive. When Billy's IMHA started I was spending what equated to a housepayment every month JUST on one drug.
That's just a fraction of the cost. Billy had six transfusions in one month -- probably was about $4000 just in that one month in tranfusion costs and stay up at UF in the ICU. The constant testing was necessary but oh man, the costs.
Honestly if you feel you can't afford to treat this, you are going to have to evaluate a quality of life issue and maybe let Champ go. I don't mean that to sound horribly hard hearted -- not at all. But the problem is you can't let them just go on and on in pain and feeling so sick.
There is no 'real recovery' from any auto-immune response or immune-mediated disease. Not really. And there's no guarantee that the next time it strikes it will be "the same". It probably won't.
The drugs are horrible. They all have incredible side effects and long term side effects are HUGE (and all immune-mediated treatment is "forever" in a real sense -- maybe not the immune suppressors but you can never EVER forget this animal is auto-immune prone).
We've had Billy's IMHA "under control" for about 18 months now ... but over it? Nope. Even tho I spent a WAD of money just on herbals to help mitigate the damage of the pred and cyclosporine, we're still having reactions. There's a current thread right now about him getting a liver AND pancreas infection at Thanksgiving. He's been on big guns antibiotics for 7 weeks. Clavimox and Baytrill -- the two most expensive drugs going -- and he's been on BOTH. Plus huge probiotics and several other meds. Now that's all going to change and he has to go back next week for more ... TESTS.
Your post sounds wistful -- almost like you wish folks would donate money ... and I-Dog won't condone that. There are vet care credit cards, and there are even agencies out there that can help handle part of the burden of the cost.
But be fair to Champ. At his age the pred is already probably exacerbating arthritis, and you apparently aren't suppressing the immune system enough yet for him to go into any sort of remission.
And if you do increase the immune-suppressors - can you afford the cost of the herbs and treatments that can help mitigate the damage? Can you take Champ to your state's best vet school? Often the treatment there is cheaper than a specialty vet. But most regular vets truly run out of wisdom after a while.
but if more money for diagnostic efforts just isn't there, then don't make him suffer. If his ears are SO infected they are oozing puss -- then you're talking all the way to the eardrum -- you are talking an animal that is in agony.
Same thing with the self-mutilization -- he can't help it -- my heart breaks for him.
Ask yourself what quality of life he has and can you DO anything about it. It's a hard question, but sometimes it is far more important to put the dog FIRST and push aside our own desire to continue to love them and *make* them well. Those are harsh words -- but if you can't get him to the right help -- then don't let him suffer.
I wish there was a holistic or herbal 'answer' for you but there isn't. There's no real 'cure' for anything immune-mediated or auto-immune. There is homeopathy but the dog pretty well needs to be stabilized -- and the experts who use homeopathy well are few and far between. And they are pricey.
Is there any way you can afford to go to a different vet for a second opinion and maybe different payment arrangements?
What does your vet recommend you do now?
I wish I could help -- but I wish you the best.
"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart."
Helen Keller
