New person here, 2nd bout w/ this disease.
A week and a half ago my 10 year old Shih Tzu has been diagnosed with IMHA. This is her second bout with this horrible disease. In June of 2006 she was diagnosed with IMHA after exhibiting lethargic behavior, and having seizures.
At first the vet thought she had epilepsy and treated her for that, she had blood drawn and the next day the vet called and reported that her PCV something I had never heard of before was low. The first time with this disease is terrifying. They throw so many variables at you. The seizures could be caused by Epilepsy, Organ Failure, or a Brain Tumor or the "C" word that nobody ever wants to hear. IMHA was something I had never heard of before. I had an awesome vet and after looking at her bloodwork, explained to me that my little girl had IMHA. I was told that this disease had a high death rate, and that the treatment was expensive, I was told the treatment that they had was new and that nobody knew what brought it on, I learned the word "idiopathic" that day. She was prescribed Predisone and Carafate. A few days later, no response, and was Imuran was added, her PCV kept falling, my days and nights were blurred, seizures, holding her up just to use the bathroom, rush to emergency, blood taken, new PCV levels, always dropping.. on June 8th, my furbaby was admitted into ICU and hospitalized for a PCV of 8. She was undergoing a blood transfusion the same day as my teenage son was graduating from high school. I would have to say, that was pretty traumatic. I love my girl like a kid, I have had her for 10 years. The blood transfusion went well. She was released to me the next morning and stayed on her medications, (Pred, Carafate, Imuran) and sent home. Over a period of a month and a half, her PCV stablized and began to increase. Over the next year, the medications were decreased, then eventually weaned off.
Two weeks ago today, she got into the garbage, and I thought .. oh she might get pancreatitis so I kept an eye on her. I felt her tummy, no swelling, no vomiting. I went out to dinner with my hubby and when we got home we parked our VW van in front of our house. The dogs have learned the noise of the bus pulling up and always greet us, barking and running to the door. We walked into the house and found her on her side, laying down, which was unusual. I immediately picked her up and she was unresponsive, her tongue was hanging out the side of her mouth, she was pale white and wouldn't respond to me. I freaked out, I thought she was dead, I began to rub her chest area and we rushed her to the local emergency hospital here. The vet took her back right away, and said "wow we seem to be running a special on IMHA" it was the 4th case she had seen that day. It's summer here, and the fleas have been horrible.
They took her blood, and admitted her to the ICU, Her bloodwork came back, PCV was 28. Not enough to make her have a seizure, she said her blood had a "high fat content". we picked her up the next morning at 7am, and took her to her regular vet. I explained what had happened the night before and told her that Mopsy had a history of *IMHA". She checked her PCV, it had dropped again, to 24, within 24 hours, it had dropped 4, sent her home with Predisone, Imuran and a antibiotic,which she later kept vomiting and was eliminated and an appointment in 48 hours. Next vet appointment she had a CBC to determine if her bone marrow was making red blood cells to check her regenerative state. Good news is, regenerating well, bad news is, immune system is gobbling, but not at the bone marrow level. Her PCV was 20. Ugh. Labor Day weekend, that means I only have emergency care available.
When my furbaby is sick, I am sick, I try to keep myself happy for her. So she wants to get better. Labor Day weekend felt like an eternity. Medications around the clock. 30 mg, Pred, 2 times a day, 1/4 Imuran twice a day, anti acid, and siezure medications. At the end of the holiday weekend, on Tuesday, I brought her in, her PCV was 16. The vet added Cyclosporin. Recheck in two days. We bought it at Costco, it was $78.00.
Next appointment was Thursday. Her PCV was up to 28 ! I know that it might drop, she is still on the full medication schedule, which consists of:
Prednisone : 15 mg. 2 x day, Imuran 50 mg., 1/4 tab everyday, Cyclosporin, 75mg, 2 x day, and anti acid as well as a small dose of aspirin.
Her next appointment is tomorrow.
The medication is so icky, I know my girl feels horrible. She wants to eat, drink. I give her icecubes, which were a big hit last week, but now have lost their luster. I give her liver treats, and feed her canned food (which is a treat) to keep her stomach with food. She can walk and go out for potty breaks, I check everything, my neighbors think I'm whacky, chasing my doggie around with a tissue, inspecting her urine, and more. I just wish there was something I could do to make her not feel so horrible from all these meds. I'm hoping her appointment tomorrow will show either an increase, or stablization and we can at least take her down a notch.
I am going to school pursuing a legal degree, so much for that, I haven't gone to class in over two weeks, I had an interview, another no show, I don't care because this girl, is my priority right now. I thought that going thru this once was bad, going thru it for a second time is torture. You worry about everything !!
Well this is my story and hence my introduction on the site.
After reading.. I wanted to add, I used Frontline Flea Med, instead of Advantage. Dammit.
Nina and Mopsy