Hello. I have recently lost my 5 year old dachshund to IMHA. I was looking through the internet to find a blog to warn pet owners of this awful disease and I found your recent blogs. My family and I went through almost the same exact tragedy that you went through and I couldn't believe that there are other pet owners that have gone through this as well. I could only find success stories. Then I saw you are from the Pittsburgh area and so am I. We are going through the same guilt and replaying in our minds of what we could have done differently for our helpless Buster. I wanted to get in contact with you, especially because you are also from the Pittsburgh area. About 2 weeks before the 4th of July, Buster was not himself, so we took him to our local vet and he was treated for a stomach flu. He took antibiotics for 2 weeks. It seemed he had gotten better, but still was not eating as much as he usually did. July 3rd we had noticed that he was having a hard time  breathing and still was not eating that much. We had just thought he needed more antibiotics. On July 4th we took him to a Pittsburgh hospital and he ended having barely any red blood cells and needed a transfusion ASAP. The next day the vet told us he was most likely not going to live throughout the night and he did. He had 2 more transfusions throughout the week. Thursday, July 9th we transferred him to a specialist where he was placed in an oxygen tank and hooked up to multiple i.v.'s. On July 10th, he went into cardiac arrest from a blood clot forming in his lung and we had to put him to sleep. Your story of Rosie made me want to get in contact with you to let you know there are other people that are going through the same thing, even in the Pittsburgh area. Please contact me back.

Hi.  My daughter wrote to you and I would also like to express my connection to you because of this horrible disease.  Our Buster was the joy of our lives.  We got him 5 years ago for my then 3 yr. old son Parker. He named him Buster after the dog in the movie "Toy Story."  He was never sick a day in all 5 years we had him.  I even had my whole back yard fenced in, and  2 doggie doors put in so he could be safe and free to go outside as he pleased.  As my daughter said, we lost him on July 10.  It is still so fresh that I constantly go over all the phone calls, bleek outlooks from the doctors, and of course, seeing my poor Buster in pain, over and over again.  As you, I feel there is something I should have noticed.  We just thought he had the stomach flu.  One month before is when he first got sick, but antibiotics seemed to work.  My regular vet said if it did not work, we would do a blood test.  Do you know how many times I kick myself for not doing the blood test then?  I just didn't know. He was never sick and I surely never heard of this disease.  When we took him to another place in Pittsburgh, we only went there because it was the 4th of July and our regular vet was not open.  We truly thought we were just getting some more antibiotics and taking him home to get rid of the rest of the stomach infection.  Little did we know, my poor Buster would never see all of his favorite places to lay again.  Please feel free to contact myself or my daughter at any time.    One thing a friend of mine said to me that really stuck in my head is "that Buster is in a place where he would never want to come back here."  So I am holding on to that even though I have a lot of anger, let down, and resentment in me right now.  I wish I did not but that poor little dog did not deserve this, nor did your Rosie or all the others.

Hello all,

I am so sorry to hear about your devastating losses. Especially dogs so young.This is one scary disease that leaves you helpless and hopeless at times. My 5 1/2 year old Border Collie Nell was diagnosed with IMHA on June 5th, 2009. She is still with us, but I wonder about her quality of life right now. Have any of you heard of Dr. Jean Dodds in California? I was just reading about some of her work on IMHA, and it sounds promising. One of her theories has something to do with the thyroid gland. I have to try anything I can fir Nell. She has been through so much over the past month and 3/4. I don't have to tell any of you that. She has been prescribed every med out there for this, with no real results, so last Tuesday, we had her spleen removed, and spayed. She stayed in the emergency hospital a week this time, it was two weeks back in June. She had a couple of complications after surgery, but got through them. She was sent home on Monday with a PCV of 33. Everything was fine. We went back for  a check-up today, Thursday,and her PCV dropped down to 24! Talk about a heartbreaker. If Nell needs to go back into the hospital, we won't be able to do it. We've spent over $34,000.00 so far, and are pretty tapped out. I'm hoping someone knows of Dr Dodds. We are desparate! We've got to get something to click. We are totally out of options.....

Thank-you all,

Hello clamdigger. I have never heard of that doctor, but be very grateful that your pup is still holding on for this long with this disease. My family would have done anything to keep our Buster going, but IMHA won the battle. I will pray for your Nell and hope that she will beat this awful and devastating disease.