AIHA deadly disease in dogs - Page 1

A friend of mine has a dog that is suffering from this disease.  He is in the animal hospital now.  There is a lot of info on this disease on the internet but I was hoping to be able to give him some info from personal experiences with this disease.  He is deciding at this point if he should put the dog down, as it is becoming very costly and the dog now needs blood transfusions.  This disease attacks the red blood cells and will end the dogs life shortly if not dealt with.  He , like myself is not totally trusting that the vet would give him straight forward advice.  So anyone with personal experience with this disease, your input would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

 Olskoolgsds,

Give us more information. I do have some experience and knowledge about this, but without more information it is difficult to know what the prognosis is. Please give age of dog, when and how this started, how it was diagnosed, have there been transfusions to date? What treatment has been given to date? What is the bloodwork results? Are there multiple labs available? How long has this been going on? Is the dog eating etc.....

There are dogs who can be saved, but there are many who cannot be. In any case, yes, treatment is sure to be very expensive. 

Sharyn

Thanks for answering Sharyn,

The dog is a 4 year old Beagle, it just started yesterday.  My friend called me and said his dog had little energy, had not had a bowel movement in 24 hrs.  He took the dog for a walk and the dog stopped, would not move, then fell over.  He took the dog back home and called me, wanting to know what to do.  I told him to immediatly take the dog to his vet.  The vet diagnosed it as the above, ( can't remember what it stands for off hand).  They were going to give the dog steroids.  The dog appeared healthy last night when he visited, but this morning the vet called and said red blood cells were down and the dog was not doing well, they advised transfusions at that point.

He is distraught over this guy.  You know Beagles,  great little dogs.  I thought of this board today and hoped someone could give some straight info for me to relay to him.  The dog has had lots of blood work, they definatly say it is the above disease.  He is up to $ 1500 and they haven't even started to really work on him.  I hate these situations, just wish it could be more black and white.  Thanks for any info you can provide.

My BC was diagnosed with it 3 years ago. She is still here. At times we have to adjust her pred. She never did need a transfusion but almost.

Don't give up yet. Also, there are several treatments. At this point I can manage mine with pred which is cheap. Of course I do most of it here. I watch her close and thank god for every day.

It is eventlually going to take her from me. But like I said, it has been 3 years and she is still good.

Goose,
Thank you for your response.  That is encouraging.  I don't want to give him false hope so it is good to get personal experienes.  Thanks again

 Olskoolgsds,

The dog is relatively young. The question is whether this is inherited and just showing up now, or acquired. For acquired cases, causes include tick borne infections, and exposures to certain types of medications.  The dog should absolutely be checked for antibodies to tick fevers. The bad news is that with such a condition the dog can bleed internally anywhere and everywhere. Careful monitoring of blood platelets is required. There are several treatment options available for autoimmune hemolytic anemia.

Presumably the vet diagnosed this from blood work. If I remember correctly, there is a relatively simple, in house test that can be done using some blood from the dog and a slide. There is also a confirmatory test that takes some time to process and it must be sent out. Doses of steroids may save the dog by blocking the immune system from destroying platelets. A transfusion of platelets or other blood components may help too. In my experience, a transfusion can make the dog dramatically better in a few hours. But then one must wait to see if the destruction of the platelets has stopped or slowed. In some cases spleenectomy has apparently helped, but I am not sure what the parameters are for this. Sometimes these situations resolve, but sometimes a dog is left with needing life long suppression treatment. But again, I don't know enough to make any assumptions about that.

My suggestion is that your friend consider finding a specialist who has treated this and have at least a phone consult. Then, if  the dog is stable enough that he consider transferring the dog to the care of the specialist. in my experience, most vets really do not know much about this and have to rely on outside help anyway. 

I have many excellent references on this and if you want them, email me privately and I can send them to you. It is a hard thing to go through, but hopefully the youth of the dog is on his side. And with good vet care, the dog may do well with appropriate treatment.