IMMUNE-MEDIATED THROMBOCYTOPENIA & SYSTEMIC LUPUS - Page 1

Would anyone have any informatin on Immune-Mediated Thrombocytopenia & Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) as I have just lost my GSD to this. I am researching this to help me come to terms with my loss. Marilyn

Log on to this web site and click on the link to lupus in GSD's. http://www.vetinfo.com/dlupus.html Very sorry for the loss of your dog. It's a terrible thing to lose our best friend.

please accept my condolences for the loss of your dear friend

I am so sorry about your loss :(

Lupus is categorized as an autoimmune disease -- prevelanet enough in the human population too -- you can research Medical books to reference that syndrome/disease -- BTW -- can you tell me how much line breeding there has been within the last seven generations of your dog's pedigree ?? i would tend to guesstimate -- there has been alinebreeding there --and if there is -- well -- the high end breeders -- [and i don't care they are the biggest kennels in the world ] just don't get it --seems they are blinded by just getting the perfect VA-1 GSD -- of course with any common sense ..anyone just knows doesn't exist -- there is no perfect person --nor will there be any such perfect canine !! also this is not the first time i have heard of a great GSD that has developed autoimmune disease --my friend Sch 3 dog developed an autoimmune disease -- she attributed that to over vaccinating -- but there i may disagree -- IMO ..seems to me more a genetic issue

Marilyn, So sorry to hear about you losing your beloved GSD. May I ask what symptoms your dog exhibited? How old it was also? It may help others to diagnose a problem in our own dogs at some point. Peggy Knightenhaus

Hiya Marlyn .. My deepest sympathies, I too lost one of my sheps to this conditon this year . He was just 17 months old at the time. Its simply gawd awful watching them have to fight this and I wouldn't wish it on anyones dog. So many people have still just never heard of it either sadly meaning so many animals go undiagnosed . I have emailed you and will send you some factual info about the conditon later when I get home as I too went hunting for info about the conditon . It was a very hard conditon to deal with and still is despite his passing,I miss him tremendously. There is an organistion in the UK called CIMDA ( canine immune mediated disease association) which pretty much can inform you about every aspect this illness and indeed any other of the immune diseases that exist.. They also have a world wide mailing list and forum but it isn't listed in the search engines .I will get you details of that too and email it for you .The two main contacts are Joe Tucker and Penel Malby. Peggy ,The most important factor about this disease is that it comes and goes and can appear symptomatically different each time it rears its head. For this reason its known as "the Great Pretender" In my boy it presented first while a youngter as a skin conditon that just refused to respond to treatment although a cause for it could not be found... This conditon continued to flair and disappear over his short life .. His behaviour altered notably , he became more fearful and pre his S.L.E diagnosis although this behaviour change was partly thought to be health related,an exact diagnosis was still illusive. He also displayed all the signs of a cruciate ligament problem and a shifting lameness possibly thought to be pano , he had bouts of lethargy and bloody diahorrea , all which were treated as seperate conditons. He lost weight and basically became a shadow of his former self .. Finally while under xray a thorough body wide examination was done and blisters found in his mouth, throat etc .. His skin problems which included lesions in his ears were also now starting to appear more sinister and the vet suspected that all his problems were linked through his immune system.had become severly anaemic in the space of 2 days due to his 2ndry thrombocytopenia. His immune system had started to target his platelets meaning he could no longer clot , sparking off big internal bleeds.. It was heart wrenching to have to observe.. Also My boy indeed never had cruciate ligament trouble as thought , this too it turned out to be another cruel symtom of this disease , poly artiritis . S.L.E is one of the forms of canine lupus , there are others but this horroble disease is exactly what it says "systemic" meaning every part of the body can be effected , major organs , (including the brain) , skin , muscles, blood and joints. My advice to anyone whose dog has a series of symptoms that seen unconnected but that persist in coming and going despite treatment should check it out. S.L.E an be confirmed by tests.. An ANA test which almost always comes back positive , a Coombes test which can be negative( aimed more to the blood based immune diseases) but is still usually done , A rhematoid factor test which will flag positive in the presence of any immune disease ( therefore it is a good simple good indicator for confimation of an immune disease)The dog must also display a certain number of the symtoms connected with this disease for a positive diagnosis.. Treatment is high doses of steroids and chemo therapy drugs.. sadly without these ( and even with sometimes ) the dogs prognosis is not good especially if it is more than just the skin and joints that are effected.. Again marilyn my heart felt sympathies..I lost my boy in August and still miss him with all my heart ,he was truly one in a million regards. p.s I will email you again later as promised with the rest of the info

Marilynn and fda --my empathy exoressed to you -- fda -- i am beginning to think that this condition is a lot more prevalent than i expected in the GSD -- fda thanks for the web sites to reference more info -- this is even more of an issue personally to me becaiuse i have seen [ an expensive pups/dogs selling for $5000.oo and up ] usually in my realms/experiences show line that have either pancreatic problems , heart problems , allergies ,monorchisism , bone problems , as well as anal fistulas/intestinal problems !! -- frustrating -- and i cannot prove with stats but IMO empirically iot comes down to over amounts of line breeding -- IMO they big time breeders have selectively bred traits for type that IMO more of the deleterious genes have pooled than those that make for the better type -- IMO there needs to be more outcrossing as there still lies a varied healthy genetic pool for the GSD before it to late to turn back the damage !! i once admired people like walter martin and still do -- but i think this show bit should be done away with .. eliminated from the GSD world and i think there shopuld be a rule adopted by the SV that starting in 2008 or 2009 any dog that has any line breeding within 5 generations will not be registrable -- lord .. watch how this suggestion will get trashed -- but you know -- it will be trashedand ingored by the very same folk that use the GSD as a commodity for their own gains and those in the SV that wish to comntrol thier side of politics !! i say ... shame on you -- and how will you face wonderful people like fda and marilynn when their GSD becomes ill

This sounds absolutely horrid! Poor dogs! Thank you for the information though, I will save it for future reference. Peggy knightenhaus

Thanks for all the feedback. Sorry I haven't answered you all sooner but I have hassles getting on to the site. Duke's pedigree can be found on this site under Anderuss Cimba. He has mainly German breeding but I am still trying to trace further back on the English side. I hope you all have a great Christmas