For Dog Lovers: Beware AIHA

[Pilgrim]

Most of the time I prefer to keep personal grief personal, if for no other reason than realizing the fact that everyone else has enough of their own problems to deal with. However, this is one instance that needs to be shared. Last week a significant source of light for the Pilgrim household was suddenly snuffed out - our 9-yr. old miniature poodle was stricken by AIHA (Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia) and was gone in less than three days. Although I've been a dog owner and sometimes breeder my entire life, I had never heard of this disease which can be slow to develop or happen overnight - as was our case.

We just want everyone to be aware that if your dog displays an unexplained lethargy, sluggishness and/or lack of appetite, be sure to check for signs of anemia: eg, pale gums, yellowish tint to the eyes or skin, weakness in the limbs. Better to get a simple blood test (including a Coombs' test) and be safe, rather than sorry. Our pup was perfectly fine one day and had all of the above when we woke up with her the next morning. We took her to the vet thinking she might have strained her back - which had happened a few months prior - but he realized it was more serious and sent us to the large vet hospital at the university. In spite of their extensive resources, there was nothing that could be done.

Below are a couple of links that are informative about AIHA. Since this disease is predisposed to female Poodles, Beagles, C0cker Spaniels, Dachsunds and Old English Sheepdogs (among others), owners of these breeds should be especially alert. The disease is thought to be triggered by reactions to bee stings, vaccines and antibiotics, or could be brought on by such things as poisoning or blood infections.

Hemolytic anemia | www.webvet.com

Canine Hemolytic Anemia: Immune-Mediated Hemolytic Anemia in Dogs | Suite101.com

Hopefully, the above information will keep at least one of our canine companions from being a future victim of this insidious disease.

 

[dieseldiva]

Pilgrim, I hate hearing of your loss. I cannot imagine and yet I know that someday this will visit my household.

I commend you for, while still grieving, turning your loss into a learning tool for the rest of us. What a legacy for your little fur baby. If only one is saved by the information that you've provided here, you've done your duty and made the little one proud.

Rainbow Bridge....

 

[idtrans]

Most of the time I prefer to keep personal grief personal, if for no other reason than realizing the fact that everyone else has enough of their own problems to deal with. However, this is one instance that needs to be shared. Last week a significant source of light for the Pilgrim household was suddenly snuffed out - our 9-yr. old miniature poodle was stricken by AIHA (Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia) and was gone in less than three days. Although I've been a dog owner and sometimes breeder my entire life, I had never heard of this disease which can be slow to develop or happen overnight - as was our case.

We just want everyone to be aware that if your dog displays an unexplained lethargy, sluggishness and/or lack of appetite, be sure to check for signs of anemia: eg, pale gums, yellowish tint to the eyes or skin, weakness in the limbs. Better to get a simple blood test (including a Coombs' test) and be safe, rather than sorry. Our pup was perfectly fine one day and had all of the above when we woke up with her the next morning. We took her to the vet thinking she might have strained her back - which had happened a few months prior - but he realized it was more serious and sent us to the large vet hospital at the university. In spite of their extensive resources, there was nothing that could be done.

Below are a couple of links that are informative about AIHA. Since this disease is predisposed to female Poodles, Beagles, C0cker Spaniels, Dachsunds and Old English Sheepdogs (among others), owners of these breeds should be especially alert. The disease is thought to be triggered by reactions to bee stings, vaccines and antibiotics, or could be brought on by such things as poisoning or blood infections.

Hemolytic anemia | www.webvet.com

Canine Hemolytic Anemia: Immune-Mediated Hemolytic Anemia in Dogs | Suite101.com

Hopefully, the above information will keep at least one of our canine companions from being a future victim of this insidious disease.

Sorry to hear about your loss. I lost my baby mama to this stuff she was fine in the morning I had to go paint a house I own and came home 4 hours later to take her for a walk and she was laying with her face in the water bowl trying to drink I picked her up and went straight to pet ER and they gave me the bad news. It destroyed me she was my everything. Now almost 2 years later I am better do have my times I miss my baby.

Mamita was a 8yr old wonderful 100 pound Argentine Dogo and the anemia mixed with some cancer she had been battling destroyed her fast it was painful to see. I know how you feel it is difficult.

God bless us all and our pets.

 

[cheri1122]

Thanks for sharing, Pilgrim, and my condolences on your terrible loss.
It's been a month since I woke up to find my Boston terrier/Pug already gone, but if she were still here I'd be checking her gums right now, because lethargy wouldn't seem too unusual in this heat.

 

[TeamCaffee]

I am so sorry to hear about your loss and thanks for sharing the information on what happened with your dog.

Losing a good friend is very hard and tears at your heart for a long time.

 

[Desperado]

sorry for your loss

 

[RedBird]

Pilgrim,
I am sooo sorry for your loss. And I realize it's hard to discuss, but thank you for sharing your grief and pain with us, so that 1. We as pet owners are aware of this disease. and 2. Know that you are not alone is this and it helps to talk about it and not keep it bottled up. God Bless and it will get better!

 

[greg334]

Pilgrim,
I'm sorry to hear of your loss.

My wife and I lost our beagle/basset last week, which may have been caused by this disease, she went downhill fast.

Our beagle has taken it hard and last friday his doctors stopped his chemo treatment because the tumor grew for the first time in 8 months. They gave us options, one is a stent for his kidneys and we have been working toward that and starting another chemo treatment in the next few weeks but I got the same gut feeling about him as i did with the other one last week - not much time left.

I learned a lot from a researcher at Purdue U about my chosen breed, and found out they need to have clean water, good food and fish oil (Omega-3 and other Omegas) to drink and eat. My beagle's cancer may have been caused by the food or the heartworm treatment he went through when he was 2.

 

[Pilgrim]

One thing my wife and I are dealing with right now is the natural reaction of second-guessing ourselves and thinking there might have been something we could have or should have done to prevent this tragedy. As is usually the case, there probably wasn't. However, one thing I took away from the experience with the university veterinary hospital was the importance of making sure we have a good vet who has good lab facilities including the equipment to conduct blood testing on site rather than having to send it off. This process is costly and inefficient, and could make the difference in starting a life saving treatment when time is critical.

Unfortunately for us, we changed vets several years ago when our regular guy moved his practice across town - this may have been a mistake, since we didn't get regular blood work done that may have revealed a predisposition to this type of anemia. The vet one of our neighbors recommended was very nice and less than ten minutes from our house - but his office is small and his facilities limited. It will probably take a while to get over this loss, but when our next little pal joins the family, she will definitely be given the extra 20 minute car ride for her visits to the doctor. Hopefully, this will give her the benefit of making those trips for the normal 14-15 year lifespan, instead of being cut short before her time.

 

[greg334]

Don't beat yourself up about it - we have been going through the same thing and came to the conclusion that it was meant to happen and we can't change it.

We thought at first she had a slipped disk in her back but that wasn't the case. She had a tumor on her adrenal gland and that may have contributed but it had to be something else. She had anemia in the tests but nothing was mentioned about AIHA or the possibility of even Hemocromotosis. The Tumor caused her to show signs of Cushing's disease so it is that we all need to be more proactive on preventive medicine side instead of asking ourselves what we could have done to change it.

 

[ConfusedMuse]

Complete empathy to you and your entire family. Don't second guess yourselves, you did what you knew was best. Your faithful companion will always be at your side until you merry meet on the other side.

 

[Yesteryear]

Another warning . . . beware of parasites! My darling Miss Minnie picked up a parasitic worm somewhere in our travels. We are pretty sure it was in Laredo as we do not take Miss Minnie outside when it is rainy or cold, ever since her knee replacement she is very prone to the cold and wet. She uses a little litter pad for dogs in the truck. At the time we first found that she had this worm it was still cold. We immediately took her to the vet in Oklahoma who said he had never seen this particular worm and did not know what it was. He updated her shots, did a blood test and gave us a med to take care of it. Two weeks later we found she still had it. We took her to another vet in Ohio, again the vet said she had not encountered this particular worm before and gave us 3 meds as she was not sure what this parasite was. Each was to be given one week apart. Needless to say after the meds where given later she still had it and we made another trip to a vet in Kentucky. We finally got it with Canimax heartworm and all worm dewormer. We think this was some mexican worm she picked up at the TA in Laredo so watch your babies when you are in Laredo. If your baby does get whatever this was you can get the Canimax from hoofandhound.com. According to all three vets this was a very serious thing as parasites can cause organ failure and death. And for those of you that think your babies are safe because they are on heartworm preventive think again. Miss Minnie was on Intercepter at the time she got this parasite. So just be aware it can happen.

 

[Pilgrim]

Good info. Did you ever find out what this worm was called? It's highly likely this parasite is in the Mexican border states by now, and anyone who travels should have their pets on the proper heartworm / parasite preventative. Another thought - could it have been spread by humans, and therefore be passed on to humans?

 

[pelicn]

Pilgrim,
My condolences to you and your family. To most of us, our pets are very much part of our family. Thank you for sharing what you found out so that we might avoid the pain that you've had to endure.

Yesteryear, please let us know what this worm is called so that we can alert our vet's

 

[Wolverine]

..."all dogs go to Heaven."
Anonymous

 

[Yesteryear]

Good info. Did you ever find out what this worm was called? It's highly likely this parasite is in the Mexican border states by now, and anyone who travels should have their pets on the proper heartworm / parasite preventative. Another thought - could it have been spread by humans, and therefore be passed on to humans?

No, we do not know what the worm was. According to the vet parasites are species specific and it is very unlikely it would transfer to humans. (We were worried about that also) Yes, some parasites will try to cross the barriers of species but it is not common for this to happen. The one vet sent a sample to be analyzed but so far we have not heard back from them.

As for the preventive, it is very important to have our pets on a preventive, however Miss Minnie was on the preventive (Intercepter) at the time she contracted this worm. The preventive did not prevent it. That is why it is also important to be aware as well. I never would have thought this would happen to Miss Minnie but it did. Talking about feeling like a bad mommy! It near broke my heart!

 

[Pilgrim]

Believe me, I know the feeling. However, considering the breathtaking fees we pay vets nowadays there's no reason to be hesitant asking questions about ANYTHING. They should be prepared to answer our inquires about parasite preventatives, nutrition, you name it, and they should know what the best products are. IMHO it's important to have a home-base vet that you can always rely on for advice in emergency situations, especially when you're out of town. One would think that some sort of vet referral service exists somewhere, so we would be able to find good quality pet health care when we're away from home. It's a helpless feeling when you've got a sick puppy on your hands and you're 500 miles away from your regular vet and you're at the mercy of the yellow pages. If anyone knows of any service like this, don't be bashful.

 

[cheri1122]

Veterinarian - Find Animal Hospital, Veterinary Services

This site has a "Find a vet" section.

 

[Yesteryear]

Believe me, I know the feeling. However, considering the breathtaking fees we pay vets nowadays there's no reason to be hesitant asking questions about ANYTHING. They should be prepared to answer our inquires about parasite preventatives, nutrition, you name it, and they should know what the best products are. IMHO it's important to have a home-base vet that you can always rely on for advice in emergency situations, especially when you're out of town. One would think that some sort of vet referral service exists somewhere, so we would be able to find good quality pet health care when we're away from home. It's a helpless feeling when you've got a sick puppy on your hands and you're 500 miles away from your regular vet and you're at the mercy of the yellow pages. If anyone knows of any service like this, don't be bashful.

Yes this would be great. Miss Minnie has a home vet, I have spent almost 5000.00 on vet bills now in the past year and a half, this latest edisode with the parasite ran around $500.00 between the three vets. But Miss Minnie has also had a knee replacement a year ago this May and is into the vet every time we pass through Atlanta for a check up as she is on a couple meds that need monitering. What our vet has us do is have the 'on the road' vets print out a form with anything they do and I take it in to her 'home vet' when we get through there and it is added to her medical records. Before I find a vet on the road I call and clear it with her vet. If they think she needs to be seen they will tell me to take her to a vet, and offer to help find one if I need it, or they will say it can wait until she gets home.

 

[greg334]

Tonight I lost my beagle dog Chance, we had to let him go after his battle was lost. He had transitional cell carcinoma which is an aggressive fast spreading cancer.

We got the bad news three weeks ago that the cancer was spreading a little and the chemo treatment was ineffective, the cancer adapted to the chemo. We continued on his oral meds and had a catheter put in because his bladder was getting too full and he could not relieve himself thanks to the cancer, we did that and another thing to prep him for another type of chemo treatment.

He was given a month to live when we found out he had cancer in November and lived 7 months. We thought he would have gone on a bit longer because his quality of life up until Wednesday was good. Very active, and very alert until yesterday.

We didn't catch it in time for him to actually have a few months to live because he showed signs of an infection and nothing more. Till the end he was fighting, which after two operations to remove cat toys he eat, having been treated for a severe case of heart worm and having a slipped vertebra in his neck a couple years back where he could not move, he pulled through all of that and more. The cancer was in his bladder and prostrate and he went down hill quickly starting when we got home last night.

In addition to the AIHA, if you have a beagle or one of the several breeds that are susceptible to this type of cancer, I ask that you get your pet checked out every year and feed them good food with no tap water (distilled is the best). If you suspect an urinary track infection or blood in their urine, get your dog check asap. We, the vet and my wife and I think that it was a combination of the breed, him being fixed and drinking filtered tap water have all contributed to his cancer chances.

We know now that there are a lot of sources for information that we can depend on but alas not much we could have used for him. We fed him and his sister (who we lost three weeks ago today) good food, sometimes fresh food we would make for them and that was thought not to be a factor. BUT we filters our tap water which as I understand still contains things in it that can cause all kinds of things like cancer.

Got the one more dog but he will last a long time. Hope to bring him on the road with me soon. He just doesn't like to ride like my other two did.

Before I forget, for the people in the Panther truck who met him my last trip out, he thanks you for the treats you gave him and being nice to him even though he didn't get a chance to tell you because of his distraction with the birds. You mentioned you read my posts on EO so I just wanted to throw that in because I felt he was a bit rude running away and dragging me along for the ride, I told him that when we got back to the truck.