Paging Hutash... damnit

[garyfromterrace]

doggie is now just sleeping in front of the stove can't eat or drink un assisted, can't walk more than a few steps, hasn't had a shit in more than a day, a very fast deterioration I think the decision is coming soon

Sorry to hear that man. Take care.

[DJSapp]

The cautious optimist in me is seeing some improvement. She's eating the $3.50 a can rx chow and her activity is still low, but increased over the last few days. Stools look better too. Her gums look off, but that may be because of the anemia.

Talked to the vet some today and we're both concerned about getting her enough food. The rx can stuff is low fat and for her ideal weight is supposed to eat 4 cans a day. Currently she's eating 1 can a day and probably 3/4 cup of puppy kibble before she loses interest. Definitely not enough calories.

Vet said we could try and slip in whatever works to get her some more calories, but try to stay lower on the fat to be easy on the gut. Any tips here? I managed to sneak in 1/3 cup of white rice with her dinner tonight.

I think her teeth are bothering her and she doesn't want to chew too much. She's still excited to get some scraps from breakfast or dinner prep.

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[XXX-er]

Interesting. Sure does sound suspicious. I don't know how it works in Canukistan, but here this would warrant a call to the tech services for the manufacturer. Talking to their vets can be helpful and also adds to the data base for adverse reactions. I have always had good conversations with them and always surprised how candid they were about problem/potential problems with their products.

Any other information, blood work, symptoms, info? Sounds like a really interesting case. (Its never a good sign when the experts say "humm that's interesting). ��

Good luck

ok so on saturday doggy was "this far" from the big needle but after about 5 days of prednisone altho doggy is still not able to eat or drink she appears brighter, is responding to stimulation of the tongue, is walking a little better and actualy the dogs ran off last night ... its so not over

[dan_pdx]

Vet said we could try and slip in whatever works to get her some more calories, but try to stay lower on the fat to be easy on the gut. Any tips here? I managed to sneak in 1/3 cup of white rice with her dinner tonight.

I had baby food recommended to me by a vet friend after my guy had some surgery and lost his appetite, and he was definitely more willing to eat that than his usual food. You could also try straight up canned tuna fish.

[DJSapp]

Well we're through the first day of Prednisone and her appetite is back with a vengeance. Ate her 1/2 can of wet food with a half cup of rice and another 1/2 cup of puppy kibble. Then she just sat there with a 'thats it?' look on her face. I got up and grabbed a cup of her normal chow and fed that to her. Gobbled that up too.

Not sure if it's the drugs talking, or if she's really feeling better, but something is working.

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[hutash]

Hopefully both. Pred will make dogs eat your carpet given the chance, but also just plain makes them feel better which may increase appetite, and if she has an immune issue pred may be treating g that as well.

[zion zig zag]

Hopefully both. Pred will make dogs eat your carpet given the chance, but also just plain makes them feel better which may increase appetite, and if she has an immune issue pred may be treating g that as well.

Man, my dog has been on high doses of pred for almost two months, finally tapering down, and he's like a bottomless pit. Drinks 2 gallons a day, pisses for 10 minutes straight, roves the house searching for food, eats the cats food, etc.

He had IMHA and he was really sick. Never had to do blood transfusions, but he was hospitalized for a few days. He rebounded surprisingly quickly for how sick he was. Seems to be fine now but from what I understand, we'll have to watch him closely forever.

[hutash]

Good to hear he is doing so well, it's a nasty disease. Taper slowly. I know the drinking, eating and pissing are a hassle, but I have seen too many recurrences if tapered too quickly. Good luck, and don't leave the Turkey unattended.

[zion zig zag]

Good to hear he is doing so well, it's a nasty disease. Taper slowly. I know the drinking, eating and pissing are a hassle, but I have seen too many recurrences if tapered too quickly. Good luck, and don't leave the Turkey unattended.

He's also on Mycophenelate and will probably stay on that longer it sounds like. That seems to have fewer side effects but is it as effective at keeping the IMHA at bay in your mind?

[XXX-er]

back in the day we had an austrailian shepard go compeltely blind literaly overnight, the vet was again puzzled did some homework , put the dog on steroids and she regained eye sight I think within a week, doggy lasted another 1.5 yrs before some kind of tumor caught up with her

we would go up to the XC ski area dog trails which was ideal cuz the packer had plowed a skate track with 18" berms so the dog could just bounce off the berms ... didnt need to see

[hutash]

He's also on Mycophenelate and will probably stay on that longer it sounds like. That seems to have fewer side effects but is it as effective at keeping the IMHA at bay in your mind?

I do not have enough experience with it to say, but with most immunosuppressive drugs slow tapering is generally a good thing. Definitely less side effects then pred, so if it works, great!

[dannynoonan]

He's also on Mycophenelate and will probably stay on that longer it sounds like. That seems to have fewer side effects but is it as effective at keeping the IMHA at bay in your mind?

I'm not a vet just a dude, but my dog is getting over IMHA as well n sounds like a similar treatment to yours. She did pred + mycophenolate for about 6mo, then just myco for another 6mo, tapering the whole time. It seemed really conservative but now she is almost 1yr drug free and in good shape. This dog had 2 transfusions and was this >< close to being put down when finally things stabilized.

A massive dose of Prednisone seemed to be what put her over the top on the IMHA, but she kept improving steadily once off it, including being just on the mycophenolate. Was nice not having her on pred and being a freak show about water all the time, holy shit that got annoying.

Good luck to your pooch.

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[XXX-er]

so doggy has improved alot,

she can get up/down some fairly steep stairs and the dogs ran off last night but she still cna't eat or drink but she can go thru the motions, we mixed up some soft canned food with water to make it more liquid so she could try to lap it up,

she will now lap away for 10 minutes but she still isnt able to work the tongue right to actualy get the food or water in her mouth

BUT its gotta be good physiotherapy for the tongue and hopefully she re-learns how to work her mouth

[DJSapp]

Just an update. Got another round of blood tests back and we're back into normal ranges for platelets and cells. It looks like we've beaten back the anemia. All is on the up and up, cutting back on the pred now. She still gets tired and slows down after a 1/3 mile walk, but that's better than before. We're transitioning her off of her salmon kibble as the vet wants her on something with less fat content.

Holy crap pred changes a dog. She's pushy as all hell the second she thinks it's close to dinner time. Thanks for helping me stay sane here with a second opinion.

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[hutash]

Be patient. As big of a pain as a dog (especially a lab) on pred is, relapse is worse. Whatever caused this, and most of the time we don't know, needs to work itself out of her system. Probably a virus, but hormones are involved, vaccines can be a factor, drugs, unseen cancers, tides, phases of the moon, solar flares, and fuck all we don't know about can be involved.

Very glad to hear she is doing well. Odds are once she is off pred and has time to rebuild some muscle she will be a go getter again. Pred is the "wrong kind" of steroid.

[XXX-er]

well it would appear that with Prednisone and cyclosporin that poor little Jack russel has been cured to the point its a royal fucking pain in the ass again, it had been unable to keep its head up and it was drooping to one side like a canine Quasimodo, it was getting really cold out side wearing 2 dog coats and not able to walk far

Thats all changed, its able to walk much further, doesnt seem to get cold anymore, its been high on steroids so its pretty agressive, it got into some home made choclate in a wrapped present, its been eating everything in site and it was trying to fuck the Cat

the good news is the jack russel is cured, the bad news is now we have a jack russel

[fatnslow]

Hutash,
I have a cat with some sort of dermetitis that out vet initially diagnosed with ring worm with recommendation of oral medication and lime dip for about a month. The ring worm was cleared up but the over grooming continued leading to some minor sores on her belly. He perscribed Atopica liquid for feline(cyclosporine) administered every other day. this helped quite a bit and we were told to play with the doses to every 3 days and see. after months of playing with treatment I think we kind of have a handle. Keep in mind this shit is administered with a syringe in her mouth and I don't really know how much actually makes it into her system after she salivated like crazy after we give it to her even after I hold her mouth shout for about 20-30 seconds.
I found a generic version that is 1/3 the cost but by Vet WILL NOT approve it even though both are listed as USP modified oral liquid 100 mg/ml , tells me some bull shit about it not being tested on cats and the taste being bad, ONLY Atopica has been tested on cats. Would this be normal veterinary advice ? The cat HATES the name brand stuff so what's the difference. Am I missing something here ? He stated we would need to go see a animal dermatologist if we want the generic but happy to write another script for the Atopica.
I'm a little miffed that he's not willing to consider saving us some dough. Do I have any recourse ?

Atopica for cats 100 mg/ml 17 ml bottle $120-130

Generic cyclosporine 100 mg/ml 50 ml bottle $130-150