Monday, August 15, 2011

Cleo Update (An Adjustment Doesn’t Fix It All) New Diagnosis

Well once again here I sit typing and reaching out to my blogging friends in blogville for some much needed Power Of The Paw and some words of advice for Miss Cleo and myself. I believe I “jinxed” myself and got way too excited about the great improvements that happened with Cleo. I guess this time I may have counted my chickens before they hatched.


For starters my husband and I hardly ever go out and do things, but this past weekend was his birthday so I splurged for a movie and hopefully dinner for us. Our fur-kids eat supper between 5-6pm every night. Well we decided to go to a movie at 5:00pm so I decided to wait and feed the dogs after the movie was over. I gave Cleo her meds for her tummy acid, thinking this would keep her tummy calm so she would be ready to eat when we got home. It was only going to be like 45 mins after their normal feeding time that they would eat, I felt this was not a big deal.


Well, we received a very frantic call from our son around 6:30 just as the movie was getting over. He stopped out at the house to pick up his laundry and found Cleo laying there unable to get up and move. He is total panic which places me in total panic and we rush home, to find Cleo barking, jumping and running around like hey what is all the fuss about. She is still pretty wobbly in the back leg area, so I pretty much decide she must have twisted herself or just had a little spasm or something. Just must be getting time for another adjustment or something. So I went ahead and feed them and she seemed to be okay, just moving slow and not much energy. I did notice that her gums were a very light pink color, which I know is not a good sign. Of course, I didn’t sleep hardly at all Friday night worrying about her and how many hours till the vet opened so I could call.


Saturday morning came and Cleo seemed to be a little perky and ate well, but I still called the vet. After talking with Dr. T. and telling him what I was seeing he had me bring her back in for an EKG and more blood work. Cleo’s EKG came back great (thank you GOD), but her blood counts were not so good. Cleo’s RBC has dropped again after rebounding just a few days prior. Instead of 2 points up she was 3 points down from where the blood work on Tuesday was. Dr. T has always shown concern and has been trying to fully understand why Cleo’s RBC is so low but shows that she is trying to make little baby RBCs.


Well it was today, Saturday August 13th, my husband’s birthday that we have found out that Cleo has Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia (IMHA) formally known as Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia or AIHA. There is no explanation has to how or why one animal will get this over another.


Cleo was given an injection of “happy juice” steroids and sent back home with her anti-acid, amoxcillian, and predisone again. From all the information that I have read, the heavy dose of steroids is the only way to begin to fight this and get it under control. There is known cure for IMHA at this time, you can only manage it and “pray” that it goes into some sort of remission to where she can maintain a good quality of life. We are NOT giving up on Cleo, and Cleo continues to fight so we will do whatever we can to help maintain this disease. We will continue to work Dr. T and Dr. A Cleo’s Canine Chiropractor to determine the best course of treatment for her and hopefully move to reducing her steroid intake. The main thing we must do right now is get her body to reproduce RBCs and keep them. Unfortunately, the only way is for to take heavy doses of Steriods.  She tires very easy, has a slight cough from the acids in her tummy. She is weak at times, but then has a burst of energy at times as well. Her gums are very pale, but the white of her eyes look good. We are just taking it one day at a time and we will have her RBC retested at the end of the week to see if it has come up. We are feeding her small amounts of ID food every two hours to help keep the acid in her tummy under control. This also seems to help her keep her energy levels up and keep her gums a little pinker.


Here are a few websites if you would like to have some more information on this disease.


http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=1390&S=1&SourceID=42
http://www.cloudnet.com/~jdickson/index.html
http://www.peppypaws.com/LillisLegacy.html


So needless to say, we are asking for some more Power of the Paw for Cleo and reaching out to anyone of our blogville friends to see if they have ever dealt with this disease.


Sniffs, HoundDogMom and Cleo

14 comments:

  1. We are so sorry to hear that Miss Cleo has this disease. We have never heard of it before. Steroids can work miracles though & we will pray that they do so for her.

    XOXOXO
    Pauley James & gang

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ohhhhh... Sending you lots and lots of purrs for Miss Cleo. We hope that your worries are soon behind you. Will be thinking of all of you.

    pawhugs, Max

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh Miss Cleo! We are so sad to hear about your sickies! We hope the V-E-T can figure out some good medicine to make you feel pawesome!! Meanwhile, take it easy and let HDM spoil you rotten! We will be sending you lots of good basset-y vibes!

    Slobbers,
    The CheeseHounds and Momma

    ReplyDelete
  4. Paws khrossed with Sibe Vibes and Golden Retriever Goodness being sent Cleo's way!

    This is a GReat place to turn to fur help and advice and suggestions and SUPPORT!

    Perhaps there is a Yahoo group - or other support network - fur more advice -

    Hugz&Khysses,
    Khyra and The Golden Khampers Merdie and Harley

    ReplyDelete
  5. It seems with all the dogs we've had, we've had to fight so many battles with so many different diseases, but we haven't heard about this one. Our prayers are with Cleo and of course with you and your family too. One day at a time is the best way to look at it.

    Hugs

    ReplyDelete
  6. You know, a lot of her symptoms sound like Treat's, but she was never diagnosed with that, nor did it ever even come up in any conversations we had with our vet. Every time she had steroids, she would bounce back. I hope that they help Cleo and that she's feeling much better in a day or two! Is it possible that it's just a setback with everything else that's happened so far, or a reaction to some of the medicines she's been on?

    In any event, definitely know that Cleo is in our thoughts and prayers!

    ReplyDelete
  7. We hope this will help Cleo so she feels better and you're less stressed over her. (Yeah, humans do that.) Purrs and wags.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I am so sorry, but don't lose hope. Cleo sounds like a true fighter and I think she can beat this! My paws are crossed tight for Miss Cleo!

    Your pal, Pip

    ReplyDelete
  9. Big hugs to Cleo!!! I hope she is feeling better soon!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I am sorry to read about the tough time Cleo is having. I wish I had some insight on this disease but I do not! I do know that I see dogs that are on steroids for a long period of time and although it is not ideal, it is usually the best for what they are dealing with. I have seen pets go an every other day dose of steroids and it works well for them. Time will tell.
    Anyway..I am sure this isn't what you are concerned about, just thought I'd say what I know:) We will keep Cleo in our thoughts and prayers

    ReplyDelete
  11. We are thinking of Miss Cleo, of course, ALL of us (even PeeWee). How scary for everybody. I am glad to read that she is having some happy good times because that is what is most important to her. Paws crossed that the relentlessly huge drugs help her.

    Slobbers,
    mango

    ReplyDelete
  12. So sorry to hear that Cleo is sick. We hope she gets better soon. Take care:)

    Mocha Barney, Ashley Pumpernickel and Winniechurchill

    ReplyDelete
  13. Woof! Woof! Golden SAD to hear this news n such disease. Crossing my Golden PAWS and Sending you Lots of Golden Thoughts n Golden LOVE. Lots of Golden Woofs, Sugar

    ReplyDelete
  14. Oh, NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are so sad to hear this.....please know that we continue to purray for darlin' gorgeous Cleo.

    We send our love to all of you.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...