It's been a long day. The dog went to the vet early this morning for minor surgery that never happened. Before the surgery, the vet did routine blood work that came back with alarmingly low levels of red blood cells. So, surgery was canceled and more tests were run. Cytology, urinalysis, blood count, comprehensive diagnostic, x-ray...
Everything else is testing fine, so whatever is wrong was caught very early, before it's symptomatic -- she's not lethargic, her appetite is fine, her color is good and she's strong. The doctor thinks she's got autoimmune hemolytic anemia and chances are, it was triggered by last week's annual vaccines. If that's the case, she should be just fine, and after milking us for lots of sympathy and special treatment in the coming week, life should return to normal pretty quickly.
Fortunately the surgery was not urgent -- she was just going to have a couple of tiny benign tumors removed from her eyelid. They need to go before they get big enough to scratch her cornea, but since they're still very small, it can wait. I'll keep you posted (and guess who is going to be featured as tomorrow's Friday Creature?)...
11 comments:
omg omg omg..i know what autoimmune hemolytic anemia is!! (ahh,the perks of being a med tech :)
I'm so sorry to hear this!
I'm just glad that it wasn't you, or DD, or DH...
Hoping for a speedy recovery. Always enjoy the pics of DP (dear puppy).
Thank goodness you have such a good vet. Love and best wishes from our gang.
Sending well wishes for your pooch!
I truly hope her progress continues to return to excellent health. Hugs to her.
I sometimes wonder if we shouldn't request blood tests for our pets every so often starting at a certain age. Many times they do not show symptoms until it is very hard to treat the issue. Also, these annual vaccines are hard on some of our pets. It's almost like do the shots early in the day so the vet will still be available when bad reactions require a second visit.
My grrl doesn't get annual vaccinations - I do titers (which measure the remaining antibodies in the blood), which aren't complete protection should she bite someone (but she wouldn't do that!), but are better for her. Texas recently went to 3-year rabies vaccines for the above reasons: they are more than adequate!
I'm so sorry that you're having this challenge, Alice.
Thanks for all the good wishes everyone! And srav, the vet says she won't be getting vaccinations anymore. We'll do something else starting next year...
I've never heard of this before. From what I gather, it's pretty serious. I'm sorry this is happening to Nonnie and to you.
Is it common that vaccinations cause this?
It's not all that common and in fact, there is disagreement among researchers over whether there is a connection. But the vet thinks the timing is suggestive. We'll find out when we retest her blood next week. If it is the vaccine, then as it gradually wears off, then so, too, should the AIHA.
[...] might very well have been two, separate, things going on there. First, the immunization-induced canine autoimmune hemolytic anemia. And then there was the intestinal inteceception. They might be connected and they might not. But [...]
Post a Comment