Thank you so much, we almost have 300 NZD, how amazing is this?
We all need to cross our fingers, Shi has a vet appointment on Wednesday with some new blood test results.
We just started and already had 5 generous people helping Shi! Thank you all very much!
For those interested here are a few more details on her condition.
Unfortunately, dogs severely affected with this condition may die even with the best treatment. This mostly occurs in the first few days due to kidney, liver, or heart failure, or because of a bleeding problem. The goals of treatment are (1) to slow the destruction of red blood cells (rbcs), and (2) to support the dog while the red blood cell level has a chance to recover.
1) Immunosuppressive therapy with corticosteroids is given to slow rbc destruction, initially at high doses which are gradually tapered over several weeks as rbc levels stabilize and begin to rise again. If rbc levels continue to fall despite steroid therapy, other immunosuppressive drugs may be given.
2) Blood transfusions are needed when the rbc level is critically low. Although the new cells will also be destroyed at the same rate, the transfusion will buy some time for the dog while his/her own blood cell levels are recovering.
Dogs that recover from an episode of IMHA may experience future relapses.
For the Veterinarian: With severe IMHA (intravascular hemolysis or autoagglutinating or unresponsive to glucocorticoids alone), more aggressive therapy (cytotoxic agents combined with corticosteroids) may include azathioprine or cyclosporine. Danazol (an attenuated androgen) stabilizes red cell membranes and is used as an adjunctive therapy with corticosteroids.
Packed rbcs should be given based on the hematocrit and the condition of the dog to maintain adequate oxygen-carrying capacity. Prophylactic heparin may be given to reduce the risk of thromboembolism.
