Beth, how is Cokie doing??

[Momof3Labs]

Lori & Colin 9/28/02

[egoldber]

Hi! Sorry I have been unable to post, we were visiting my parents (in the land of no internet access) for several days.

We took Cokie back to the specialist on Monday, Dec. 23. We had good news and bad news. The good news is that her PCV count was back up to 28, from 17 the previous Friday. She defintiely had more energy and her appetite was perking up. The bad news is the vet found fluid in her abdomen, which had NOT been there when she was discharged three days previously. Since we were about to go out of town, the vet took blood and a sample of the fluid. All the tests came back negative for anything new, but the specialist is very concerned about the fluid. We go back tomorrow for another ultrasound and a PCV re-check. The vet is now a little concerned that the IMHA may not be the primary disease, but may be masking something else (cancer, heart condition). They checked for those things before, but she is now afraid she may have missed something.

On the bright side, her appetite has definitely perked up. Still not her old self, but closer. The prednisone has her drinking and peeing like a fiend. But overall, she is much better than she was 2 weeks ago.

[Momof3Labs]

Beth,

During her relapse (?), my dog had the same problem - fluid on the abdomen - that made it difficult for her to breathe. I think that was either from the high dose of pred or from something else (I suspect hemangiosarcoma was a possibility).

That's the hardest thing about AIHA - it really is diagnosed by ruling other things out, and it is hard to rule out every possible alternative.

Please keep us posted - hopefully the vet will get to the bottom of this soon!

Lori & Colin 9/28/02

[egoldber]

I just did a quick read up on hemangiosarcoma. I definitely hope that's not it! But I will mention it to the vet tomorrow and see what she says. I suspect that she may have already suspected that though. She definitely said that the fluid they aspirated from her abdomen did NOT have any malignant cells and her spleen appears normal on ultrasound. But she did say that if they couldn't find anything on the ultrasound on Monday, she would most likely refer me to a cardiac specialist.

I just wish we had a "real" diagnosis. This is very hard.

[egoldber]

Well pretty good news today. Her PCV was up again to 36. This time, the vet couldn't find any fluid in her abdomen and the ultrasound came back normal again.

She said if we wanted we could do a full cardiac panel, but she really didn't think that was it. She is a bit mystified. At this point we are just going to follow her PCV weekly to see how she's doing.

Cokie is also eating mostly normally. She is still refusing her old food (Iams Dry), but happily eats Eukanuba Dry, so we are going to keep her on that for awhile. And she happily eats any table food we offer her, so I think she is just being a bit more finicky than she used to be!

[Rachels]

What a relief! Beth, I'm so glad she continues to improve. Keep us posted!

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

[egoldber]

Rachel, you are so sweet. I can't believe you have taken the time to post about Cokie with all of Abigail's troubles. I meant to say so before and just got too wound up in my own troubles.

Thank you!

[mama2be]

Spinnaker, Buoy, Sandy and I wonder every day how Cokie is doing and have been meaning to ask you...how is she doing, how is the medicine working. I also wanted to remind you that if it looks like she will be oin the meds long term see if 1-800-pet-meds carries them, their prices are way better than the vet, or see if there is a human med that is the same thing (they are ususally cheaper than the vet meds).

My vet actully this week matched Pet Meds prices because they did not want to lose the revenue from their medicine from me.

They tried two attempts to bash Pet Meds...one they said that they "have heard" they use expired meds...which they don't...

and then they told me, "we've heard they'll sell you meds without a prescription", since my pups are on heart worm year round that was not a concern of mine. When I finally told the vet I am giving them my business anyway it was THEN that they told me they'd match their prices. I saved significantly!!!

[egoldber]

Neve, thanks for asking! Cokie has continued to improve. We go back for weekly PCV checks. It has continued to climb and is now in the normal range (40 last week, up from a low of 10). We are now seeing our regular vet again. They reduced the meds once slightyl, and may again in a few weeks.

Her medicine is Prednisone, which is very common and fairly inexpensive. I have not checked out 1-800-pet-meds since it has been easier so far to get her meds at the vet. They will also try to continue to wean her off the meds over time. At this point, I am slightly embarrassed to say that I don't even know what the Pred costs, since that has been BY FAR the least expensive line item of any vet bill to date...

So the upshot is she is improved. I am starting to see some of the signs of Prednisone usage (weak muscles) and the constant thirst and need to go out. I have to get up at night to let her out because she can't go all night and we don't have a doggy door. So far the news is good and we are optimistic!

[mama2be]

Great news... if she is on Prednisone I doubt you'd want to order from any one other than the vet, becasue that is a med that gets it's dose changed a lot

I am so glad that she is doing better...and glad she is back to "her" vet :)...