Beagles Unlimited Forums banner

Strange Anemia

28K views 27 replies 9 participants last post by  birddog 
#1 ·
My male Beagle, Mickey, is 8 1/2 years old. About 4 months ago he was in pain in his neck and shoulder area. After the vet examined him and took xrays (which showed no problems) we assumed he had a compressed disk in his neck/shoulder area and he was put on Rimadyl for 6 weeks. He has never been quite the same since. He is lathargic and his gums and eyelids are pale. He has no fever or any other signs of illness but he seems almost depressed. I took him back to the vet about one week ago and his red blood cell count was at 13 (should be around 35). We've run every test imaginable and taken more xrays but can't diagnose him. He is being treated with prendisone and an antibiotic. We are worried sick about him. Has anyone else ever had such a situation? Please comment as any info would be helpful.
 
#3 ·
anemia in middle aged beagle

My female beagle 8 1/2 yrs. old had symptoms of not wanting to eat and she loves to eat. We brought her into the vet and she was diagnosed with anemia. She did have rimydal as well before feeling this way. it has 20 days now and two different vets can not diagnose her with WHY she has anemia and is not eating, very lethargic and can not figure out a cause. What happened with your beagle after predisone and an antibiotic?

Your response would be so helpful.
Thank you.
 
#4 ·
Hi Birddog, Well, Mickey's PCV count was down to 10 (what is your dog's PCV count?) and we went ahead and gave him a blood transfusion (that costs about $700 for the blood, but the vet stay came to $3000.00) He responded very well, but his count started to slip down about 1 month later. We began hormone injections 3X/week for about 2 months this kept his count at about 22 which is not great but they can live comfortably. When we stopped the hormone injections I was worried that the count would drop, but it didn't. He is still on predisone daily. It has been 9 months since he became ill. This summer he went on a road trip with us and on vacation for a month and he did great!!! Good luck to you. This can be hard.
 
#6 ·
Maggy's RBC count when she began to not eat (8/10/11) was 26, it has slowly gone down to 19 on 8/30/11. Through this month of time, they have put her on antibiotics for chance of bacteria infection, then she was put on succralfate, prilosec and now she is on dewormer, thinking she might have parasites in her intestines. She has also had xrays, 2 ultra-sounds, several blood testing, urine tests, fecal float tests, all come up negative, no bacteria, no parasites, negative on lymes..... She begins iron injections tomorrow to help the building up of red blood cells. They said a GI tract issue is hard to determine and are treating it as that for now. Lymphoma could be another cause in the intestines, but there isn't a test for that (so i have been told). Her liver and kidney look fine on ultrasounds, blood and urine counts are good for both. She is just so low on red blood cells and the regenerative amounts as well.

jmancini10 What type of hormone injections were they? Both of our vets (regular and internal medicine specialist) we are seeing said that steriods (predisone) will be last resort and they want to rule out anything else before going that route. I am so glad to hear that your Mickey is doing so well!
MWozny02 - did they see the liver tumor on your dog via the ultrasound?

I sincerly appreciate both your responses as this month has been draining and feel like we are just taking chances on why this is occuring.
 
#7 ·
I know how draining it is. The time it took between when Cassie stopped eating, became anemic, and was diagnosed with the liver tumor was really short and unfortunately she passed away very rapidly (All happened within a week). It was horrible, but in a way probably alot better than what you're going through since everything did happen so quickly. I hope everything works out for you and hope your beagle is feeling better REALLY soon!!! It's horrible seeing our fur kids sick :(
 
#9 ·
Bird dog, I don't remember the name of the hormone, but it was meant to increase red blood cell production. My vet said that any PCV count under 20 was criticle. You might want to start thinking about the predisone. We eliminated all the tick-born illnesses too and the only answer left was an auto immune system disorder. So by suppressing the immune system w/steroids you give the body a chance to make more red blood cells.
 
#13 ·
Anemia and bone marrow biopsy

Friday Maggy had a count done on her blood and it was at 17.5 RBC. Prior to Friday, the vet started her on predisone the previous Tuesday. This Saturday Maggy 'passed out' and we rushed her to the ER, her PVC count was down to 11. They did a blood tranfusion and it got back up to 39 today (monday). Now between two internal medicine doctors and our normal vet, they have not diagonsed her anemia cause yet. Therefore we have not been able to treat it properly. Now we sit at another crossroad to decide if we want to put her through another diaognositc test, a bone marrow biopsy, to decide why ONLY her RBC is so low and what is causing it. But because she just had a blood transfusion and also has already started predisone, both of those factors could mask the results of the bone marrow. The decision is hard to make. Did anyone have a bone marrow biopsy to determine the cause of anemia for their beagle? If so, care to share your results?
 
#14 ·
When we faced the question of doing a Marrow test I asked the doctor these questions: Is it painful ? If the results of the marrow test show that the disease is in the marrow are the treatments any different than what we are doing right now? Is it a dangerous test. The answers were that it is very uncomfortable for the dog as it is very intrusive. The treatment would be exactly the same and that any test that is that intrusive can have it's complications. All of that information plus the fact that I had reached my financial threshold (which was a secondary reason, but still a factor) helped me to decide to leave that test out.
After Mickey had the transfusion his PCV count went into the high 30's, but expect that number to drop a little. The steroid treatment can take a long time to work, but eventually they do respond. Mickey was as ill as your Maggie in January. It is September and he is still with us. Not 100%, but very comfortable and with a very high quality of life. At the end of the day our vet/treatment bills came to $9000.00. It was worth every penny, but now he is 9.5 years old and should he relapse I will be prepared to say goodbye. For now it looks like he will be with us for a very long time !!!!!Best of luck. It is so emotional when we love these little guys so much.
 
#15 ·
Gosh we sure do think alike, we asked the same questions regarding a bone marrow biopsy and just felt it wasn't worth putting her through that for a slim chance we might find out a disease that would still result in predisone for a treatment. I am so happy to hear how your Mickey is doing! That gives us hope. Financially I have not added it all up yet but so far are lucky enough to not have to worry...yet, but she is worth every penny. The hardest part is to not over feed her, for the predisone is making her super hungry, I just don't want her to gain a ton of weight. Plus she is drinking bowls of water being on it too. We are in Wisconsin....you? Still can't figure out what brought this one, guess we have to let that go and move on. Maggy will be 9 in January, we too know if this happens again, we are preparing ourselves to let her go. I appreciate your posts so much, we have felt so alone like no one else was going through this. We will do re-checks 1 to 2 weeks apart for RBC's and stay on predisone 10mg/twice a day for now. Hi to Mickey :)
 
#16 ·
We struggled with Mickey's weight too as he has been ravenous since being on the prendisone. I'm sure your vet told you not to exercise Maggie. We were told just to let Mickey out to use the bathroom and then come back in to rest for about 3 months. He now has the energy to sniff around the yard and be outside for longer periods of time. Also, the heat really tires him out. We live in Scottsdale, AZ so we are just now able to go outside for any length of time. We also spent the month of July in MN and as you know in Wisconsin, this summer was beastly hot and humid. Mickey really stayed in the A/C for most of the days. Instead of feeding him 2 times a day, I've started feeding him mini-meals several times a day. That helps keep him full (I think)!! Also, instead of dog treats, I give him ice cube chips. That helps with the thirst as well as the hunger !! We never were able to figure out what caused this either. I suspected a drug called Rymidal (sp) because when this first happened he had been taking that drug for a shoulder pain that he had. I did alot of research on the internet and found that other people suspected that drug caused anemia as well. The vet said no, he didnt think that had anything to do with it. Who really knows!! All I know is that my husband and I and the two kids are so grateful that we didn't lose our little guy!! Best of luck with Maggie and keep me posted!!!
 
#17 ·
My female Beagle, Mattie, injured her back. The vet tried Rimadyl with no response whatsoever. He had just gotten a new laser treatment machine. I signed her up for a 4 week therapy every other day. It only took a week and a half until I saw results. The vet let me 'bank' the last 2 weeks in case she relapsed. That was over a year ago and she has had no occurrences of back pain since.
 
#18 ·
Hi - I wanted to send an update since it has been months. Maggy is now getting weened off of prendisone, she is in her 5th week of that. Her total RBC's have climed to 35 this week!!! So excited to hear, but her new red blood cells (reticucyltes) have decreased again. She is getting better with a little more sleep, the prendisone was keeping her so hyper and up at early hours of the morning, starving for food. All I can say is how grateful we are this holiday season to have her with us and what we believe is the road to recovery from this long haul of anemia. All the doctors never found out why or what it really is that causes it. I just believe between yearly shots, frontline, heartguard and giving her some rymidal, set her body into a failure of creating red blood cells. I also stopped giving her treats that are not made in USA or that I don't make myself. I daily make her cream of wheat for high iron, i make her liver and then she also get just plain old cooked carrots and green beans to help with calorie intake. I hope you and Mickey and your family have a great holiday season! We believe and pray that Maggy is on her road to full recovery. Merry Christmas!
 
#19 ·
I just can't believe this!! Just yesterday, about 1:00 p.m. I took Mickey to have his nails trimmed. On my way into the groomer I thought to myself, "I wonder how Maggy is doing"? AMAZING!!!! Well, it is so good to hear from you and I'm thrilled that Maggy is doing so well. I've been weening Mickey from the Prendisone as well. I made this decision on my own as I just do not have the funds to keep paying for vet vistis. The last time he saw a vet was in July up in Mpls. He is down to 10 mg. every other day. He seems to be doing very well. He as alot of energy and has his personality back! Also, alot of pink color in his gums and ears! I am taking him in for an assessment on Dec. 30 as I am almost out of prendisone and I should really get some professional advice. Enjoy your Christmas!!! I am so glad that you're having success with Maggy!! Take care!
 
#20 ·
maybe I can get an beagle...
 
#23 ·
Well, Mickey is still with us and his quality of life is pretty good. His red blood cell level is not normal. His PCV was at 28 when I had him checked this past January. Normal would be between 37-45-ish. He is still on prendesone and that has caused his liver and spleen to enlarge alot and he is VERY heavy. He also tires quickly and pretty much lays around all day. But he is happy and not in any pain and he is loved. Mickey turns 10 years old this June and we are happy to have him with us! Thanks for asking.
 
#24 ·
Thank you so much for your posts. My 4 year old female Beagle Baylee became sick on Saturday. She was breathing very rapid, coughing, very lethargic, shivering due to fever and not eating but would drink now and again. We are living in Germany right now so had to wait till Monday to take her in to the vet. They thought it was just a respitory infection and gave her 2 shots and send us home. She perked up for a few hours after we got home then went back to a sick little girl. So in the morning took her back and then did xrays, and blood tests and come to find out she was severly anemic her blood count was at 10. And she does have a respitory infection in her lungs but they cannot find out why she is losing blood (anemic). So they kept her over night giving her fluids and possibly a transfusion said they would do a ultrasound and send out lab work to a outside lab to rule out parasites and other things. Waiting on the call from the vet office as I write this. I could not sleep at all worrying about my baby girl so I have been on the internet all night looking at reasons why she is going through this. As of now my vet bill is 500 Euros scarry but she is so worth it. I just cannot believe how sick my baby is....but your posts have given me hope and I thank you.....
 
#25 ·
I saw this last post by shellymg30 and wanted to update on Maggy ( 9 1/2 yr old female-see other earlier posts to see her road path of anemia struggles). It is just short 2 weeks of one year since we got Maggy diagnosed with anemia - it is scary and I can understand why you were up all night reading online trying to figure out what is wrong with your Baylee. We still have never found out why Maggy was loosing her own red blood cells, we have grown to accept that fact and moved forward with treatment. She is doing well now. She is currently on 5 mg of prednisone every 3 days and 100 mg of cyclosporine everyday. As we have weened her from prednisone (she was on higher dosages for months), she no longer gets bladder infections, which is such great news. Cyclosporine is a more expensive immune suppressent drug, but it is working much better for her and her symptoms. Her gum color is doing great too. Hang in there shellymg30, we did a blood transfusion (September, 2011) and it was expensive, but so worth it all. We have been given a whole year with her since this started, it was a lot to go through emotionally and see her so ill, but it has been worth it. She is doing so well on this maintenace mediction that our vet has prescribed. I hope that your vets in Germany can find the right path of treatment for your Baylee. Our pets are family, hang in there!
 
#26 ·
As of Friday she still was not any better than when I brought her in the vet on Monday. Blood count is still the same they waited for 2 days for a result from a outside lab to see if it might be a parasite just to rule that out. So on Friday I got the result that it is not a parasite and they are dumbfounded why this is happening to my baby. I rushed into the vet right away to talk about what we need to do next. With tears in my eyes I got to see my baby she was so weak but her little tail pouded again the kennel she was in...she knew her mamma was there....Well the 2 vets and I decided for me to take her home over the weekend because what they were doing for her there I could do at home and she would be with her family I have to give her Vitamin K shots 5 times a day and try and keep her hydrated.She is in her favorite spot the fan pointed on her for xtra air :) trying to keep her as comfortable as I can. I just cannot believe her gums and inside of her ears are almost completely white. And her tummy is not pink at all she is still breathing so fast but I am hanging on for Monday we have scheduled her blood transfusion one of the vets is going to bring in her dog to help out. And then we will go from there. Thank you so much for posting it does give me hope that there will be a good outcome. :) This is all so draining but she is my baby and I will do anything I can for her.... I will keep you posted and if you could say a little prayer for Baylee...
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top