I have an update. Lots of things happened since my post, and incase anyone comes across it in search of hope or information like I have been doing for the past few weeks I wanted it out there. I'm going to post what I've posted to my friends/family, and this information starts from the day I made my first post here.
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By Wednesday, she was getting perky again, eating drinking and pulling me around. We went in for a check-up and her blood count had went from 18% to 15%, the dr wasn't surprised or alarmed saying it was normal as the transfusion wore off but if she fell to 12% we would have to consider another if she was acting depressed again. The normal lifespan of a transfusion is about 3 days, and as that blood starts to leave, the levels drop. It's up to the bone marrow to play catch up and start making their own, and Sassy hadn't started doing this yet.
Thursday- she wouldn't eat and wouldn't move. She had stopped drinking as well, when before she had stayed drinking this whole time. We took her back to the vet. Her count had dropped to 10%. She was very sick again... but her other numbers were improving still. Whites coming down. Jaundice was a little better. So we decided, it's too soon to give up, and gave her another transfusion. She had half that night because it was so late, and we went back first thing Friday to finish.
Thursday night I decided to overnight a product to me I researched .. It's called BioPreperation F3, and it is a holistic super food packed with live algae that have the ability to penetrate the blood brain barrier and "awaken" glands in the brain(claims). There are so many stories of it saving their dog from this disease, but I was highly skeptical that they were fake... still, we decided to get it here as soon as we could and try it for her out of desperation. It got here Sat. I did ask my vet before this and she said she can't advise it because it's not a drug that they use however she felt that it would not harm her if I wanted to try it.
Saturday, she wasn't eating again and was back to laying around. Also, her pee went from dark yellow the day before to turning orange again, and I think she was crashing again, I really do. The BioPrep I over nighted arrived and I gave her 1/2 a capsule. 2 hours later I gave her another 1/2. We had to mix it in chicken broth and shoot it in her mouth. Just a few hours later she started eating again. She started walking around, following us to the kitchen, outside, wanting in the couch. She did a BIG stretch in her sleep. Just a few hours after I was sure she was crashing. I gave her another 1/2 capsule that night.
Sunday, she was doing even better, eating everything in sight and her pee was looking better again. She had more energy than she had in a long time. We did another 1/2 capsule each dosage, 3 hours apart, a total of 4 times yesterday of the BioPrep again. Her gums were so red, she was showing nothing but improvement. I've been sleeping in the living room with her at night, and last night she came and demanded to be let on the couch next to me.
So today, we went in for the big test. Sassy was dragging us inside and the drs/assistants were already shocked by how pink her gums were, how less yellow she was, and how much energy she had. Results came back and she is at 22% red blood, 37,000 white cells, and the substance (bilirubin) creating her jaundice is almost gone (she was at 6.5%, then 4.5%, now 1%, normal is 0.5%). Shes alert and looks so good today.
I took her outside today...and she dragged me to the sun, plopped down and bathed in it. Not only that, she started rolling around on her back, huffing and just rolling. Incredible to see when she was so, so so sick just a few days ago.
Honestly, I feel that the biopreperation I ordered saved her life. I don't know what else to think of the drastic improvement starting only a few hours after taking it. Everyone at the vets office was amazed at her change. We are not out of the woods yet and have a long way to go, but today was a good day. The dr feels that 22% is her, and not the transfused blood and that is amazing and happy and such good news.
I've never even heard of autoimmune hemolytic anemia. This is a devastating illness that has a very high mortality rate. If you have dogs... please check their gums daily! Just pull the lip up in the morning and check their color. They should be a nice dark pink. It's one of the first things you'll notice with this illness, I think, besides tiredness. If you ever see them paling...get in for a checkup..have the blood levels checked.
As far as her treatment/drugs,
Day one she was given a Rimadyl shot for her fever and she was put on 3 tabs of Doxycycline twice a day, 1 tab of Prednisone twice a day, 1 tab of Famotidine twice a day.
The next day after rushing to a different emergency vet, he advised upping her Pred to 1.5 tabs twice a day, along with the other meds.
With her first hospitalization and treatment there, she was given (i think via IV):
b12
dexamethasone sp
baytril
k9 whole boxer blood
azathioprine (by mouth)
^ She had these for two days.
Coming home, she was on:
1.5 prednisone twice a day
3 doxy twice a day
1 baytril twice a day (enrofloxacin)
2 cerenia tab once a day (only two days)
1 famotidine twice a day
1.5 azathioprine once a day
During her second transfusion, she had the same treatment as above, also adding diphenhydramine injection.
By Saturday afternoon, I had the Biopreperation f3. I did 1.5 capsules the first day, and am now doing 2. 1/2 powder emptied into chicken broth every 2 hours if she isn't hungry, or if she is scarfing down food I sprinkle it over the food (I make sure shes very hungry so it doesn't get wasted) It seems like she perks up after every one of these.
She hasn't really touched her dogfood at all since this started. After the first transfusion she did scarf down two cans of hills AD prescription food but after that she actually wants to run from that food. She doesnt like any wet food I tried to buy her. We've been feeding her extra lean hamburger (squeezed as much grease as possible out), boiled chicken breast + broth and peas an carrots, a little bit of chicken liver. I did get her to eat a small handful of her regular dry last night.
I don't entirely know how important this is...but here is the progression of her urine.
