Lab has Anemia - please help

[cnc_xt]

This is what we have come to from my research. Nothing says he has internal bleeding from observing poop and scans. He has had a sensitive stomach his entire life, so they started trying an ulcer treatment. They wanted to do bone marrow biopsy to see what it looked like but i questioned if there was a reasonable chance it would lead us down a different treatment path. Seemed like it would still be imha and same treatment, just a bit more knowledge.

Currently giving him doxycycline and sucralafate for ulcer repair or infections.
Starting mycophenolate and prednisone tomorrow, 4 meds together.
Also adding a hollistic supplement: microalgae, chloroxygen, biodmulsion, and cbd oil.

Feedback is appreciated.

The supplements were recommended by a friend, the website claims to increase cell health for much better chance of making it through.
A family member used cbd for an elderly lab that stopped eating and had lumps in his throat, they said the lumps went away and dog ate much better. He was on the very edge and is doing much better now.

Currently our lab is eating very well, multiple small meals a day with senior science diet food with addition of chicken, liver, and eggs.

I know I'm not a dr, I'm just trying to do whatever I possibly can to give him the best chance. This is extremely hard and i just don't want to wish later on that I did more. He loves fishing so we chased crappie today. Duck hunting takes the favorite spot, just praying to get there.

I don't have much knowledge of holistic medicine/feeding but the remainder of the treatment I agree with. I'd focus on trying to keep him eating regular small meals and re-check weekly to see what that the blood count is doing.

[hogslayer78]

Prayers sent for you. I know how hard it is. We lost one a few weeks back from liver issues. She was 11 years old.

[Bear Charge]

Try some B12 tablets. That helped mine. 1000 mcg.

[Wits_End]

Thank you and thanks for the help and support.

[Wits_End]

Finished doxycycline yesterday, some sucralafate remaining. Started mycophenolate and prednisone monday. It is a blessing that he has been doing well on those meds.
He is eating very well and back to yelling at us when he gets hungry. Still sleeps most of the day, but does greet me every day when i get home from work.

Checkup today showed RBC dropped from 20% to 16%. That stinks but trying to find positive, the numbers didnt drop as fast as they were dropping in last few weeks. They recommended an infusion to give him more time for medication to kick in. Infusion went well. Can't wait to pick him up in the morning.

[BuckRage]

so happy to hear this!

[Wits_End]

I wanted to give an update in case anyone comes across this thread.

He was diagnosed with anemia, IMHA to be specific, with what was believe to be his own immune system killing off his red blood cells. His HCT red blood count dropping from where it should be in the 30s to 22, 18, and even lower to around 14. Before we started any kind of treatment he was getting a bit sluggish, running out of energy fast, but in general a healthy looking dog.

At this point he was seeing his regular vet as well as MedVet, which had a internal specialist vet on staff. We had found zero signs of cancer or internal bleeding following Xrays, sonogram, stool inspection, etc.

But, with ever decreasing RBCs, we had to do something, so we started the immune suppressant treatments. The plan was to shut it all the way down, then slowly restart it, basically shocking that system to hope that it would forget to attack the red blood cells. Mycophenolate is a common immunosuppressant for dogs and the studies showed it was easier on the dogs digestive tract, and cheaper. We started off with this one plus Prednisone, plus antibiotics, plus sucrulfate(stomach liner protectant). The discipline it took to maintain the 10 feedings of meds, food, and sleep was incredible, we had a chart that basically had to be followed to the minute.

He was on Mycophenolate, Prenisone, Antibiotics, Sucrulfate for meds.
We added CBD oil, B12, Chloroxygen, Hemoplex shots(vitamins)
He was on strict diet of liver, eggs, chicken, venison, green beans, with some rice.

The CBD oil did absolute wonders to prevent nausea and keep him eating.

After a short time on Mycopenolate his number continued to drop. More detailed blood tests showed his bone marrow was not generating red blood cells, diagnosed as non-regenerative anemia. We went through blood transfusion #1 and he instantly got a boost to his levels, up to 30% again and increase in energy. This lasted several weeks, but his numbers slowly dropped the entire time. What this was showing though was that he was not quickly killing off healthy cells, but he was still not generating new cells. So inevitably the cells would die off and he would be low again.

I found some research papers on Mycophenolate and found that the medicine itself had a major side affect of causing bone marrow suppression. I told the internalist that I would like to switch to cyclosporine. This was known to cause nausea and stomach issues. They initially didnt recommend this medicine because of cost, it was $70/month versus Mycoph at $25/month. I laughed at her after I had just spent $2500 on a transfusion. We immediately saw nausea and stomach issues, but increased CBD and it handled it well, we struggled to keep him eating, but this helped tremendously.

After a week or two we went back in for transfusion #2. His number supposedly went back up to 30%, but we didnt see it. We suddenly saw nasty red stool. Within a few days his numbers were back down at 16% or so. I came to the conclusion he had an ulcer in his stomach and the transfusion basically bled out very fast.

We were down to the very end, we had tried everything, but he was looking very bad. The prednisone caused all of his muscle to wither away, his head was skin and bones. He was so weak he couldn't lift his head. He was carried out several times a day to use the restroom and had to be held up to do his business. I was destroyed. It was Friday, my wife scheduled the appointment on Monday to have him put down, one last weekend. I spend the entire weekend by his side.

I grabbed all of his blood results and put them in a spreadsheet. I noticed that I had somewhat missed that last results had shown a slight restart to his red blood cells generation, he was actually generating them. I told my wife to cancel the appointment, we were going to give this more chance and we would take it day by day. We called the vet and requested he be given sucrulfate, which is the miracle stomach lining drug. If we could stop the ulcer, there was hope that something could happen.

Keep in mind, throughout this entire ordeal, I always said I would try anything, give every effort possible as long as he showed no signs of pain.

We doubled down on food and vitamins that increase red blood cells. We fed 4-5 meals a day. His stomach was getting better. We went back in for a blood test and was astonished to see his retics were through the roof, he was overgenerating red blood cells. His HCT % was stilll low, but not falling.

Good news, yes, crying, yes, but it was hard to maintain excitement. At the same time we were fighting various other infections, including an infection is his feet that was causing an entire large pad of one foot to eat itself away, Ill save you from the horrid pics. He was getting random sores which bled profusely. My wife changed bandages and started hydrotherapy multiple times a day.

The two different vets continued to tell us that they didn't think he would make it through, he had basically no chance. So, I continued to research it myself and I continued to direct our plan forward. Months of this, months of constant attention, months of carrying him around.

We kept going day to day. His RBC generation continued to be through the roof. Slowly his HCT % rebounded. But, these secondary infections were causing lots of other issues and they showed no signs of healing. We had to slowly get off these immune-suppressant meds so his body could fight the sores and infections itself. After continual weeks of slow increases, we started slowly reducing meds.

He slowly started showing strength again, able to sit up on his elbows for extended time, he then started walking again, making it 5 yards on his own, then 10 yards, then 15. His balance was weak, so he took a tumble here and there, but he had the desire to fight. He continued to eat well, he became more vocal in his desires, bossing us around when it was time to eat, time to sleep, time to go out, which he was always known for.

He has been weened off of cyclosporine and his prednisone meds are down to 10% of what they were, close to getting all the way off. His paws are almost completely healed. He did get an eye infection, but some steroid drops helped to quickly slow that. He recently took his first ride around in the SxS, which was always his favorite. He has a decent gait to his walking and balance is incredible.

We continue to give him liver, eggs, chicken, but have started back on the grain free dog food he has eaten almost all of his life. He is doing very well and it seems we were given a miracle from above. Yes, he is 10 years old, but Ill take every extra day. He missed opening dove hunting for the first year ever, but maybe a short duck hunt later this year, definitely not ruled out. May even get a late season dove hunt.

Lot's more details we have recorded, if you ever find this and need help, feel free to message me.