My dog had AIHA. How likely is recurrence? What symptoms to watch for?

Once the steroids take effect, the blood count should start to rise very slowly, it usually takes more than a month to go back to normal levels. If there is absolutely not change within a week, a blood transfusion will probably be considered.

Poor Chantilly, i am sure you are quite worried about her. If your girl has IMHA what this means is that her body is attacking and destroying her own red blood cells. If enough are lost it will make her anemic which can cause the symptoms you report. IMHA can arise without a cause (idiopathic) but many diseases can also cause it as well (secondary IMHA) and low red count is not always IMHA (low red count just means we need to find out where they went or if the body is not producing them). The safest plan would be to have her red count rechecked to see if this is contributing to her symptoms. Pets with IMHA are treated with pred typically but other meds can be used and some cases are more severe then others. I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

I am sorry to hear about your loss. There are some studies about the relationship between vaccinations and IMHA (immune mediated hemolytic anemia). Unfortunately even though theoretically there may be a link between the two, that has not been confirmed from an scientific point of view. It is more likely that Ehrlichia was linked to the IMHA even though more commonly Ehrlichia causes immune mediate thrombocytopenia. It is hard to say if it should have been retested, even without clinical signs of the disease. For sure it should have been retested when IMHA was evident. Please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation (where you can post pictures ) if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! It is ok to use them together though these are typically used together temporarily and then some of them will be weaned off to hopefully at some point be off medications. I really hope that everything gets better on this protocol. Good luck and all the best!

It looks like your dog has a chronic disease and serious anemia. Without knowing whether your dog was also checked for tick diseases, such as Babesia, Ehrlichia or also for autoimmune anemia, and certain viral diseases, and without a hands-on exam there is no way to tell whether she will be okay. Ehrlichia and Babesia infections can be treated as well as autoimmune anemia. Since your puppy is very young it may have a terrible flea infestation which is causing the anemia. Your veterinarian should be able to advise you properly.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This may be the time for your veterinarian to check in with an internal medicine specialist as this is a bit more complex than typical. Possibilities include an immune-mediated hemolytic anemia in which case other immunosuppressive drugs can be used with prednisone or possibly an infectious disease. They would be able to recommend further but reaching out to a specialist would be an option for further tests/recommendations. Hoping for a speedy recovery!

Although below 'normal', at red count of 5.1 is not severely reduced (and less concerning if all other values are within normal limits) and I would recommend retesing in 3-4weeks to assess any change in her levels whilst also monitoring for nay changes in her health or exercise tolerance. Some dogs are always mildly lower than others (remember a reference range is merely the average of what is normal) and some can have temporary reductions due to a period of ill-health/bleeding etc and very occasionally small blood clots can formwithin the sample making the results appear lower than the actually are. Be sure to keep fully up to date with deworming and flea/tick prevention as many parasites can lead to low grade blood loss/anaemia