Dropping red blood count

jamiaaryn · 10-12-2006, 01:42 PM

I have a 9 year old male miniture dachshund. About a month ago we brought him to the vet because he had low energy and lost weight. They did a CBC and his red blood count was below 10. They did a blood transfusion and put him on medication (prednisone cyclophosphamide). $2400 later they still dont know what is wrong with him and when we took him home his red blood count was normal. We have brought him in to the vet every Friday now to check his red blood count and it continues to go down. It is now at 23 as of last Saturday. Our options that the vet gave us were to do another blood transfusion or a bone marrow test. Each over $700. We can not afford either of these because his last bill tapped us out finacially. I am hoping someone on here may have some suggestions or experience with this and help me save my puppy. If his numbers continue to go down, I may have to put him to sleep in the next couple of weeks. PLEASE HELP!

PS White blood count not elevated

Curbside Prophet · 10-12-2006, 02:19 PM

I do not have experience with this, but I do want to wish you hope for better days. It's my understanding that the transfusion is not a cure for your dog's anemia, but it will buy you some time until the cause can be found. Did you vet mention this to you? Are they leaning towards doing the bone marrow test first? Have you asked them about financing options? Are you comfortable with your vet? If not, you may want to get a second opinion. This is a tough situation to be in, and I'm sorry...best wishes.

Beckster258 · 10-18-2006, 01:20 PM

This is exactly what happened to my dog. Look up autoimmune hemolytic anemia. Does this describe your dog's symptoms? I lost my dog to that 2 months ago today. It came on pretty suddenly and she was very weak and lethargic. Originally, when I took her to the vet, her CBC count was 12. That night she took a turn for the worse and was barely at 8. I decided to put her down. They did give me the option of transfusions, but they weren't sure it would have worked. They say that over time, the prednisone will most likely bring up the dogs CBC count, but my dog didn't have that much time to wait. Ask your vet if he/she thinks yours may have a better chance, as his count is higher than mine was. Please look this disease up and let me know what you think. I know exactly how you feel. Keep me posted.