[Guest]

Hi everyone!
I just joined because I would love some support...
My very healthy 8 year old shih-poo is in an animal hospital in Tinton Falls, NJ now because of IMHA (auto-immune disease)
It came on suddenly over the weekend. We are all very upset, but hopeful. He was more perky last night after some initial fluids. Xray was clear last night, red blood count below/around 18.

I have read a lot of dogs seem to do well, but then end up dying.

Anyone go through this with their dog?

My dog has had 1 minor surgery, like 3-4 years ago, but otherwise has only gone to the vet for well-checkups and scheduled vaccines.

 

[DaySleepers]

Poor thing. I'm really sorry to hear he's struggling, but I don't have any experience in this myself. Wishing him lots of luck in recovery. I assume he's being checked for any kind of underlying infection or other medical issue that might have triggered it?

If you know his breeder, I'd contact them. IMHA is complicated, but it seems to have some heritable genes that affect how prone a dog is and how severely they're affected, and poodles are on the list of breeds more commonly affected by it. Any decent breeder who cares about the health of their puppies would want to know if it pops up in their lines.

Again, wishing you tons of luck and a good recovery.

 

[Guest]

Hi! Thanks for your well wishes. Much appreciated.
We didn't get him from a breeder. We adopted him 7 years ago when he was about 18 months.
Has been in excellent health! Nothing has randomly or unknowingly sidelined him, until this. Like I said, he was a little sidelined for a day following a surgery, but that's expected from surgery. The surgery wasn't super serious or organ related either.

 

[DaySleepers]

I thought that might be the case, with the breeder, but figured I'd throw it out there anyway.

It's almost worse when it's idiopathic - I know I always want to know WHY these things happen. I'm sure the vets will do everything they can for your boy.