Vasculitis Esperience?! Brady Has This Now...

[grey14me]

Okay, Brady needs more help. He is now suffering from vasculitis and Stephanie is just wanting to see if anyone else has gone through this with their hound, to make sure that everything possible is being done for him. Brady's liver is regenerating, and they do believe they've stopped the bleeding into his abdomen that was caused by the biopsy...however, they are now dealing with the vasculitis issue and are desperately looking for any more info or help anyone has to offer. The critical care vet is now in touch with Ohio State and even though I found out that Dr. C is not on call today, I've emailed him and am hoping he can call Brady's vet.

 

Right now Brady is getting something called 'processed prednisone' which they are hoping will not tax his liver, but he needs this to help stop the swelling of the artery walls. There is a lot of swelling in his legs and chest area and right now they have his legs wrapped tightly, hoping that the blood will be reabsorbed quicker.

 

Anyone have any other ideas? Help!

[CaliforniaGreys]

Oh Michelle, how much more can Brady take!!! No experience here, I just know that this happens often with animals recovering from Hepatitis. Hopefully Dr. C will get the message and respond quickly.The only idea I would have is if Dr. C can't be reached, we have Dr Brian Norman here in Ca. He's what we call the west coast version of Dr C. But I'm guessing that Brady is in the hands of specialist already. Keeping this boy in my prayers constantly, and will until he recovers.

[jodyksam]

If you have a phone or email contact for Dr. Norman, that would be helpful - could you please PM to Michelle (grey14me)? thank you so much

[CaliforniaGreys]

If you have a phone or email contact for Dr. Norman, that would be helpful - could you please PM to Michelle (grey14me)? thank you so much

Well that was stupid, I should have done that....sorry. His # is 310-479-3336. He partners with Dr Steve Ettinger but most of the time Steve's off doing lectures.

Edited May 17, 2008 by cbudshome

[Guest Ohiogreymom]

We just had our guys at OSU yesterday to donate blood, and Christina said Dr C is out of town. I think she said he'll be gone for 2 weeks. Sending prayers for Brady!

[RobinM]

Sending more prayers for poor Brady and his family. This is unbelievable.

[Guest MZH]

Oh no.

 

No experience but I looked it up. There are so many forms and reasons for it it's mind-boggling, but there is a drug-induced form of it. The treatment is steroids and sometimes immuno-suppresent drugs. They're on the right track.

 

Here's something. http://www.newmanveterinary.com/tidbits.html

 

It talks about vasculitis in racing greyhounds. They sometimes use Pentoxifylline for this. Could be worth looking into. Poor Brady and family.

 

Marcia

[grey14me]

Oh no.

 

No experience but I looked it up. There are so many forms and reasons for it it's mind-boggling, but there is a drug-induced form of it. The treatment is steroids and sometimes immuno-suppresent drugs. They're on the right track.

 

Here's something. http://www.newmanveterinary.com/tidbits.html

 

It talks about vasculitis in racing greyhounds. They sometimes use Pentoxifylline for this. Could be worth looking into. Poor Brady and family.

 

Marcia

 

thanks! that's exactly the same thing I found, and when I mentioned the immunosuppresents to her she said that the vet had already talked about them, so yes, it does sound like they're on the right track.

[Guest argolola]

No advice, just prayers. God bless you sweet Brady.

[Guest CyndiW]

This sounds very similar to what Alex went through last year. The veins lost blood throughout the body and then eventually the skin started to bleed - everywhere. They did not wrap him and he was on 2 antibiotics (for sepsis and abdominal infection). Once the bleeding stopped (after 3 plasma transfusions), it took several days for all the blood to get re-absorbed and the swelling to go down. In fact, he started clotting too well and had to go on Plavix for a short time. He came home with lots of scabs from the outward bleeding. Ironically, he was dx 3 months later with vasculopathy which was treated with Trental and then later pred (when he was dx with cancer). The Trental worked beautifully to help heal the scabs and regrow the hair.

[ShantisMom]

Oh no.

 

No experience but I looked it up. There are so many forms and reasons for it it's mind-boggling, but there is a drug-induced form of it. The treatment is steroids and sometimes immuno-suppresent drugs. They're on the right track.

 

Here's something. http://www.newmanveterinary.com/tidbits.html

 

It talks about vasculitis in racing greyhounds. They sometimes use Pentoxifylline for this. Could be worth looking into. Poor Brady and family.

 

Marcia

 

thanks! that's exactly the same thing I found, and when I mentioned the immunosuppresents to her she said that the vet had already talked about them, so yes, it does sound like they're on the right track.

 

If it is Imuran, Costco has it cheap and can fill it in 30 minutes. She can get a dose from the vet then get the rest there. 100 pills is $39. At the vets it is several hundred dollars. She would probably like to save where she can safely.

 

We are thinking our best thoughts for Brady.

[ShantisMom]

Check with Burpdog, Diane. If I remember, one of her dogs had some serious issues after NSAIDS.

[Guest greyt2love]

Oh, no. Still more prayers coming for Brady !!

[queenwinniesmom]

Oh, no! How much more can this poor boy and his family take? He's just GOT to make it---he's come through everything else. I wish I had some advice, but I've never heard of this before.

Everyone, let's keep those prayers coming!

[Aerosmom]

I don't think I can help much, but Snickers had lots of swelling in her remaining front leg after her amputation. She had pitting edema (seeping blood from her ankle). They put a compression bandage on her leg but didn't give much of an explanation as to why it occured.

 

I'm sending lots of prayers for Brady.

[feemandvm]

I guess the first thing we need to know is if the dog's clotting ability is affected. I read somewhere that "it wasn't that he couldn't clot, it was that he was losing blood faster than we could replace it." I guess I'm failing to understand what that means. A dog shouldn't require multiple transfusions following a liver biopsy if they are clotting normally. A small amount of bleeding is normal but it should clot and stop and not result in the need for transfusions. If his clotting times PT/APTT are prolonged which can happen with liver disease then that needs to be addressed. A clotting panel is often pursued before the liver biopsy is even done because some patients with liver disease can have affected clotting. If his clotting times were normal, then I would probably test him for von Willebrand's disease but would treat him like a Greyhound bleeder. I think there have been several posts about aminocaproic acid (ACA). Also what were his platelet counts both pre-biopsy and how far did they drop post-biopsy?

 

I would probably contact OSU if he were my patient before starting Prednisone, pentoxyfilline, dapsone, imuran, etc. I've been lucky (knock on wood) to not have to deal with this problem very commonly. I did have a Greyhound recently that had severe bruising and swelling after a simple blood draw but that resolved with simple rest.

 

 

[greypuppyluv]

One problem, at least coming from me, is that we're getting info from Stephanie through either phone calls or text messages and she's getting it from the vets......which has been overwhelming (I had a hard time taking it all in when I was with her). So, we're getting it second and third hand and it's all been a lot to take in and to try to explain in these posts. I try to give out the right info when I post, but there has been so much going on and it seems to change from one hour to the next. I don't think Stephanie has had the time or energy to be on the computer to be able to convey this information herself. I know that one of the vets dealing with Brady has been in contact with OSU and they verified that the way Brady's vets are treating him is the way they would be treating him. The facility Brady is at is pretty state-of-the-art and the vets there are specialists. Other than that, I think it's become a waiting game to see if his treatment is working.

[Guest MorganKonaAlex]

My Kona had vasculitis but unfortunately the story doesn't have a happy ending. We didn't figure out the cause of it. As a last ditch effort we tried prednisone. Her kidneys failed shortly afterwards and we had to euthanize her.

[Guest FullMetalFrank]

No advice, just more prayers for Brady. What an awful ordeal he is going thru. Come on, Brady, please get better!

[Guest vahoundlover]

Keeping the prayers coming

[Burpdog]

The only experience I had with vasculitis was Heart and we treated her with high doses of pred which worked.

 

Are they open to using liver support herbs like milk thistle and SamE if they have to go the pred route?

 

Any acupuncture (preferably CHI certified) that they will let in to needle him?

[grey14me]

Diane, they are giving pred right now...I don't know about the milk thistle at this point, but from what I read online, any meds and supplements should be stopped until the crisis stage of the vasculitis is passed. I will mention the acupuncture to her, once it gets a little later her time, it's still very early there.

[4greyhounds]

I am sorry no advise, but we are sending lots of prayers and white light.

[jodyksam]

As of about 6:10 this morning, Steph said there is no change in Brady's condition. Please continue to send your positive thoughts and prayers his way -

 

:hope

[patricia]

Sending more prayers. Come on honey...fight hard.