Please Help. No Apetite And Low Rbc

[Guest overjoyed]

Thank you for taking your time to read my post.

 

Since last Thursday (05/13/10) my 11-year-old retired grey has very little appetite and has no desire to drink water. One vet ran blood test and ultra sounds but he couldn't find any cause. Her RBC is 20% of healthy grey should be. Clearly she is ill. We took her to another vet and based on the blood test result, he put her on autoimmune disorder medication as a trial. While we are hoping this attempt would work, her appetite is not coming back. She stopped eating any kind of dog food. We tried all brands both soft and hard. She samples our table food (we have never given her any table food previously) but it is not enough to make her strong. Please share your experience on bringing back grey's appetite.

 

For a side note, i think she wants to eat. Whenever she sniffs food, her nose runs and get itchy. Then she loses her appetite. It doesn't make sense but she scratches her nose whenever she sniff food.

 

Thanks.

[TheFullHouse]

The only experience I have was went Emmy quit eating and the only thing that got her eating anything was Nutritional Yeast. You can get it at a health food store or order it on line. It has a cheesy taste and is nothing but B vitamins which will help increase her appetite. Have you tried giving her anything to help her tummy in case she has an upset stomach? You can try Pepcid an hour before meals and see if that helps. Hopefully someone on here with more experience can chime in.

[Burpdog]

How did he determine she has an autoimmune disorder? Which medication? Where are you -- in the States or Canada? Have you done a TBD panel?

 

What exactly are her RBC, PLT, WBC & HCT numbers?

 

Feed her boiled meat if she'll eat it, as much as she wants.

[MaryJane]

Do you have the blood test results?

 

I'm not a vet but, I'm not sure how a low RBC would indicate a need to treat for autoimmune disorder. My first thought would be that maybe iron is lacking in the diet or there may be a bleed .... (but, as noted, I'm not a vet)

 

As to her appetite, have you tried giving cooked meat pieces or maybe some yogurt.

 

Any chance that she could have gotten into something like pieces of wood or branches that might have stuck in her throat ???

[Guest Energy11]

First, sorry you are going through this!

 

What you are describing could come from MANY causes, including LIVER and KIDNEY Diseases, and Tickborne Diseases, some cancers, ... lots of things!

 

I would email or fax ALL THE RESULTS YOU HAVE IMMEDIATELY to Dr. Couto, Ohio State University's Greyhound Veterinary Expert!

 

He WILL review all and get back to you/and or, you vet quickly. Here is the email infomation: couto.1@osu.edu (Dr. Couto)

Greyhound@cvm.osu.edu (Dr. Marin and Staff).

 

IF ANYONE can figure this out, they can!

 

Sending lots of good thoughts, hugs and prayers!

 

 

[Guest overjoyed]

Thank you everyone for your feedback.

 

I read about Dr. Couto but I didn't know how to get in touch with him. My grey became lethargic on 05/13/10. My regular vet's office was closed for the weekend so we tried two different vets. First one diagnosed her for stomach flu but she didn't even have diarrhea. Second one did blood test only to find low RBC and iron, then ran echo on her to look for internal tumor but he didn't find anything. He suggested a surgery to look for a tumor. It sounded ridiculous to cut her open aimlessly especially my grey is not young. With the blood test result we visited her regular vet (who is experienced on grey). I also brought her pee. The vet tested it to confirm high amount of blood in her pee. The vet did not recommend the surgery because 1) no tumor was found 2) the blood loss leads to great risk. We live in holland and transfusion is not easy due to the lack of donors.

 

For her dehydration, i thought about something like pedialyte but it is not sold here (why, why, why?). So far she ate cooked eggs. I mixed dog food with eggs but she didn't like it. Dog food soaked on chicken broth was ok for first few bites but her itchy nose killed her appetite. Sausage was ok for few bites a day but i am not sure if it is an healthy option. She had a very small portion of mushed potato. All those human food is new to her. Nutritional yeast is a great idea (thank you, Greyaholic) but I haven't seen it sold here (i am vegetarian and know what it is). I will try marmite for B vitamin. Iron is certainly lacking. Her gum is almost white.

 

Thank you very much for everyone who kindly shared your knowledge and experience. I am very touched to see someone cares my grey. Thank you.

[Guest Energy11]

..." Her gum is almost white. ..."

 

 

OK, I am NOT a Veterinarian, but a retired Paramedic and Vet Tech. WHITE GUMS most likely mean, your dog is anemic, and bleeding someplace internally, which would account for the low RBC.

 

I'd DEFINITELY send ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING you have to Dr. COUTO TONIGHT, AND YES, HE DOES READ HIS EMAILS EVERYDAY! I send the email links in a previous post.

 

In the meantime, you CAN ADD either Pedilyte or Gatorade 50/50 to her water to keep her hydrated, and offer her ANYTHING she will eat. A lot of people buy VANILLA Ensure, which is full of all the nutrients she needs, and they seems to like it... you can try that, baby meats, yogurts, whatever.

 

PLEASE SEND THAT INFO TO DR. COUTO ASAP, and in the meantime, I send you our best, and many good thoughts and prayers!

[Guest Energy11]

Any "sports drink" sold over there will be fine to add to her water... 50/50. Good Luck!

 

 

[Hubcitypam]

Have you done a Coombs test?

[Burpdog]

The vet tested it to confirm high amount of blood in her pee

 

Is she on antibiotics?

[tbhounds]

There can be a few causes for low RBC's. She is either losing blood or she is destroying her blood via an immune mediated disease. She may also have a vector borne disease. She can lose blood via a bleeding mass/tumor, through her bladder (bladder tumor would be possible) or through her gut.

Do you know what her platelet count is?? How about her WBC and HCT (pcv%)? Do you know if it's regenerative (very important)???

A coombs and a ANA test may help to determine if she has an immune disease, however, you can get a false titer. I would also run a tick panel.

Good luck--keep us informed.

[joejoesmom]

I don't have any additional insight but thought I would send you more info on how to contact Dr. Couto's team in case you wanted to call them. I agree that speed is essential in case your dog is bleeding internally.

 

Also, I can't believe that you don't have animal blood banks there. That is very sad. Are you sure that the closest vet school doesn't have any blood? FYI, If it is an emergency, your dog can take any dogs blood ONE TIME. If your dog has ever received blood before, you can not give them anything but a matched type or universal donor blood.

 

Here's more info on Dr. C:

 

OSU Greyhound Health and Wellness Program

OSU College of Veterinary Medicine

601 Vernon Tharp Street

Columbus, Ohio 43210

Phone: (614) 247-6757 or (614) 247-8490

Email: greyosu@osu.edu

Website: http://www.vet.ohio-state.edu/GHWP.htm

 

This email goes to the team. If Dr. Couto is traveling, you may get a quicker answer from one of his team members. Drs. Marin and Zaldivar typically respond to greyhound owners.

 

Dr. Couto, Department Head, Greyhound Medicine, Oncolology and Hematology

Dr. Lili Marin, Greyhound Health and Oncology

Dr. Sara Zaldivar, Greyhound Health and Oncology

Dr. William Kisselberth, Oncology

Dr. Cheryl London, Oncology

Dr. Cristina Iazbik, Blood Bank Director and Hematologist

Dr. Bridget Urie, Oncology Resident

Dr. Matt Sherger, Oncology Resident

Dawn Hudson, Vet Tech

Ashley DeFelice, Vet Tech

Stacey Gallant, Vet Tech

 

Drs Marin and Zaldivar are originally from Spanish speaking countries. If you have trouble understanding them over the phone, you might ask for one of the other vets or vet techs to “translate”.

 

Dr. Couto's direct email is:

couto.1@osu.edu

His phone number is also 614-247-6757. If he is in town, he typically returns emails in the early hours of the morning.

 

You should know that (in my humble opinion) they need more staff. Unfortunately finances do not permit it at this time. I think they do about 20 consults a day along with all of their "in canine" patients. There is no charge for phone/email consultations. Depending on their workload there may be a wait for the consultation.

 

If you decide to visit OSU please contact me. I may be able to put you up in a local home, provide moral support, or just help with logistics:

 

Finewhipador-drool@yahoo.com

 

The main number for the veterinary hospital is 614-292-3551

[Guest overjoyed]

Any "sports drink" sold over there will be fine to add to her water... 50/50. Good Luck!

 

I was wondering about the high concentration of sugar on 'sports drink.' They are sold here. I will dilute with water and try it. I suppose i should be avoiding 'diet' version (artificial sweetener).

[Batmom]

Correct, no artificial sweetener for dogs.

[Guest overjoyed]

Hi GT Folks,

 

Thank you for all your input. I just wanted to update you. Some of you suggested me to contact Dr. Couto and his team. I feel very lucky because he replied our email. He thinks our grey has Hemangiosarcomas. It is not the most favorable answer. We will consult with our vet today.

 

I just want to thank every one of you for your kindness to share your knowledge with me.

[Guest Energy11]

RE: the sports drinks, yes, dilute them 50% water, 50% drink, and yes, NO artificial sweetners.

 

I am glad Dr. Couto responded sooo quickly, but that is what he does :-)

 

Hoping your vet has GOOD news today.

 

Love, hugs and prayers! Dee

[Rickiesmom]

Regarding a transfusion - when Jaynie's platelets were very low (35K vs. low normal of 171K) I asked Dr. Couto about a transfusion and he said they were not very useful in such cases because the concentration of platelets in a transfusion was not sufficient to make a significant difference.

 

I am sorry about the possible hemangiosarcoma diagnosis and hope your vet can get to the bottom of things. Did the clinic that did the ultrasound forward the results (including the images) to your regular vet for analysis? If not I would have your regular vet request that immediately.

[Guest overjoyed]

Thank you for your best wishes. Your wisdoms and kind words helped us tremendously. I would like to update how our grey is doing. Because Joy’s condition was too critical, the vet (with experience in greyhounds) thought Joy would not survive the ordeals of transfusion or operation. He went ahead and prescribed the medication for autoimmune disorder. The medication slowly worked and a month later she was showing the sign of recovery. Just around the time we thought Joy overcame autoimmune disorder, her urine was still dark. It turned out she had a liver infection with high fever. It took another 3 weeks to treat her liver infection. Last 1.5 weeks, she has been doing well. She is almost as healthy as before all this happened. For last two days, her urine is much clear. Her gum lines are fresh-pink. Unfortunately, she gets tired much easier and does not take long walk any more. Aside from that, the vet is pleased to see her recovery. Everyone affected by her thought it was her end but she once again proved that she was a survivor.

 

My sincere apology for not reporting any update until now. She was going through the cycle of good days and bad days and somehow I didn’t want to jinx it. Today happen to be exactly one year from her stroke. She aged a lot for last one year; got a lot of gray hair. But at least she is still with us and that counts the most.

 

As for her diet, her appetite came back but she still does not fancy dry dog food. We tried many kinds but somehow she lost interests on old-fashioned dry food. We switched to frozen BARF patties available in local pet store. She still experiences itchiness on her nose when she smells regular dog food. If her BARF patties are defrosted, she gets itchy nose too as she sniffs the food and refuses to eat. We have to feed her BARF patties out of freezer and that is all she eats but it is a minor problem considering what she has been through for last two months.

 

Thank you again for your help!

Edited July 5, 2010 by overjoyed

[CaliforniaGreys]

Good to hear she's doing better now. What a terrible ride. Thank you for the update

[Batmom]

Oh my goodness. What a time you've had! I'm glad she is better now and hope she continues to do well.

[duncan41]

Wow! This thread reads llike a mystery novel! What an experience! I am happy that your girl is on the mend after everything that she (and YOU) have been through this past year. I pray that she had many more greyt days with you.

[Guest Energy11]

How scary for all of you!

 

Glad she is getting better! Send her a huge hug for us!

[Charlies_Dad]

That is great news that Joy is better! I hope she continues to improve over the coming weeks. You have been through a rough time.