[Immune-mediated thrombocytopenia (IMT) is a very serious autoimmune disease in which a dog's body attacks its own blood platelets as though they are a pathogenic bacteria or virus. Thrombocytopenia is the technical word for low platelet count.]
Some dogs (many actually) recover from this disease and over time can be weaned off of the medication. Unfortunately, Puddin is not one of them! She is still on a daily high dose of Atopica (cyclosporine) and predinsone. The meds seem to be taking their toll on her too :( She has developed lesions all over her legs and stomach. Our vet said it is due to prolonged use of the medication, which has now become such a chore to get in her. She takes everything really well, except the Atopica which is the most crucial one! The pill is huge and it smells like a skunk so I don't blame her, but it still makes life difficult! The disgusting side effect of the meds are that she continues to eat her own poop every chance she gets! Eww! She was never a poop eater her whole life until in the last couple years and the vet also said that was from the high doses of medication that she's on :( There is some controversy over the effect of vaccinations on this disease, but many believe it is exacerbated by vaccines so Puddin can no longer get vaccinated. When her last rabies vaccination expired, the vet recommended that we skip it so we did. Her platelet count, while stabilized for the most part, still drops on occasion for no known reason (it did again just recently after being stabilized for months and months) and she continues to get blood tests every 4-6 weeks. We love our vet, but she's nearly an hour and a half away and I sure wish she was closer!
Puddin will be 13 at the end of the year and my husband thinks that she's losing her spark (thanks in part to the medicine - which without she wouldn't be here with us today I'm sure). He recently told me he's not sure she will actually make it to her next birthday. I disagree with that, but I do agree that she's slowing down and our time with her is limited :( It makes me sad just thinking about it!
Anyway, back to the point of this post..here are a few of the lesions on our girl. The vet said as long as they aren't bothering her, we're just going to leave them alone. I'm afraid to mess with them anyway for fear of her bleeding.
1 comment:
Aww! I feel so sad for Puddin, but know her family is the best and will do whatever they can to keep her happy and comfortable. How's Vinny doing?
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