Hi everyone,
Our family is struggling deeply right now after losing our beloved German Shepherd just last Friday. He was 10 years old and still so full of life. Just 2 weeks ago, he was running around at the off-leash park and eating normally. There were no signs that anything was severely wrong.
Then last week, within a matter of days, everything changed. He started having diarrhea, lost his appetite, and became weak. By Friday morning last week, he didn’t want to get up at all. We took him to the vet right away, who ran bloodwork and told us his red blood cell count had dropped dramatically (22%). His urine had turned orange (bilirubin), and she explained that his body was essentially shutting down.
The vet suspected Immune-Mediated Hemolytic Anemia (IMHA). Our vet said that even with transfusions, the prognosis was ‘guarded’ —given the low red blood cell count and his age. We had to make the heartbreaking decision to let him go. It was truly the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.
One thing I can’t stop thinking about is that he had his annual vaccines just a week before all of this started. I know it could be coincidence, but I can’t help wondering if that stressor may have triggered or accelerated the IMHA.
I’m sharing this because our family is trying to understand what happened and how things could go downhill so fast. If anyone here has gone through something similar — sudden IMHA, rapid decline, or even an event that seemed connected to vaccines — I’d really appreciate hearing your experience.
We miss our dog immensely, such a huge whole in our lives.
Thank you for reading and for any insight you can share.
-Mike
Our family is struggling deeply right now after losing our beloved German Shepherd just last Friday. He was 10 years old and still so full of life. Just 2 weeks ago, he was running around at the off-leash park and eating normally. There were no signs that anything was severely wrong.
Then last week, within a matter of days, everything changed. He started having diarrhea, lost his appetite, and became weak. By Friday morning last week, he didn’t want to get up at all. We took him to the vet right away, who ran bloodwork and told us his red blood cell count had dropped dramatically (22%). His urine had turned orange (bilirubin), and she explained that his body was essentially shutting down.
The vet suspected Immune-Mediated Hemolytic Anemia (IMHA). Our vet said that even with transfusions, the prognosis was ‘guarded’ —given the low red blood cell count and his age. We had to make the heartbreaking decision to let him go. It was truly the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.
One thing I can’t stop thinking about is that he had his annual vaccines just a week before all of this started. I know it could be coincidence, but I can’t help wondering if that stressor may have triggered or accelerated the IMHA.
I’m sharing this because our family is trying to understand what happened and how things could go downhill so fast. If anyone here has gone through something similar — sudden IMHA, rapid decline, or even an event that seemed connected to vaccines — I’d really appreciate hearing your experience.
We miss our dog immensely, such a huge whole in our lives.
Thank you for reading and for any insight you can share.
-Mike