Evans syndrome and blindness

[Beth]

Has anyone here had any experience with their dog having been diagnosed with Evans Syndrome?

Its a combination of low platelets and low red blood cells. Our dog is being treated with Prednisone. Its a wait and see if she responds. I've read a few things online but wondered if anyone has had any personal experience with it.

As a result of a rise in her blood pressure our dog may have also suffered detached retinas in both eyes. Her vision isn't totally gone but it is limited. Does anyone have any experience with dogs who are partially blind or are there any books one can recommend?

I am losing hope. I am coming to the realization that the kindest thing to do is to put her down. She's only 5 years old.

[Noofies]

Oh heavens, why would you put her down?! Blind, and partially-blind, dogs do just fine. Here's lots of information for you on living with a blind dog: www.blinddogs.com/

Did your vet determine a reason for the development of Evans Syndrome? Had your dog received booster vaccinations in the 3 months prior to development of this problem? Vaccinations can cause auto-immune hemolytic anemia, and immune-mediated hemolytic anemia is one of the two conditions that comprise Evans Syndrome. (This is one reason why I recommend very conservative booster vaccination. Adult dogs who have received a distemper/parvo/adenovirus vaccine at or after 6 months of age develop lifetime immunity to those diseases and never need a booster vaccine.) It can also be caused by tick-borne disease such as erlichia. Has your vet done any tests to determine if tick-borne illness is at the root of this?

Here's some info you might find helpful: www.vetinfo.com/dthrombo.html and click on the top link, "Immune Mediated Thrombocytapenia, IMHA and Evans syndrome "

[Beth]

The vets think its genetic in her. They can't find anything else wrong with her, at least not yet.

In June of 2005 she was first diagnosed with the auto immune hemolytic anemia she was in remission and taken off of Predinsone by Dec. 2005. She was well until this June. I may have missed some clues as she was getting ill but June is when I first noticed her color was off again. Her platelets were down to 11,000 her RBC dropped to 38. The next week her platelets were back up but her RBC dropped again to 34 and we also discovered her vision was distorted or gone.

She only received her rabies vaccination in Dec. 2005. I didn't want to give her anything else. She received her shots for that first year, but I don't think we've taken her for more boosters. Do you suppose the rabies vac. may have set this off again? The vets seem doubtful. One vet last year thought she may have eaten wild onions that may have set her off. We watched her this year for a repeat of the onions but didn't see her try to eat the onions. She will dig and eat in the dirt we figure that is part of the iron deficiency. She is on vitamins + minerals. We also have her on Pepcid to help protect her stomach from the Prednisone. I do see some improvement that she isn't spitting up or vomiting daily or not as much if she is. I haven't seen any info. concerning pets with this that have blindness too. It worries me she is at a greater risk having Evans syndrome along with the blindness.

My other worry is trying to afford this. I need to get a part time job but its been a full time job trying to take care of her. She's on 20 mg of Predinsone twice a day so her urine output is high. I'm taking her outside often but still find I am sponging mopping a great deal. Do you think she'll be ok while I work part time? Its only me and my husband, he is gone all week and only comes home on weekends.

I worry that something might happen and she will bleed to death while I'm away. Yup my emotions and imagination have run off. A relative had a boxer that had this. I don't know what treatment she received but she bled to death. The dogs never came into contact with one another. I was in contact with the boxer for a few hours at Thanksgiving and Christmas but from what I've read it isn't transferred like that. This relative lives in another state now so we don't have much contact.

Thank you so much Noofies for the info. I doubt you remember me its been years but I used to post on Acme.