Hi Everyone,
Louis Mum here, well clearly my hopes of bringing Louis home for the
weekend have been dashed, we received a call from Rutland House this afternoon stating
his blood count dropped overnight to 19.5% so we could not bring him home, I was
devastated, they did say we could go and visit him, so at lunchtime we drove the
hour to see our handsome boy.
As we went into Rutland House I didn’t know what to expect, but was surprised
to see him looking quite so bright, he was moving about better and was clearly
pleased to see us, although he does look like a patchwork quilt because of all
the places he’s been shaved. The vet came in and explained his condition and
treatment plan. He is suffering from Autoimmune
Haemolytic Anaemia,
which basically means his red blood cells are being destroyed by his own body,
there is just one more test to come back which will rule out a bacterial
infection, all his other tests for cancer and tumours have come back clear
which is good.
He’s been on
a cocktail of drugs to try and supress his immune system which will give his
red blood cells chance to oxygenate his blood, although these all come with risks,
one is blood clots, so he’s been having an aspirin every day to combat that.
The Vet asked if we would give permission to use a very expensive drug called cyclosporine,
which is a powerful drug used as an immunosuppressant, it’s generally given after
steroids have failed, so really we didn’t have a choice. It will take approximately
2 weeks for that to start working, so we just need to keep his blood count up
high enough for the next two weeks.
They take and
test his blood morning and evening to monitor his levels, so he really is being
looked after so well, it was also clear he’s made a big impression on all the nurses
there because they have all fallen for him, and he is getting loads of cuddles
and kisses, daft it sounds but I felt a little jealous that they get to cuddle
him whenever they want– told you sounds daft!
John asked
the question I was dreading the answer to which was “What are his chances on
this drug, and what are the success rates” – I really didn’t want to know
because - yes I’m in denial. She advised she had used it in the past and the
success rate is 70%, so hopefully Louis will be in that percentage.
I took a few
photos and I’ve started a gofundme account to help with the costs, I’ll post
the link below, this is something I would never normally do but I don’t want to
be at a point when I have to say “No we cannot afford it anymore”. I know that
point is always close but we need to give him all the chances we can, Louis is
only 5 and has always been such a strong dog with a wonderful nature, and just
couldn’t say those words.
I’ll post again
tomorrow with an update.
Love Louis’s
Mum.
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