Positive Outcome after autoimmune/Vasculitis diagnosis in 9 year old dog
I have a dog that was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder and it is most likely vasculitis, although pemphigus was considered too. Now, after a few months, we have gotten it almost completely under control. I just want to provide support for anyone else experiencing the same symptoms in their dog.
Very quickly, my 9 year old dog went from having perfect health, to being very lethargic, sores all over his face, ears and paws. He very quickly became miserable, didn’t want to eat, covered in sores, lost his fur on his ears and face, and was just so uncomfortable and in pain. I don’t make a ton of money and work a regular job, but I was able to get him the care needed and now, he’s doing so well!!! I just took him in for his check up and even the vet was shocked by how well he’s doing. They thought he would be on steroids for the duration of his life, which is scary because his liver enzymes were alarmingly elevated after being on steroids for a couple weeks, but he’s been off of the steroids for two weeks now and there are very little flare ups at all.
I am posting this because this was a scary experience for both of us and I just happened to be pulling enough overtime to put me in a position to be able to pay for all of these tests, as well as having an amazing veterinary team who worked hard to diagnose this issue without me having to spend more than $2000 altogether. I understand very well that most people can’t afford to do all of this as quickly as it comes up and I would love to help someone who is experiencing the same situation as we were. Especially since we found a medication that seems to be working to keep it under control.
I think the most important thing was realizing that something was wrong almost immediately. I am very aware of his behavior and anything going on with his body because I pet him all the time and give him little massages that he loves. He’s been my best friend for 9 years, so I can tell when something is wrong. However, this didn’t present itself as something that was as serious as it turned out to be. I just knew something wasn’t normal and took him in as soon as the first scabs formed. In the first vet appointment, they just prescribed him antibiotics, which didn’t help at all. He got worse very fast. It wasn’t until he started steroids that he started to improve, but that isn’t a long term solution to this issue.
It happened out of nowhere and within days, he was covered in scabs and sores all over his ears, eyes and paws. He seems to be losing hair on his back a little now, but he’s growing his hair back on his ears and all of the sores are gone. He gets little scabby spots, but they are no longer turning into open sores overnight.
I will keep an eye on this and will give any information that I can to someone who believes that their beloved dog is might be going through the same symptoms. It was scary and they didn’t know what it was. However, the veterinarian was amazing and worked really hard to find a solution to this, which they did and kept the cost reasonable for me. I still am looking at $120+ a month to maintain this with meds, but that is mostly for liver supplements and gallbladder sludge meds. The vasculitis medication that changed the game is about $60 a month from the veterinarian. Probably cheaper if I went elsewhere.