Beagle's question about Non-Regenerative Anemia

Question

I have an 11 year old beagle named Cookie who just got diagnosed with nonregenerative anemia. We left her with a dog sitter for a week and when we came back she almost passed out when she saw us. It was like she lost control of her body, she fell over and couldn't get back up for a few minutes. She has Addison's disease so we assumed that the stress of not seeing us for a week made her pass out, but then it happened a few more times and we took her to the vet. They also said her bone marrow is decreasing. Looking back now, I think the problems started before we even left. Her breathing was a lot heavier than normal for at least a few months before. They told us that if her PCV gets lower (it's at 17 now) we'll have to do a blood transfusion. We're a little unsure about how to handle everything. Of course they told us that one transfusion might not be enough, but just one is expensive and we've already spent a lot getting to this point. I don't know how far we can keep going. Sometimes she doesn't have an appetite but if we bring out her favorite foods she's always down. And usually she'll eat at some of the day, so she isn't going long times without food. Are transfusions really the only option? What is the process afterwards, how is the transfusion going to help? Is this inevitably going to keep happening?

Accepted Answer

I wish that I could answer your questions, but without knowing the reason for the anemia, I don't know what other options there are or how she will respond.  There are many causes for anemia, and typically the blood transfusion is to help keep levels up while we treat the actual cause.  Since your veterinarian will know more about why Cookie is anemic and what to expect longer term, it is very reasonable to ask those questions of them and get more information.  I hope that she does well.

Non-Regenerative Anemia in Dogs