Hi all,
 
Whitey was again admitted to the hospital on Monday.  CBC showed a WBC of
80,000, RBC was low but I don't have exact number, spleen was enlarged,
his heart was racing and had a murmur and he was anemic.  They began
trying to stabilize him so biopsies and a bone marrow test could be
performed.  His albumen was also tested and was low at 1.65.  His rear
feet show edema (sp?) and his blood pressure was extremely low.  An
abdominal ultrasound was done and his spleen and left adrenal gland
were both enlarged as well as the left section of his bowl.
 
I was contacted by several people about this DIM, or Mystery Disease and
I printed out the alert and took it to the hospital.  The vet on duty
said his lymph nodes were not enlarged so she didn't feel it was DIM.
Since that time his anemia has improved slightly, count was 19, but his
albumen has dropped to 1.5, his heart rate was 210 and lymph nodes were
still normal.  They have him on three antibiotics, something to elevate
his blood pressure and something to make him comfortable.
 
The vet on duty today (same vet that was there for admission) said his
anemia is the same, BP is low normal, lymph nodes are still normal and
she is doing another CBC.  She believes that if his RBC is still low that
we should put him down because he's got non-regenerative anemia????  She
said there is no treatment for this and that because the lymph nodes are
normal it doesn't mean it's not DIM/mystery disease and that he's not
getting any better and is suffering.
 
I would NEVER allow my beautiful fert to suffer and had they told me
this, I wouldn't have made him live with being poked and prodded the last
three days!  Now she wants to wait for the CBC results, which might come
back tomorrow, or even Saturday.
 
Does this sound like DIM/mystery disease?  Should we wait?  I want to do
what is right for him, and I don't want him suffering, but how do you
know when the time is right?  HELP
 
Leslie
[Posted in FML issue 4694]