Urs Giger, DVM, DACVIM & DECVIM-CA (internal medicine), DECVCP (clinical pathology)

The diagnostic challenges of immune-mediated hemolytic anemia (IMHA) were covered in a previous presentation. The controversies in managing IMHA are being discussed in this lecture and illustrated by case presentations.

Immune-mediated hemolytic anemia (IMHA) is a common hematological disorder in dogs, may be primary (idiopathic, autoimmune) or occur secondarily to underlying diseases (e.g. infections) and is often associated with life-threatening complications.

There are approximately 900 hereditary disorders and genetic predispositions in dogs and about 200 in cats.

In any clinic hemorrhage is a very common clinical problem in dogs and less so in cats.

Anemia is an extremely common clinical problem in cats and is associated with many different conditions, many very different from those in dogs. Bleeding disorders are less common than in dogs, but may frequently complicate hepatic disorders.

Since the early 1980s, the use of blood products in the treatment of critically ill companion animals and in supporting dogs and cats undergoing surgery and minimally-invasive diagnostic and therapeutic procedures has increased tremendously.