Jenna has now been diagnosed with some kind of vasculitis (most likely systemic since it involves more than just the skin rash she's had off and on for over two weeks now).
My vet wants to use pentoxifylline on her, but having read up on how it is a relative to theobromine I am terrified! Is this actually safe for her??
We think the vasculitis could've been brought on either by a food (allergy) or some drug she's had already (she's been on chlorpheniramine to control rash/itching that she reacted to, methyl-prednisolone that seemed to cause stomach bleeding, sucralfate that caused sever stomach pain and anorexia, Pepcid AC, cerenia injections for nausea and also benadryl-the last of which she seems to tolerate fine).
This drug will have to be specially compounded for her and they're going to use small doses at first to be sure she doesn't react...but honest to God I am thinking she's had enough drugs in the last two weeks...do I really want to expose her to something that we know is related to a chemical deadly to dogs??
We already know she has to eat nothing but hypoallergenic dog food for the rest of her life. So is there any chance that she can come back from the vasculitis just by managing her diet and not using any further medications? Or is there someting safer that is NOT a steroid since she is especially sensitive to them? (She seems to have sensitivities to a lot of drugs and I don't want to risk her health further!)
Pentoxifylline is also supposed to cause nausea and vomiting, for a start, and heart/nervous system issues in the extreme, but she can't be on any further drugs to coat her stomach because of possible interactions.
Somehow I think this is OTT...can anyone tell me if there is any other way we can approach this?
They can't get the drug today, they have to wait till tomorrow...but I really need an answer now. Please help. I don't want to put my baby through anything unnecessary, she's been through enough!
