Hi my dog an 8 year old cocker spaniel has been in vets since thursday as he had been unwell since sunday evening. His symptoms were orange faeces and orange vomit, lethargy, didn't want to go for a walk but was drinking and eating some food but unable to keep food down. The vet admitted him to take an x ray which showed he had an enlarged
liver blood tests were then taken which showed his liver was working normal but over worked as he was anaemic and had high white cell count. He has since been put on steroids to assist liver in making up red blood cells. He is doing well and is going for walks and eating and drinking normally. I am due to pick him up this afternoon but unhappy about the side affects that the steroids can cause. The vet says he may be on steriods for rest of his life! Any help and advice would be very much appreciated.Thanks

Steroids are produced naturally in the body (testosterone is a steroid, for example), and it's only when the body isn't making enough of its own that the animal (or human) needs to be given artificial ones to 'top them up'. They're nothing to be feared, and can be life-savers.

Thanks for that my vet is going to go through all the side effects when i collect him later today.

As the steroids are probably to replace those that your dogs body is not producing and the only side effect will be the wanted one that of improved health. If it were not for naturally produced steroids no animal could exists they are the key controller of bodily functions.

He has been put on 30mg a day of Prednidale. He has been diagnosed with auto immune mediated haemolytic anaemia. He is is still quite lethargic and pale but he has improved alot since he first went in to the vets on thursday. Any help or advice on what i can feed him to help improve his haemoglobin levels would be gratefully revieved.

Think you will need specialist help, I know that vitamin B12 (found I believe in liver) is used for some anaemia but not sure if anaemia caused by the dogs own immune system that diet could help, you need to boost his immunity as far as is possible but what ever you do the best will be to keep him as well as possible so the immune system is not further compromised.