The body’s immune system is an amazing thing. It recognizes bacteria, viruses, allergens, etc. as not being part of the body and attacks them with white blood cells, antibodies and immune mediated chemicals.

Unfortunately, the immune system sometimes malfunctions and begins to attack the body’s own tissue. Depending on the tissue affected this can cause anemia (red blood cells), clotting disorders (thrombocytes), arthritis (joint tissue) or multiple systems at the same time (lupus, etc.).

Problems seem to occur more often in females than males. It is also more common in cocker spaniels, English springer spaniels, collies, poodles and miniature schnauzers but can occur in any age, breed or sex.

Underlying causes are often unknown but infectious agents, some drugs and some tumors can be triggers.

Symptoms can be vague and can vary tremendously based on the body system affected.

Treatment usually involves immunosuppressive drugs such as prednisone, antibiotics if infection is suspected and supportive treatment (i.e. transfusion in cases of anemia).

If the problem is diagnosed early most patients respond well to long term treatment. If not diagnosed early, anemia and clotting problems can be very serious and easily fatal.