Immune-Mediated Haemolytic Anemia (IMHA)
last updated January 2025
IMHA Is an Autoimmune Disease in dogs in which the body attacks its own red blood cells. This can lead to very low life threatening red blood cell counts (anaemia) that require multiple blood transfusions. It can also predispose dogs to forming blood clots, mostly in the lungs or in the brain.
Treatment can require extended hospitalization, drugs that suppress the immune system, and often blood thinners. Some dogs do quite well with minimal treatment, however for many others the disease is unfortunately fatal.
Development of IMHA symptoms should be treated as an emergency
Name Anomaly Warning
The limited studies undertaken appear to be American AND refer to the American Cocker NOT the English Cocker Spaniel
Canine Genetics Lab
University of Minnesota
Steven Friedenberg DVM, PhD, Dip. ACVECC
Associate Professor, Emergency and Critical Care, Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences
Research Notes on IMHA
Very little is known at this time regrading the genetics of this condition.
Current Research
Immune-Mediated Hemolytic Anemia (IMHA) - Genetics Study in Spaniel Breeds
Canine Genetics Lab
University of Minnesota
Steven Friedenberg, DVM, PhD, Dip. ACVECC
Associate Professor, Emergency and Critical Care, Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences;
imha Articles
IMHA Around The World
informal data collected from ...
Data lasted updated .....
% are more important when considering these statistics rather than the numbers recorded above, as some dogs results may have been duplicated in different databases