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Old February 23rd, 2004, 10:57 PM
Murph's Mom Murph's Mom is offline
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Anemia in Dogs

Well, hello ladies (and gents),

I have question about anemia in dogs. A friend of mine's 9yr old GSD was just diagnosed as anemic. The vet of course wants to put her on steroids. I am wondering if there is another way to treat this. She also has a heart murmur.

Any suggestions?
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Old February 24th, 2004, 06:13 AM
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Carina Carina is offline
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Is it autoimmune haemolytic anaemia? Steroids is a standard treatment for this. Steroids are amazing drugs - they manage so many conditions wonderfully! They do have significant side effects, but many dogs (& people) take them for years & the benefits usually greatly outweigh risks. My S/other has an auto-immune disease & would be immobilised without his prednisone.
They shouldn't impact the heart - depending on the type of murmur. Heart murmurs are not uncommon in older dogs, my old was d/xed with one at about 11 yo & lived to be 15. She was also on & off steroids for the last couple of years of her life.

NB: The Merck manual (medical database) lists about thirty drugs that have been at least tentatively linked to AIHA. Several of these are annual vaccines given to dogs & cats; yet another reason not to do annual vaccinations.

Yes I realise I have an agenda against over-vaccinating. But now that each of the 27 vet schools in the USA are suggesting vacs every three years instead of annually, it really seems people ought to pay attention! Annual vaccinations have been linked to so many chronic conditions - anemia, cancer, auto-immune illnesses & allergies...and a 9 year old dog needs no more vaccinations.

If she's looking for alternative ways to treat this, have her consult a good homeopathic vet; I don't know if there are other treatment modalities but that would be a place to start.
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Old February 24th, 2004, 01:43 PM
Murph's Mom Murph's Mom is offline
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Thanks Carina!! Great insight as usual. (tell me, are you typing with your clothers on (he he)?

Do you happen to know if there is a good website to check out about homeopathic treatments for dogs? My friend did find a homeopathic vet nearby and she's hopefully going to be able to get Zara in there but in the meantime we're doing as much research as we can.

I'm not certain what type of anemia. I suggested this site to her so hopefully she'll join and can discuss this herself, since I'm not much help!
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Old February 24th, 2004, 02:00 PM
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Carina Carina is offline
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Interestingly enough, here's an article from the altvedmed site about vaccines; including this quote:

"We suspect a connection between vaccines and autoimmune hemolytic anemia."
http://www.altvetmed.com/pages/articles.html
There's a directory of "alternative" vets on this site, but I think they're mostly in the US.

I can't think of any particular site; but if you can stand another message board, check here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/K9Nutr...yguid=45685679
It's one of the Yahoo groups. The list owner did her PhD dissertation on canine health & nutrition, and there are many extremely knowlegable people who post to this list. The bias is holistic, I'm sure someone can point you in the direction of some good articles & treatments if you ask your question there!

PS, I have all my clothes on right now.
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