Treating immune mediated hemolytic anemia naturally

This post isn't about Kaiden, it's about our Rottweiler, Lola.  In April of this year, Lola went pale on us, dropped weight, and her breathing changed from deep to shallow.  I wasn't exactly sure what was all going on, I'd come across a few things, and the vet's blood tests confirmed immune mediated hemolytic anemia.

So what caused it?  I'm not 100% sure.  Lola has been raw fed for 3 1/2 years.  It can be caused by too much blood loss - from an accident, fleas, but even vaccines are blamed.  Lola never had an accident, but she did get fleas from one trip to Missouri a couple years ago.  It could have been the supermarket chickens, too, for all I know.  What if those chickens were the ones being fed arsenic laced food (it bursts the capillaries, making the meat more pink, and thus is supposedly more appealing)?  I suspect the chicken as being the main cause, but I'm just not sure.  Lots of people feed their raw fed dogs a diet of chicken, and don't have any issues.

Anyway, I chose to treat her holistically rather than put her on a corticosteroid, which prevents the release of substances in the body that cause inflammation, and suppress the immune system.  Kaiden was severely anemic at his 6 month well visit and I had better luck with holistic treatments than over the counter iron supplements.  With my own knowledge base and experiences in holistic care, I felt 1000% confident in treating her (and I still do!).

This post isn't intended for anyone to refuse their vet's care.  If you choose to treat how I did, that's all on you. ;-)  I just want to share what I did, so you can make your own informed decision should you find yourself in the same situation.

The following is what I gave to our vet's office, as they wanted a copy of it seeing how well Lola recovered.

Treating Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia Naturally

 

Amounts for Lola, a 70lb rottweiler

 

·         24 oz (12 oz twice per day) raw food – raw meat, raw bones, raw organs – beef: meat, tripe, liver; pork: meat, bones, brains, liver; deer liver

 

·         1/4 c liver detox tea, 3x per day – Lola likes the flavor of the Yogi brand, but there are several brands that make liver detox teas. You can get the tea at HyVee and Walmart.

 

·         1 Tbsp Beef blood, 3x per day. Sourced from Geneva Meats.

 

·         1/64 tsp (drop) powdered kelp, 3x per day.  I already had this on hand, but you can get it online or at Nature Valley Foods in Burnsville.

 

·         Slippery elm bark powder, 2x per day.  Sourced from Valley Natural Foods in Burnsville. 

 

·         Lightly cooked vegetables, 1x per day:

1.       Bring to boil in a little water, let steep a little, 1 – 3 minutes

2.       1 fresh leaf kale, chopped

3.       1 fresh stalk oregano, chopped

4.       1 fresh stalk sage, chopped

5.       1 fresh stalk parsley, chopped (I prefer curly parsley for this application)

6.       1 pinch dried red clover leaves/flowers (or 1 stalk fresh), chopped (MOST IMPORTANT!!) (also sourced from Valley Natural Foods in Burnsville)

7.       Sprinkle of sea salt – Real Salt brand (contains 60+ trace minerals) (sourced at Wintergreen Natural Foods; Hyvee also carries it)

Other support, just because it’s Lola and I wanted to do it:

Probiotics with breakfast

Digestive enzymes with each full meal

Hawthorne to support her heart (she has a heart murmur) 3x per day

 

DAILY MEALS

Breakfast:

12 oz raw food

1/4 c liver detox tea

1 Tbsp beef blood

1/64 tsp kelp

Slippery elm bark

Probiotics

Digestive enzymes

Hawthorne

 

Supper:

12 oz raw food

Lightly cooked vegetables

1/4 c liver detox tea

1 Tbsp beef blood

1/64 tsp kelp

Slippery elm bark

Probiotics

Digestive enzymes

Hawthorne

 

Bedtime:

1/4 c liver detox tea

1 Tbsp beef blood

 1 1/2 Tbsp pork brains, mashed

Hawthorne

 

NOTES:

I noticed that raw chicken aggravated the issue, even after the healing process began. It is my opinion that the chicken is most likely what caused the situation in the first place as that is what she was being fed previously.

 

Red clover is an important part of healing.  It thins, strengthens, and purifies the blood.  I feel it’s necessary and do not recommend skipping it.  I feel parsley is very important too; it is good for anemia.  Kelp was to quickly add iron to her diet, as was the beef blood.  Lola did not like the flavor of blood, so I mixed it in pork brains and her liver detox tea.

 

You have to be careful with dosages of kelp, as it can affect the thyroid.  After 2 – 3 weeks, I began lessening the dosage to once per week for a few more weeks, then stopped altogether. Kelp should only be used for the short term.

 

After 2 months of treatment, I stopped the kelp, slippery elm, beef blood, probiotics, digestive enzymes, as I felt they were no longer necessary. 

 

Between 2 – 4 months, I continued the leafy greens with red clover and detox tea at an average of once per week and will continuing that at least once every 2 weeks.  I will be giving her that for several more months at least.

 

Between the 3 – 4 month mark Lola’s coat was back to shiny, she began putting weight back on, and her breathing normalized (she is normally a slow deep breather when asleep, and went to fast shallow breathing, which was one flag that something was wrong).

 

I noticed it was right about the 4 month mark that Lola seemed to be back to 100%. Her gums went from pink-pink to red- pink, and her weight is back to normal.