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chemo and low red blood-cell count

RoseDovey Jun 21, 2013 11:18 PM

My dog just started chemo for lymphoma, and her second treatment has had to be delayed twice now because her red blood-cell count is too low. Her white blood-cell count is normal.

My vet recommended feeding her more liver, and I've also added cooked nettles and nettle tea to her diet for the iron, but so far it doesn't seem to be helping. She has kidney and liver problems, which have improved a lot over the last few months but may still be hampering her ability to replace red blood-cells.

In addition to any dietary advice, I also wondered if you know whether getting a lot of exercise would be good, bad, or irrelevant to this problem. It seems to me like the need for more oxygen in the blood might stimulate the production of red blood-cells, but on the other hand it may just "wear out" the ones she has left and make them die faster. Any thoughts on that?

Thank you for your time.

Replies (1)

PHDrTobin Jul 09, 2013 03:12 PM

Add raw beef kidney to her diet in order to provide more erythropoietin. Exercise may also help, as would bringing her to stay at a higher elevation, such as high in the mountains.

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