Anemia help

Smarties
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My weimaraner puppy has issues with anemia. No particular reason that the vet was able to find. She's just turned 16 so she's got old bones.

I give her multivitamin drops with iron made for babies (Zarbees) now and it has helped her a lot. She's mostly back to her usual energetic self.

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I'm just wondering, aside from overall good nutrition and the Zarbees, if there is anything else I can do to boost her red blood cell production. Anything I read about anemia talks about rectifying various disorders that can be underlying causes, but she doesn't have an underlying cause except old age.

Thank you. :)
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Baconqueen13
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The average lifespan of a Weimaraner is 11-13 years. She's not a Puppy anymore and while yeah, it's great you're doing what you can to prolong her life She's NEVER going to be a F***ing puppy again, She's unlikely to be 100% her usual "energetic self" that you're used to because she's F***ing OLD. She's a senior dog. The more you do to "help" the more likely you are to cause other issues with things like her heart, kidney, and lungs because her body is less likely to be able to process it. The BEST thing you can do is listen to your vet and keep loving your dog during the final phase of her life.
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Baconqueen13 wrote: Sun Jan 19, 2020 8:04 pm The average lifespan of a Weimaraner is 11-13 years. She's not a Puppy anymore and while yeah, it's great you're doing what you can to prolong her life She's NEVER going to be a F***ing puppy again, She's unlikely to be 100% her usual "energetic self" that you're used to because she's F***ing OLD. She's a senior dog. The more you do to "help" the more likely you are to cause other issues with things like her heart, kidney, and lungs because her body is less likely to be able to process it. The BEST thing you can do is listen to your vet and keep loving your dog during the final phase of her life.

She will always be my puppy. Because she likes that I call her that. I don't care how old she is.

I will support her being healthy and alive so long as she's happy to be alive. And she is happy to be alive. I never saw a dog so happy to just exist. As a bonus, she still chases critters out of my backyard and keeps it squirrel-free. She earns her keep. :) Ironically, the vet suggested I feed her puppy food because of the added nutrient content. The vet also suggested I give her iron. So I do.

Thanks Bacon. Have a nice night!
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Smarties wrote: Sun Jan 19, 2020 8:08 pm
Baconqueen13 wrote: Sun Jan 19, 2020 8:04 pm The average lifespan of a Weimaraner is 11-13 years. She's not a Puppy anymore and while yeah, it's great you're doing what you can to prolong her life She's NEVER going to be a F***ing puppy again, She's unlikely to be 100% her usual "energetic self" that you're used to because she's F***ing OLD. She's a senior dog. The more you do to "help" the more likely you are to cause other issues with things like her heart, kidney, and lungs because her body is less likely to be able to process it. The BEST thing you can do is listen to your vet and keep loving your dog during the final phase of her life.

She will always be my puppy. Because she likes that I call her that.

I will support her being healthy and alive so long as she's happy to be alive. And she is happy to be alive. I never saw a dog so happy to just exist. As a bonus, she still chases critters out of my backyard and keeps it squirrel-free. She earns her keep. :)

Thanks Bacon. Have a nice night!
I'm just saying don't get so intent on "Fixing" her because you love her that you end up causing more harm than good.
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Baconqueen13 wrote: Sun Jan 19, 2020 8:10 pm
Smarties wrote: Sun Jan 19, 2020 8:08 pm
Baconqueen13 wrote: Sun Jan 19, 2020 8:04 pm The average lifespan of a Weimaraner is 11-13 years. She's not a Puppy anymore and while yeah, it's great you're doing what you can to prolong her life She's NEVER going to be a F***ing puppy again, She's unlikely to be 100% her usual "energetic self" that you're used to because she's F***ing OLD. She's a senior dog. The more you do to "help" the more likely you are to cause other issues with things like her heart, kidney, and lungs because her body is less likely to be able to process it. The BEST thing you can do is listen to your vet and keep loving your dog during the final phase of her life.

She will always be my puppy. Because she likes that I call her that.

I will support her being healthy and alive so long as she's happy to be alive. And she is happy to be alive. I never saw a dog so happy to just exist. As a bonus, she still chases critters out of my backyard and keeps it squirrel-free. She earns her keep. :)

Thanks Bacon. Have a nice night!
I'm just saying don't get so intent on "Fixing" her because you love her that you end up causing more harm than good.


I'm not trying to drug her up. Just support her being as healthy as she can be.
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I'd be concerned about cancer, specifically hemangioma sarcoma which causes anemia. I'd also be concerned about kidney disease because the kidneys produce EPO (erythropoietin) which stimulates red blood cell production in the bone marrow and when the kidneys aren't functioning properly they don't make enough EPO and anemia results. So you might want to investigate things further. If her kidney's aren't functioning properly, you might want to start her on 100-200mg of CoQ10. There are studies showing that high doses of coQ10 help kidney and liver functioning. Giving her a good multivitamin supplement with iron is a good start though. Zarbees has xylitol which is toxic to dogs and cats. You really should find another supplement.
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Listen to your vet, and just continue giving your girl the love she's always gotten. You've already gotten more years than what is usual, so keep that in mind.
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Smarties wrote: Sun Jan 19, 2020 8:11 pm
Baconqueen13 wrote: Sun Jan 19, 2020 8:10 pm
Smarties wrote: Sun Jan 19, 2020 8:08 pm


She will always be my puppy. Because she likes that I call her that.

I will support her being healthy and alive so long as she's happy to be alive. And she is happy to be alive. I never saw a dog so happy to just exist. As a bonus, she still chases critters out of my backyard and keeps it squirrel-free. She earns her keep. :)

Thanks Bacon. Have a nice night!
I'm just saying don't get so intent on "Fixing" her because you love her that you end up causing more harm than good.


I'm not trying to drug her up. Just support her being as healthy as she can be.
No one "Tries" to drug up or harm their elderly pets. (Well except maybe RB) Asking strangers "what more can I do" is a slippery slope of heeding bad advice from well meaning people who lack the proper knowledge to know better. Stick with advice from your vet, not professional google searchers.
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pinkbutterfly66 wrote: Sun Jan 19, 2020 8:13 pm I'd be concerned about cancer, specifically hemangioma sarcoma which causes anemia. I'd also be concerned about kidney disease because the kidneys produce EPO (erythropoietin) which stimulates red blood cell production in the bone marrow and when the kidneys aren't functioning properly they don't make enough EPO and anemia results. So you might want to investigate things further. If her kidney's aren't functioning properly, you might want to start her on 100-200mg of CoQ10. There are studies showing that high doses of coQ10 help kidney and liver functioning. Giving her a good multivitamin supplement with iron is a good start though. Zarbees has xylitol which is toxic to dogs and cats. You really should find another supplement.

Eek I will look into a different supplement. I didn't know that. My vet didn't mention it.

The vet did test her kidney function and said they were fine but I'm not exactly sure what was tested about them. I need to look into the erythropoietin!

If she has some kind of cancer there's no way I'm putting her through cancer treatment. :(

Thank you Pink! I was hoping you would let me know what you thought. This is very helpful.
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Baconqueen13 wrote: Sun Jan 19, 2020 8:15 pm
Smarties wrote: Sun Jan 19, 2020 8:11 pm
Baconqueen13 wrote: Sun Jan 19, 2020 8:10 pm

I'm just saying don't get so intent on "Fixing" her because you love her that you end up causing more harm than good.


I'm not trying to drug her up. Just support her being as healthy as she can be.
No one "Tries" to drug up or harm their elderly pets. (Well except maybe RB) Asking strangers "what more can I do" is a slippery slope of heeding bad advice from well meaning people who lack the proper knowledge to know better. Stick with advice from your vet, not professional google searchers.


On the one hand I understand what you're saying and will heed it. On the other hand after dealing with various misdiagnoses from doctors I've learned to arm myself with my own research as well. I appreciate what you're saying though.
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