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Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia In Australian Shepherds

How We Cured Our Dog Weasel Of IMHA

It was not so long ago, about two months that Weasel our 3½ year old Australian Shepherd started to show a lack of energy and no longer wanted to play. One day Weasel was running and fell over and was unable to get up. We noticed it and wondered what was the problem, it was so out of character for him, but still it didn't sink in that there was something wrong. A couple of days went by and I happened to see him running up the hill and he fell over again and struggled to get up and then just laid on his side. I went outside and helped him up. We made an appointment with who I considered to be the best vet in town.

Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia Diagnosis

Weasel's Dad, Robert called me a couple of hours later sobbing that Weasel had been diagnosed with IMHA (Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia) and had less than 6 months to live and could possibly die in less than 2 weeks. I was incredulous, here was a young, extremely healthy and energetic dog given less than 6 months to live. I was heart broken.

Robert came home and I remember saying to him, "I am not giving up on Weasel, doctors do not have all the answers and we need to find out everything there is to know about this disease." At which point we both hit the Internet and began to research all of the options.

Robert Keeler

Natural treatment helped Weasel to recover from Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia (IMHA) which is often fatal.

I think this is a very important part of the process of healing. Doctors and vets are not God. They have limited tools to work with and very little nutritional training to speak of. This is a starting point not an end. Do not give up on your pet because an authority figure tells you there is no hope. That is just their opinion.

Weasel spent the weekend at the veterinarian hospital getting 2 blood transfusions and being put on steroids. His red blood cell count was down to 13, normal is 40 to 45. The cost of those 3 days was over $1,300.00.

There is not much known about Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia. Causes can be breed specific, but Australian Shepherds are not known to be prone to this disease. Vaccinations have been known to cause it; tick bites and trauma are also causes. The tick test turned out negative.

The usual treatment is to give steroids and immune suppressants as the body seems to be attacking it’s own red blood cells as well as not being able to produce them. The dog actually dies of anemia, hence the name Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia. Over 80% of dogs diagnosed with this disease die within 6 months, 50 % of them within 2 weeks.

One of the first sites that we found was OptimumChoices.com. The products are based on the research of Dr. Kiriac. It turns out that in the Chernobyl aftermath, not only were people dying of cancer but so were livestock and other animals. Dr. Kiriac, a Russian scientist had done extensive research with micro algae and cancer. (IMHA and cancer are treated the same with this product).

Dr. Kiriac found that certain micro algae (and he tested a thousand different strains of them) were effective in nourishing the areas of the brain that control metabolic health, namely the Hypothalamus, pituitary, thalamus and pineal gland. By doing this he was able to give the body what it needed to heal itself. In essence treating the whole body, not the symptoms as it the usual treatment for animals with IMHA.

BAC (Bio-Algae Concentrates) has also proved to be one of the most effective products in healing IMHA because of its ability to stimulate the body to produce red blood cells. If I had only one product that I could afford to buy, it would be the Bio Algae concentrate. The formula that I gave Weasel is called, Bio Preparation F3. There are many great testimonials on this site and the work of Dr. Kiriac is very inspirational to say the least.

The second website that I found worth ordering from was VitalityScience.com. One of the members of Australian-Shepherd-Lovers.com recommended it. The products are for total immune support. I ordered Pet Lipids For Dogs and a product called Celloquent.

While waiting for products to come, I immediately started a regime that I created out of what I had on hand. Knowing that greens, especially micro algae were healing, I created a “green drink” for Weasel. I am somewhat of a health nut and make smoothies for myself out of super foods. I used my powdered greens, powdered minerals (Weasel was eating dirt so he was so low on iron), Canadian Gold honey (a very medicinal honey) and a high quality Aloe Vera juice. (Aloe is an anti inflammatory and very important to the immune system). I cannot stress enough that the quality of these products are of utmost importance. You will not get the same results using any honey from your local supermarket or Aloe from the drug store. All of these products were from Premier Research Labs. This is what I started him on 3 times a day. He loved the drink and if I did not give it to him on time, he would show up as if to say, “where’s my green drink?” It was good just to see him enthusiastic about anything.

Within the next 5 days I started to receive the products that I had ordered from the above websites. I replaced my powdered greens with the BAC and started increasing the number of green drinks that Weasel received. Eventually building up to 6 a day, every 2 hours. When a dog has a weakened immune system, you have to start slow and build up to the dosage as they need time to detoxify their body.

The Pet Lipids and Celloquent from VitalityScience.com were added to his food. I had put him on a diet of calves’ liver (lightly seared), beef (lightly seared) and a chicken soup that included beets, broccoli, bok choy and saur kraut. Beets because I know how they help the body to detox, Broccoli, Bok Choy and Cabbage because they are all anti carcinogenic (as all cruciferous vegetables are).

So Weasel was now getting 3 of these meals and 6 green drinks and approximately 5 beef marrow bones a day. Further blood tests revealed that he was continuing to loose red blood cells and his energy continued to decrease. This was no longer the dog we both knew. He spent all the day sleeping, we had to lift him into the car, and thank God he never lost his appetite.

I have to say at this point I had all of my friends praying for Weasel, Robert put Weasel on Facebook and the Australian-Shepherd-Lovers.com website asking for help. I even had a friend go to Marianne Williamson’s lecture and put him on the prayer list.

I also was doing energy work on him; other healers that I knew were doing energy work on him and to no avail. I kept thinking, I’m missing a piece of this puzzle and I don’t know what it is. Then I had a breakthrough. As I always say, "God works in mysterious ways."

	Robert Keeler Weasel relaxing.

I had to travel to LA for work and was scheduled to pick up products from my doctor who practices Quantum Reflex Analysis. I went to Rebecca Mahboubi’s office to pick up my products and she happened to have a half hour free with no clients (something that never happens). Little did I know that she worked on dogs. I started to tell her about Weasel and complained that I was doing all the right things and nothing was making a difference. She asked what had been done for him so far. When I told her that Weasel was on steroids, she basically said, how can he heal himself if you are suppressing his immune system. We spent the time muscle testing for Weasel.

In case no one is aware of the methods of Quantum Reflex Analysis, it is a system of very specific muscle testing while asking yes or no questions. We fine-tuned his diet, she tested for the cause of the illness which turned out to be a car accident that Weasel had 6 months earlier and he evidently was still suffering from stress from the accident. I never knew that dogs suffered that badly from trauma. She tested for the drugs that he was on and said that I needed to take him off the steroids and immune suppressant as soon as possible, in fact her words were,”Cold Turkey”.

Weasel was so weak at this point I was afraid to just take him off all at once, but I instructed Robert to start weaning him off a pill a day (he was on 6 steroids and 1 new immune suppressant.) After 3 days and a lot of thinking about everything Rebecca had said, I told Robert to stop giving Weasel all steroids and the immune suppressant. She also gave me more products from Premier Research Labs for building his blood and detoxing his liver from the steroids.

When I got back in town Weasel was looking better. His eyes were brighter; he was more present and seemed to have more energy. His gums were starting to look a little pink (a sign of increased red blood cells) and I started him on short walks.

A week and a half goes by and we take him to the vet to check his red blood cell count. It seemed like forever before we got the results. Finally, the doctor comes in and says that he has good news. Weasel’s count is up to 28 from 15 since his last blood test! Imagine his surprise when we told him that he had been off all of their meds for a week and a half. We were so excited to get proof that Weasel was now healing and stable.

Two more weeks have gone by and it was time to have another blood test at this time. Weasel is wagging his tail and once again wanting to play. His attitude has completely changed, it’s as if he was never sick.
The new blood test reveals that Weasel’s red blood count is now up to 35! That’s great news because it can take up to 6 months to replace new blood cells. We could not be happier.

Subsequent tests showed Weasel’s red blood cell count to be 46, actually higher than normal. This is a mere 6 weeks after taking him off the steroids. I am told that staff members came out to the lobby after the results to give Weasel a standing ovation. He is very popular and the poster child for IMHA recovery. I cannot stress enough that the treatment of steroids and immune suppressants is not the way to heal this disease.

I am listing the final diet that was given to Weasel to produce these results. I will never again feed him processed food or commercial dog food. His appetite is so much different now that he is getting whole foods and he has so much more energy.

A lesson learned: if the first 2 ingredients of your dog food are grain and chicken parts, discontinue using it if you care about the health of your dog. This is just my personal opinion. Dogs eat raw meat in the wild and not just steak, but organs and the vegetables that are in the stomach of the prey animal. I’m not saying that there are no good dog foods out there, but you won’t find any in the market and I haven’t seen many good ones in Vet’s offices either.

We will be continuing to give Weasel maintenance doses of the BAC and whatever else he tests strong for. It is so great to have a practitioner that can give me specific data on what is actually needed to achieve and maintain optimum health. I highly recommend this approach as opposed to treating the symptoms, not the cause. I cannot say enough good things about the treatment and recommendations that came from my doctor, Rebecca Mahboubi. Her office is in Beverly Hills and handles all Premier Research Labs products

Weasel’s Nutritional Program for Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia

BEFORE BREAKFAST:
1st Green Drink: 1 BAC tablet (emptied into bowl),
1 t. Aloe vera juice (for inflammation),
1 t. Canadian honey (dissolved in a little warm water),
1t. EFA oil (inflammation),
1 t. Liver nano (for any damage done to the liver from steroids).
All products except for BAC are from Premier Research Labs.

BREAKFAST: 1t. Nutritional flakes, 2 tabs of Erythro Pro (emptied in bowl)- both are Premier Research Lab’s products and are for blood building, 1t. of Celloquent, 1 t. of pet lipids. (Vitality Science immune support products). One piece of calves’ liver (lightly seared), one piece of beef steak (lightly seared). Chicken stew (chicken leg quarter) with broccoli, bok choi, beets, and saur kraut and pink salt- (good source of minerals)-Premier Research Labs.

2nd Green Drink: (2 hours after first): 1 tab BAC,
1 t. aloe vera,
1 t. Canadian honey, maybe 2 T. water.

3rd Green Drink: ""

LUNCH: Beef, calves liver, chicken and some stew with 2 tabs of ErythroPro dissolved.

4th Green Drink: (2 hours after last green drink) same as last.

5th Green Drink: ""

6th Green Drink: Same with the addition of 1 t. Liver Nano, after 1 week reduce to 1 t. daily.

DINNER: Same as breakfast.

Mud packs every other day for 10 minutes in sun. This is to detox all of the areas that were injured in the car accident. (Premier Research Lab’s product.)

If anyone has any questions relative to this regime, please contact me at: llpdinc@earthlink.net

Rebecca Mahboubi can be reached at: restoremyhealth@aol.com

More information about Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia here.

For more information about autoimmune disease in Australian Shepherds see the Australian Shepherd Health & Genetics Institute (ASHGI).

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