Immune Mediated Thrombocytopenia

Question:

I live in a small town in Ontario Canada and there aren't any holistic vets close by. My dog is 3 years old and when she received her one year set of immunization she became very ill. She had internal bleeding and a very high white blood cell count. She was diagnosed with Immune mediated Thrombocytopenia. Presently she is on 25mg of azathioprine daily. I get a CBC done monthly to monitor her cell count. If the level of white cells increase she gets put on a low dose of Prednisone. I feed her a diet of Go dry food and supplement it with Natures Variey frozen chunks. She also gets Urban Wolf wild salmon oil. Is there any natural supplement that I could be giving her to help with this condition? I would like to get her off the steroid and the Azathioprine. Any information you can provide will be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time. Lynn

Hello Lynn,
Thank you for your inquiry to Holistic Pet Info. Immune mediated responses to vaccines unfortunately happen frequently enough to rethink yearly protocols. Azathioprine is an anti-inflammatory that is also considered an immunosuppressant. Prednisone is also an immunosuppressant, both of which will take some time to wean your dog off if and when she is healthy enough to do so.  

Vitammune by Thorne is a Chinese herbal that I’d recommend to support your animal’s depleted immune system. Also Cell Advance by Vetri-Science is a high-quality anti-oxidant for total body support.

Natures Variety and Go! Natural dog foods are both well balanced diets that should help keep her at the highest level of nutrition. Once you start her on the supplements and continue to monitor her progress work closely with your vet to discuss when she is able to be weaned from the immunosuppressant’s. Best of luck.
Sincerely,
Colleen Smith DVM, CVA