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Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - Vitamin K
| I remember reading something some time ago about the negative effects of vitamin K on dogs and, as I recall, it had to do with dogs with IMHA. Does anyone know about this? I don't seem to be able to remember where I read this. Does anyone know anything about the effects of vitamin K? Joanne, does this ring any bells with you? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Louise |
| Louise Toronto |
| Louise, I saw this many times in reference to Heinz body anemia. I researched this after Chance's surgery. They weren't sure if he had a clotting disorder and administered a shot of K3 after the surgery. Heinz body anemia is what we commonly know of as something that happens after onion ingestion by dogs. The second reference is from a feline article, but is the same thing with dogs. However vitamin k is an essential vitamin in the manufacture of certain clotting agents so is important in blood production. Patrice From Cornell Veterinary Consultant: http://tinyurl.com/2p2p VITAMIN K TOXICITY IN DOGS, HEMOLYTIC ANEMIA Description: High doses of vitamin K1 and K3 have experimentally produced Heinz body hemolytic anemia in dogs, and a case in which anemia was associated with very high doses was reported. From: 27th World Small Animal Veterinary Association Feline Anemias-A Diagnostic Challenge snip>Administration of various drugs, including methylene blue, DL-methionine, phenacetin, and vitamin K3 (>5 mg/kg/day) can lead to Heinz body hemolytic anemia. |
| Patrice New York State |
| Louise, I think the discussion you are referring to was some time back and it was in regard to someone thinking their dog had developed AIHA/IMHA as a result of eating a dog food that contained Vitamin K. That person had visited with manufacture of the food and it appeared the manufacture was in the process of removing the Vitamin K from the dog food. I searched the archives for this discussion but I can't seen to find it. Here is the URL of a page that vauguely refers to such a situtation. Vitamin K is not mentioned in the article but I found this site when googling Vitamin K and IMHA. |
| Joanne MN |
| Whoops, forgot to put The URL in my last post http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1476-4431.2005.00149.x |
| Joanne MN |
| Thanks so much Patrice and Joanne. If vitamin k is in the ingredient list of a commercial dog food (last item in the list of ingredients) do you think it is cause for concern when feeding to an IMHA dog? Louise |
| Louise Toronto |
| Louise, I did see the website that talked about synthetic vitamin k3, menadione, being in dog food and implicating it as a carcinogen and causing hemolytic anemia in canines, among other problems. http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=menadione I discounted it after a quick browse and went back to google to look for more scholarly articles. My first impression was that the author hadn't researched it properly and was posting his hypothesis rather than research. Now that I go back to the website I see a link to a forum, with one posting (?) that refers to AAFCO publications about mandated dog food ingredients. The author claims there is no industry mandate for K as an ingredient in dog foods, or at least menadione, the synthetic version. http://forums.dogfoodproject.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=33105 In any case, the person who developed this website has made a well organized look at commercial pet foods, and has an especially well written glossary of ingredients and their origin and purpose. In both of the articles I refer to here, it is a shot of K3 (the synthetic vitamin K), or in other words a high dose or multiple high doses that were the cause of the Heinz body anemia. I have trouble extrapolating from high injected doses of K3 to an ingredient listed last on a label of a dog food. I am no expert here, but this would certainly be a great question for a specialist in aiha. I certainly can be suspicious when it comes to ingredients included in dog foods, especially after the last go around here in the US. I have to say that I never trusted manufactured dog food in my house and I make all the food that both dogs eat. I have read plenty of information aimed at discrediting commercial dog food companies. I therefore value every hour I spend in the kitchen "making meals" as time well spent. If you are looking for a source of diagnosis, I can imagine that veterinarians would be reluctant to implicate dog food as a cause of aiha, whilst visions of law suits danced in their heads. In general, they are living on the edge right now with even some fancy prescription dog foods on the recall list. If anyone is looking for a source of information on what dog foods are high quality and safe I can recommend www.wholedogjournal.com. This publication can be bought as a subscription on line or a mailed newsletter. But you can also purchase single articles for a fair price to be edelivered. She does a biyearly article where she lists the best dry and canned dog foods. She really does her research, asking plant managers to let her into production plants to observe the operation! I do keep around a bag or two of her recommended brands of food for emergencies. Patrice |
| Patrice New York State |
| Here is what i know about Vitamin K. We were getting some our boys old toys out of the attic for the grandkids and Honey was in athe garage. WE had been out there 10-15 minutes and Honey threw up--green chunky stuff. I kne at once she had eaten a d-con mouse poison bar. We must have accidently knocked it out of the attic as that was the only place we had poison due to having 4 dogs, a cat, and two grandkids. I rushed her right to my vet, just a tad over a mile away and he instantly gave her a vitamin K injuection and something to make her throw up more. She threw up more the bar. i am pretty sure she got a 2ed injection of the vitamin K aslo. and then she was on the capsuls for 50 days, or maybe it was 45 days. Was over 4 years ago and i don't remember for sure. i do know he said the usual dosage is for 30 days, but he lost a dog that had taken it for just 30 days, so he upped it a bit. Three days after her last capsul, we had her blood tested and her clotting factor was perfect. Dcon thins the blood so much that just a bump on the side will cause the animal to bleed to death internally. The vitamin K "thickens" the blood, so to speak. As to the Dog Food project, that is written by a woman who use to belong to an all breed forum i belong to. She left and started her own forum and also this DogFood Project. Some believe every thing she writes, some don't. We have great food discussions on that forum--some do turn nasty--and there are many different nutrionist (I dont' now mnay are just using teir opions, how many are using science, how many are using facts) and different posters follow different ones. |
| Sandra Texas |
| Wow! Thank you so much Patrice and Sandra. The information you have provided is very helpful! Much appreciated. I guess to be sure I will check with Newman's specialist but I will be armed with more information and a little better understanding than I had before. Louise |
| Louise Toronto |
This thread was discussed between 14/10/2007 and 16/10/2007
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