Replying to Rachel L. 25/02/2024 - 18:42
Hello Rachel.
Me again. You have me down a polycythaemia rabbit hole.
I wanted to share this slightly unusual treatment strategy for polycythemia in a cat. I am absolutely not advocating doing this:
A novel bone marrow-sparing treatment for primary erythrocytosis in a cat: Onion powder
Primary erythrocytosis (PE) is a rare myeloproliferative neoplasm in cats resulting in the overproduction of erythrocytes. Current treatment modalities include repeated phlebotomy and chemotherapeutic drugs. These treatments may not be well tolerated by the cat and can present safety and financial challenges to owners. Because of the rarity of PE, prospective studies for new treatment options are difficult to perform. This case report describes the novel use of onion powder in an attempt to produce Heinz body-induced erythrocyte destruction in order to decrease total erythrocyte mass and normalize the hematocrit in a cat with PE. To our knowledge, the use of onion powder in the treatment of PE in cats has never been described before and may have potential as a safe, low-cost, and highly accessible alternative treatment for this rare disease.
The full paper can be accessed for free:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc8295705/
Thoughts on using toxicity as a therapeutic strategy!? Not for me!
Scott 🙂
