Heart Disease in Dogs – Herbal Approaches
I’ve been receiving quite a few questions on heart disease in dogs and though it was time to address it in a blog post. I’ve been pretty impressed on how much herbs and acupuncture can help stabilize these dogs.
You all know where I’m going with this! I do believe acupuncture is a great treatment to slow down heart disease. Acupuncture works with blood flow, helps keep blood pressure stable, and helps assure blood flows smoothly and easily throughout the body. I really love to work with dogs with heart issues because I think it helps them feel better and live longer!
I just want to say a word about medication. Unless they are very early in disease, most of the dogs I work with are also on medication. This is a disease where western and eastern treatments work well together. Don’t skip the meds!
Below are a few of my favorite herbals/supplements
- Hawthorn is about the best heart supporting herb out there. It is also very safe. I combine it with ginkgo, which also supports the heart and blood flow. I sell a version on etsy called Heart and Brain support and Animal Essentials also has a product called Heart Health.
- Xue Fu Zhu Yu Tang. This Chinese formula helps with blood stagnation especially in the chest. Most of the heart disease we see in animals is due to blood stagnation (not true in humans) and I’ve seen this formula really help. You can use the formula I make with added E Zhu and Sang Leng or the formula without the added two herbs.
- Coenzyme Q10. I’m more of an herbalist than a supplement vet but I do really like CoQ10 and use it in some of patients. It is a powerful antioxidant, helps supplement the health of the heart muscle and studies have shown it prolongs survival in people with heart failure. It also helps protect the heart from drugs that can damage it like the chemotherapy drug doxorubicin. I use 200mg a day for average sized dogs.
There are other supplements and herbs that can help with heart disease but these are my favorites!
