Drop in red blood cells...

I seem to have some red blood cells that have taken a trip south. I'm male, 50 presently at 190lbs down from 225 in January. Lungs are good heart is fine, iron good, sleep fine. all the tests look good. ?? I read here that it could be not enough protein. I started using whey protein. Any ideas?

What did your vet say? Does he (or she) have any ideas?

what is your daily intake of protein? yes, you need protein for blood cells, (as well as skin, hair, nails, muscle cells,) and if you don't get enough, your body won't be able to constantly replace them, as it normally does. your calories should be 20 to 30% from protein every day.

kathyg 

The vet says it could be stress from too many cats in the neighbourhood.

-j

20-30% hey elin. This has been going on since last fall. I'll have to take a look at my records since joining CC.

Thanks

Opps... bad news elin. For this month so far its 22.2 fat, 18.9 potein, 58.9 carbs. Last month was 17.6 fat, 15.9 protein and 66.5. 

Oh oh, Bad dog... bad. Are all the carbs bad when trying to take off weight? I know they are good for cycling when trying to get quick energy for racing and such. I do a lot of cycling so I kind of need some carbs or I will bonk.

-j

Nah, complex carbs are good...you need carbs to support muscle repair and development - just ask the Navy SEALs...or...I guess you would ask the K9 corp...

Yes a lot of nightime recon work as a chicken thief.

that's right--carbs are important too. making sure they are from fruits veggies and whole grains is the important thing. i try for a 50 carb 25 protein 25% fat ratio. some say 40-30-30, and others 60-20-20, but since that's close to what you've been doing, maybe try for a different ratio for awhile?

Are you doing anything high-impact such as jogging?  That can cause blood cell lysis if you do it a LOT.  I don't know that cycling would though... 

Plus, older retrievers tend to lose some red blood count naturally, not that you are old, per se...

I read about the impact injuries to the blood vessels causing internal bleeding but no. Nothing against runners but I wouldn't run from a burning building, so that shows you how much I like to run. I wear the proper stiff souled cycling shoes and I can't see the pressure on my feet as being that great maybe a bit more while climbing but nothing special

-j

dearest mr. jiggles a.k.a t-bone,

i am so confused, you seem to put on an awful lot of weight since you wrote your profile. but maybe pounds can be converted into people pounds just like years are converted into dog years. is this why the numbers are so different? i would like to learn the formula for converting dog pounds into people pounds. please please wont you teach me.... i have a treat! yum yum a treat!

kind regards,
ilovebunnies

p.s. stop chasing the bunnies. there are much nicer ways to burn calories!

Dear ilb,

Please don't be confused. The calculation for dog pounds into people pounds is really quite easy. It is much like the metric system of pounds into kilograms but only less accurate. We like to refer to it as SFS otherwise known as the sliding fido scale.

Just take your pooch weight, lets say 50 p/lb multiply by 2.15 getting your people pounds of 107.5 lb.

There is the fudge factor, meaning the longer you sit slobbering while looking at your owner eating a piece of fudge the less you will weigh... much like sweating.

Hope this clears things up -jiggles