bleeding gums and purple marks on body

[Bob Johnston]

Im not sure where to really start. We noticed Sophie was bleeding from her gums after playing over the holiday weekend with kids an another dog. we irrigated and made sure nothing was stuck in there. Today we went to the vet to see if we missed anything. She found the purple marks all over her body and said she thinks her blood isn't clotting right and she is running a bit of a temp. We were transferred to the 24 hr emergency vet because they can do blood tests on site and she was worried about maybe rat or mouse poisoning. thank god they ruled that out right away with tests. the picture is all the tests they have done so far. Here is a list of things they found wrong and what they are doing to treat until more tests come back.

 

Bleeding from gums

red/purple spots over body

mild anemia

very few platelets 

Sophie 10,000 platelets

normal 200,000 platelets

 

Treatment

steroids immunosuppressive does

doxycycline for possible tick bite infection

 

If anyone has any info that may help me out here on what is going on it would be very very appreciated or if you think I should post this in a specific or other areas to get the most responses let me know. Still kind of in shock that this is all happening.

 

 

[lyn cederholm]

My dog is hospitalized now with the same thing.  Everything is okay except her platelets are very low.  She is lethargic and running a fever as well.  They are treating her with steriods and doxycyclone.  It can be triggered by vaccinnes or tick related illness.....  So, so worried for my sweet dog and spending a fortune trying to get her well.  They are doing another platelet check on her today.  Thinking about you! :(

http://ic.upei.ca/cidd/disorder/immune-mediated-thrombocytopenia

[Bob Johnston]

Did they start her on an immune suppressant.

[Bob Johnston]

Sophie's blood tests came back today and her platelets were 360,000 which is high normal. cares is going to talk to our vet so we can begin to taper down all her meds. we can also go back to hard kibble so good news all around.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Great news.

[charlotte bednarsh]

Thank goodness.  So glad the news is good!

[Bob Johnston]

I know it has been forever since I gave an update on Sophie but it has been slow going and lots of testing. I am very happy to say that her platelet count has been holding at above normal now and her liver function test are all normal. She is back to a normal weight, ok maybe a pound or two over but we are ok with that for now. She is slowly tapering off her prednisone and even showing interest in playing with her toys again even if its only a few mins every other day.

[AndySharon BoomerShaynaMariner]

Thank you for the update.  Sounds good - please keep us updated.

[lyn cederholm]

So good to hear this, as we are going through it now!!!  Is she still doing well?

[Lynda Kamrath]

I checked to see where you guys live because I was curious if it is in an agricultural area.  Can't tell as they seem to be rural addresses.  The reason I am asking is because one of my students (many years ago) had these same symptoms and was diagnosed with a "rare" disease at Stanford Hospital.  She had bruises all over her body. Another student in her same third grade class came down with the same disease and the school was located right by some strawberry fields.  They moved!  She is fine now and I saw her at the junior college a few months ago, but she was treated for a long time.  This "rare disease" was probably caused by chemicals used on the plants right next to the school.  Something to think about.  There are many things in our environments that are not healthy for living things (animal and vegetable).  Any GMO crops in your area?

[Bob Johnston]

Weirdly enough we do have some strawberry fields near us but not close enough that we should have to worry about but if it happens again I will bring that up to the vet.