Dogs » Awaiting a blood test

This question is related to: Bonnie the dog

Age:	possibly 10
Gender:	Female
Breed:	beagle
Neutered:	Unknown
Weight:	15kg

Vaccination History:	rabies and general flea etc. We travel in europe with her so she has everythng up to date to take her back to the UK.
Fed On:	dry dog food, not the most expensive but not the cheapest
Kept:	She stays in the house unless its nice then she goes out.

Awaiting a blood test

My dog is a rescue dog, we have had her for 7 and a half years. We found her on the street in the USA. She was treated for heart worm in 2006 and recovered well. She had a benign tumour removed from her mouth nearly two years ago, unfortunately, she has another small tumour in her mouth now.

She was in season about 4 weeks ago.

She has been fine and active until about 4 weeks.ago, when we've noticed her slowing down a bit. We don't know her age exactly but at least eight and a half, a couple of vets think she may be 10 or eleven years old.

The vet recommended that she take a blood test to check that everything is functioning correctly. When she was trying to take the blood it was difficult to find the vein and the blood could only be drawn very slowly. She said that something is definately not right.

Does anyone have any experience of this? I have to wait a week for the test and only the test will be conclusive, but I just wondered what it could possibly be.

The vet also listened to her heart and thought it to be a bit irregular, but she was stressed by the needle and yelped a couple of times. We had to leave it 10 mins so she could calm down a bit.

Thanks for any input.

28/4/12

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Oh I forgot to mention that she has put weight on in the last 3 or 4 weeks, and despite reducing her food, it's not moving. She is a small dog and the slightest change in her intake affects her, usually we conrol her wieght well.

Water retention?

28/4/12

does sound like a circulatory/ water retention problem.. The weight increase or change in abdominal shape may well be caused by fluid alone or fluid and some sort of benign tumour.
we await the blood results with interest.
I also am aware that 4 weeks after a season is the prime time for the occurrence of uterine problems and pyometra so monitor he water intake by measuring it daily and if it is going up consider spaying and having a good look and feel around the abdomen at the same time.

28/4/12

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Thanks stuart. Hwe water intake has gone up, but we're in spain and it's in the mid to late 20's so we thought it could be the heat.

28/4/12

any suggestion that the mucous membranes are pale or she is off her food get her to a vet now.

28/4/12

She loves her food, that would be a dead give away. Not sure what to look for with her mucous membranes.

May be unrelated, but she keeps nibbling at her blanket, and she is nibbling her pads a bit, but she did that last year and the vet put some cream on them and bandaged them up for a while and it cleared up and she hasn't done it again until now.

28/4/12

doubt the itching is connected to the weight more likely to be an allergy or simple irritation.
Easiest mucous membranes to check are her gums Most of the gums should be a light poached salmon pink. When pressure is applied to the membrane against the bone of the jaw it will go white(check for any yellowing) and when the pressure is released the colour should flood back in immediately. Any greyness or paleness indicates a toxic problem (as in a pyometra) or anaemia and delay in return of the colour (should return fully in 4 secs indicates a circulatory problem. Whilst applying the pressure check that the gums feel silky and not sticky any tackyness indicates dehydration that requires immediate correction either orally or intra venously

28/4/12

Right we'll keep an eye on that over the next week.

28/4/12

She's definately drinking more. It's much cooler today and she keeps drinking. She's still eating ok though.

29/4/12

best get her checked out Monday an Ultrasound scan my well be worth but if you are with an experienced vet rely on his clinical judgement it id likely to be cheaper and right!

29/4/12

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I called the vet today and she said she can get the blood test results through before Saturday.

It's much cooler today and Bonnie is more like her old self!!

30/4/12

The results came back today and the dog has severe anaemia. The vet wants to start treatment tomorrow and do some more blood tests. She did mention the word leukemia, but I spoke to her over the phone and she is Spanish so it was difficult to fully understand. Face to face tomorrow will be better.

She wants to do more tests to find out what is causing the anaemia.

She has been much brighter since Saturday and still loves her food.

3/5/12

good luck to all three of you, you her and the vet this is going to need a team effort please do keep us informed!

4/5/12

The blood tests have shown that there are no parasites in the blood, nor infection or tumour in evidence.

The blood was easier to take today, but the white blood cells are low. the vet has given her something, don't what it is yet as I have to google translate it.

I know you can't say for sure Stuart, but what do you think the prognosis is from your experience of these things. I

4/5/12

Nutri-plus gel is what she's given her. Will it do any good? What would you do to treat her do you think Stuart?

4/5/12

What do you think Stuart about the prognosis and the treatment?

7/5/12

oops sorry been managing to almost keep up with new questions but have missed out on your continuation sorry not sure how that has happened but will look into it.
I do find it f difficult as as yet there does not seem to be a diagnosis here. is there any change is shape in her tummy? has she had any ultrasound scan or even a thorough palpation of the abdomen even if necessary wit a little bit of sedation to relax her I come back t common things occur commonly so rumbling uterine and splenic problems are still high o my list both should be diagnosable by the above or even if suspected then exploratory laparotomy may be justified
the neutigel will certainly help to build her up.

8/5/12

No problem Stuart, I know your busy. I appreciate you taking the time to answer.

The vet is seeing her again on Satruday after giving her this gel for 10 days. She is almost back to her old self again and I say almost because I don't want to jinx it. She's playing, rolling over for a beely rub and running up the steps when we leave the garden for a walk.

My husband used to take her for a walk up a path with aa foot and half scramble to get on it, he hasn't been able to take her for a few weeks. I've just taken her and she jumped up it llike a 2 year-old.

I'm sure she can't just be cured, could the gel just be masking everything? i wondered if perhaps her diet has been poorer than we thought. there was a problem with meat that a manufacturer had on the shelves and we gave her the complete dog food biscuit of the same bradn, although they said there wasn't a problem with the biscuits maybe there was.

8/5/12

good news! I so like good news. AS long as she continues to improve relax and get her spayed in a couple of months time mid way between her e seasons. I wil have private bet with you that her uterus shows cystic changes!

8/5/12

I can't believe this dog. I hope I'm not going to be disappointed but she's started flinging herself around like a pogo stick when I'm getting her dinner ready, something else she'd stopped doing.

My husband did say she was erratic on the walk, but it is 29 degrees here and the heat could have affected her, she also likes to sniff every blalde of grass.

I hope she's going to be ok.

10/5/12

sounds that way see above though and please please do get her spayed.

10/5/12

She's been with us 7 years now and she is a lovely, lovely dog, i hope we have a few more years with her.

Will she be too old to get spayed?

10/5/12

no way and best way of removing many of the barriers to her good health in her later years.

10/5/12

My dogf is chasing lizards agailn! We took her to the vet who took another blood test. The blood flowed easily this time , uknlike two weeks ago when very little blod came out.

We will find out on Tuesday whether or not her blood counts have improved.

12/5/12

The blood test has come back with good news. All her levels are up. We are seeing the vet on Saturday to discuss what to do next as she said we have to go easy with her.

I shall of course discuss the possibilty of her being spayed.

Anyway, I can see she has improved and I am so happy. Whatever it takes to keep her well, she will get.

15/5/12

thanks fingers etc remain crossed. (well done the vet!)

15/5/12

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