When a bruise is not just a bruise

Owners often find spots on their pet’s skin. Some can be scabby, some red, some angry, some pus filled and some even have a discharge. The majority of these are caused by the dogs reaction to his or her environment and although itchy, irritating and annoying they are never life threatening. However there is a particular skin spot that is life threatening and must be taken seriously. This appears as a bruise on your animal’s skin which you first notice on its tummy but then quickly realise that it is within the haired areas as well. These ‘bruises’ can also appear on the gums and within the white areas of the eyes.

They appear because your pet has become very deficient in a part of the blood called your platelets. These tiny bits in the blood are the body’s first step in the clotting cascade which is what makes you stop bleeding when cut.

There are lots of reasons for the platelets (thrombocytes) to be very low and it takes various tests to understand more but all require fast aggressive treatment to save your pets life.

The most common cause of this disease is called Immune-mediated Thrombocytopenia, which is where the animals own immune system attacks its own platelets. 

Treatment for this disease is in the form of tablets that suppress our pet’s immune system and thereby stop the destruction of the cells. Their bodies will then continue to produce platelets and numbers will rapidly increase allowing the blood clot to form and the bruises to stop. Time is of the essence though as some dogs can become very anaemic before the disease is recognised and these pets must have more medications and even undergo blood transfusions.

Jaffa is a lovely little terrier who’s owner, Miss Barker, found such ‘bruises’ on his tummy and quickly bought him to the clinic for an examination. Blood tests performed that day confirmed our fears that this was indeed thrombocytopeania and treatment was started immediately.  Miss Barker was instructed to keep Jaffa very quiet – not an easy task when his brothers and sisters numbered around 8! Any sudden knock or fall could have meant a massive bleed and possible death.

Thankfully Jaffa has responded brilliantly to the medications and has doubled his platelet count over the last 6 weeks. Miss Barker can rest assured that Jaffa’s blood is back in normal working order and he is once again running with his family.

Although Jaffa is still going to need to be on medication for a number of months we are hopeful that he will eventually come off the tablets. About 50% of dogs with this disease will go on to have no further problems with their blood however 50% will have reoccurring bouts and Miss Barker will always have to keep a careful watch for those nasty bruises which mean so much more than just a bruise!