Gigantic Bruise On Raven's Chest

[GreytNut]

Raven rolled over for a tummy rub a little bit ago, so I obediently went over to massage Her Highness's belly. Criminy, there's an absolutely hoarking huge bruise on her chest! It reaches from her sternum up to her neck. It's bright red with blood just under the skin, but no actual bleeding on the surface.

 

After the initial panic, I formulated two theories 1) She fell on that %$#& laminate flooring in the kitchen and whacked herself really good, or 2) the hematoma on her neck is leaking. She has a hematoma about the size of a walnut in the hollow of her neck which the vet said was harmless and not worth putting her under anesthesia to remove. He said it ought to wait until she's under for something else like a dental. It's broken open once before and bled quite a bit, but it doesn't cause her any pain whatsoever. I'm wondering if maybe this time it broke on the inside and is simply leaking under the skin. If that's the case, it's nothing to worry about but I'll probably bump that dental up a couple of months and get it taken out sooner rather than later. FWIW, this bruise is not painful. She's oblivious to it.

 

Is there anything else it could be? Has anyone else ever had bruising like this on their hounds? What was it? Could it be the result of a bite from Tiny even though there's no teeth marks of any kind, or would that kind of trauma break the skin? Am I right that this is not a medical emergency and can wait another day for the vet to check out?

 

Here are pics. The bruise starts mid-sternum (left) and runs up to her neck (right). There are a few spots where it's really red, but she's not actually cut. The bruise is actually much brighter and more visible than it appears, but the camera flash washed it out.

 

 

 

Edited December 28, 2007 by GreytNut

[Batmom]

I would want her seen and some bloodwork run today. Could be just a bruise, but that's an odd placement for one.

[kikibean]

Mimi has had about 3 big, strange bruises like that - although hers tend to be more on her belly. The first time I flipped out, emailed the picture to my vet and he met me at his office at like 10pm. He gave her a vitamin K shot and told me to watch it to make sure it didn't get any bigger. He said it might get darker and that would be OK but to call if it spread. I think I also put ice on it for like 20min at a time.

 

The next two times I've just watched it. If it's anything like Mimi's it will start to go away in a day or so and be totally gone in less than a week.

 

The best I can figure is that she's done it on the stairs to the backyard. I have vitamin K pills on hand just in case and usually give her a dose if I notice a bruise.

 

It wouldn't hurt to have it checked, but hopefully it's like Mimi's and will go away quickly on it's own. I think she's just got very thin, bruise prone skin

 

Kelly

[Guest vahoundlover]

I'd have it checked. Sending prayers it's nothing.

[RobinM]

It wouldn't hurt to have it checked, but hopefully it's like Mimi's and will go away quickly on it's own. I think she's just got very thin, bruise prone skin

 

 

Agreed.

[kikibean]

How is Raven this morning?

 

I found some pictures of Mimi's first bruise for comparison.

 

This is when I first noticed it

 

and this was right before I went to bed that night. It got darker, but not bigger. The pink of her skin is because of the ice.

 

Kelly

[Guest cleo570]

We had a foster who had this the first night that we picked her up. Nobody knew of any traumatic events, and she behaved pretty normally. We spoke to the vet and opted to watch it overnight - it did spread under her skin until it covered her entire chest and belly. We took her to the vet the next day - not because of the bruising, specifically, but because she developed dark urine and we were (correctly) worried about kidney failure.

 

All of her bloodwork was normal (except for the kidney values,) and the vet was not as concerned about the bruising as the kidney issue, which the vet though may have been related to an unknown trauma or from whatever caused the bruising.

 

She was spayed the next week uneventfully, so we never determined a cause for the bruise. She was tested for TBD, too, which were negative.

 

Expect the bruise to spread (which doesn't necessarily mean more bleeding), but I would take a peek at her urine, too.

 

[grey14me]

what is the hematoma from? once, when blood was taken from Bailey's neck, she formed a hematoma there and it did exactly that...drained all down her neck and into her chest and even into her armpits. it was BRIGHT red..very freaky looking. we did learn that she had von willebrandts and pressure bandages had to be applied every time she gave blood after that.

[GreytNut]

IIRC, the hematoma was the result of a blood draw from her neck. I know she's tested negative for Von Willebrand's because she was a blood donor and that would have prevented her from becoming one.

 

The bruise has not spread at all. It's darker, but that's it. The hematoma, incidentally, is shrinking and appearing to collapse a little bit. I think it's doing what Bailey's did. Her urine is a little bit dark, but not abnormally so. Still doesn't appear to be in pain. She didn't eat her breakfast, but she's often a picky eater so I won't panic unless she keeps refusing meals.

 

Keeping a cautious eye on her. Tiny is going in for his shots soon, so I think I'm going to take her with him and get her a blood test/exam.

[Guest ArtysPeople]

what is the hematoma from? once, when blood was taken from Bailey's neck, she formed a hematoma there and it did exactly that...drained all down her neck and into her chest and even into her armpits. it was BRIGHT red..very freaky looking. we did learn that she had von willebrandts and pressure bandages had to be applied every time she gave blood after that.

 

 

OMG! Von Willebrand occurs in dogs, too?!?! My family has been involved for years with a summer camp for kids with bleeding disorders, and I had no idea that there was anything like that in dogs! Some of the kids at the camp would find that way cool.

 

ETA: I hope everything's OK with your dog. Arty gets bruises pretty easily, but nothing that large.

Edited December 29, 2007 by ArtysPeople

[jamngrey]

hope all is well

[Guest RooRoo]

This exact thing happened to my Rizzo several months ago - I took him to the vet and they did tests that came up negative and then almost as quickly as it appeared it was gone (a day or so). I was so scared - I thought he was bleeding to death internally or something but it was really nothing. Very strange.

 

I hope you get nothing but good news too

[Guest greyhound1]

Hope your furbaby is ok.

[MP_the4pack]

Although it could be other things, and I think a chat with a vet is in order, that looks like what gravity does to a hematoma.

 

If there is an injury/bruise blood will drain down. In this case, from the neck to the chest. This has happened several times, and is especially noticeable in my Brat who has little fur on ther underside.

 

Since there was an obvious bruise in the neck area.....this is most probably what it is. I might have been more concerned if there were nothing else at all.

 

 

 

[Houndess]

Just throwing out an idea here....

 

Our Doberman had something similiar happend to him (twice and several years apart). I found the injury almost exactly the way you did - by accident (I was horrified and of course the first thing I think is that he's dying). But the vet said it was probably blunt force trauma. The first time it happened we concluded he probably hit a stump in our back yard (he sure loved running at top speed) and the second time it happened it had to have been he injured himself on our tile stairs.

 

Is it possible the same thing occured with your dog?

[Guest greytbookert]

Our Eric had the exact same thing in the same place! We took him to the vet because he was not acting like himself... very irritable, snarky, among other things. He did have a fever, so they ran a whole course of tests but all normal, we did a course of doxy for good measure and all is well now.

 

At first the vet thought a clotting issue, or blood disorder or possibly a TBD, so that is why she did a course of doxy.

 

Eric's spread and darkened over a course of a few days, then got better. I hope Raven is doing better today!

[GreytNut]

Just throwing out an idea here....

 

Our Doberman had something similiar happend to him (twice and several years apart). I found the injury almost exactly the way you did - by accident (I was horrified and of course the first thing I think is that he's dying). But the vet said it was probably blunt force trauma. The first time it happened we concluded he probably hit a stump in our back yard (he sure loved running at top speed) and the second time it happened it had to have been he injured himself on our tile stairs.

 

Is it possible the same thing occured with your dog?

 

My guess is that she probably slipped and fell spreadeagled on the laminate kitchen floor, which is slicker than snot and very unforgiving to soft hound bodies. That would likely have caused bruising, or (more likely, since it doesn't hurt her to touch the bruise) smacked the hematoma hard enough to rupture it.

 

We'll be going to the vet soon and I'll have a blood panel done at that time just to be on the safe side. When she goes back for a dental the hematoma is going bye-bye. In the meantime, I found some rugs with non-slip backing that I can scatter around the kitchen to make it less treacherous for everyone, four and two-legged alike.

 

She looks good today. The bruise looks like it's starting to recede a little bit. Still no pain, still acting normally.

[Guest LindsaySF]

Hopefully it is just a bruise from smacking into something.

 

I would have her tested for TBD's because bruising and clotting problems can be a symptom of that.

[Houndtime]

What was the outcome of your vet visit? John E woke up with a bruise like that on his chest this morning.

[Guest argolola]

Sending prayers for sweet Raven (and sweet John E too.)

[Guest TBSFlame]

Checking in for an update.

[GreytNut]

Vet said there's no appointments for at least another week (and that's with another vet who doesn't normally see greyhounds) unless of course it's a dire emergency. I described it to him and he didn't think it was anything to be too concerned about. The hematoma has considerably deflated. He did agree that a blood panel is in order, but he thinks the hematoma ruptured--either of its own accord or due to trauma such as a fall or collision--and is leaking down under the skin. While it looks scary, it won't cause her any trouble and the blood will eventually be reabsorbed.

 

I think this was a stab at humor. He said, "Look at the bright side. At least this way the mess is contained and not all over your house."

 

For her part, Raven is still oblivious.

[Houndtime]

John E has a blood panel scheduled for the 8th of January. Unless something changes, I will keep that appointment and mention today's bruising when I see our vet. I hope everything is ok with Raven, too.

[GreytNut]

Does John E's bruise seem to hurt him at all?

[GreytHurleyDawg]

Good thoughts for Raven!!!!

And John E!!!!

 

Hurley must have smacked into the fence or a plant one day while chasing squirrels pell-mell: he had a bruise one day too. We figured it looked enough like a human bruise that it would go away just like ours do. Luckily, it did. I'm actually surprised they don't get them more often with all the fervent chasing they do. Damn rodents!!