Bruising After Jugular Draw

[Riverhound]

Joe went to the vet yesterday (not the local vet, the kennel vet) and now has a bruise about the size of my fist at the site. (3 -ish inches) Will post a pic later, at lunch now. Vet said to give benedryl, ice it, and Rimadyl if i can get him to eat. He's not interested in real food, but took some lunch meat and chicken broth. I know they bruise easily, but this thing is big and kinda pouchy. I need to get back to work. Tell me he's fine and not to worry, please.

 

Edited to say NOT to worry, clearly I don't you to tell me to panic.

Edited September 18, 2012 by Riverhound

[dante2zoe]

Goose has bruised like that a couple times after donating blood. Never pouchy, though. It took a while (days - a week) before it faded. Poor guy. First those hats and now this!

[KF_in_Georgia]

Dogs bruise a lot after jugular draws. It always looks scary. Just give lots of sympathy and don't worry.

 

But if you can use a harness rather than a collar for a few days, you can keep the bruise from looking even worse.

[LaFlaca]

That happened to my Wendy after a jugular draw. Scared the pee-doodles outta me! I was ready to rip the vet tech's heart out but the vet told me it was not unusual and nothing to worry about. It resolved itself in about 24 hours.

[MP_the4pack]

They didn't keep the pressure on long enough.

 

Benedryl? Why that?

 

It'll go away, but I agree with KF in Georgia...use a harness. If you don't have one I can let you borrow one.

[MaryJane]

I don't let the vet draw from the jugular - greyhounds leg veins are usually fine for draws.

[tbhounds]

I don't let the vet draw from the jugular - greyhounds leg veins are usually fine for draws.

I prefer to use the jug--you will achieve a cleaner sample. Techs are taught to save the legs for future catheter use (front legs at least). The tech just didn't apply pressure long enough-it happens.

I do question the use of benadryl and Rimadyl.

Most likely the bruise will look worse before it gets better.

[JJNg]

I agree that it sounds like a hematoma from the blood draw. It shouldn't be uncomfortable or affect him at all, and really no need for Benedryl or Rimadyl. I definitely wouldn't give Rimadyl if he's not eating well. I suspect his appetite may be off from the stress of the vet visit itself. Don't be alarmed if the bruising starts to travel down his neck/chest before it goes away. Here's a previous thread on this topic where I posted a photo of my girl after a similar incident (but not from a blood draw).

 

I also agree with tbhounds that the jugular is the preferred location to draw blood. For anything more than the couple drops needed for a heartworm test, I almost always use the jugular. The exceptions are dogs who won't hold still for that positioning, if lifting the head/neck up is uncomfortable for the dog, or if a clotting issue is suspected. The development of a significant bruise or hematoma is pretty rare. Sometimes it's from pressure not being applied long enough, but other times, it may be from the dog pulling on the leash and disrupting the clot.

[Riverhound]

He got shots yesterday, so he may feel funky from that too. And we had a big weekend, so he's recovering from a trip. I just get really crazed when Joe is hurt. Brees is completely oblivious to little cuts, bruises, and such, but Joe is a big baby.

 

He'll wear a harness for a while. I took his tag collar off when I was home. Where do you put tags on a harness? Just the loop? Or is a loosened velvet tag collar ok to use?

__________________

 

5:30 -- I'm back from work, and he seems good. It's no bigger, and he stood up to greet me when I came in. (He doesn't always bother to do that, so he must be ok.) Now, if I can get him outside before this storm, we'll be good shape. Dog sometimes thinks he only needs to pee once a day!

Edited September 18, 2012 by Riverhound

[greysmom]

You can help move things along with a couple warm compresses tonight. I agree that benedryl and rimadyl seem like overkill, mostly ineffective, and quite possibly counter-productive if it keeps him from eating.

 

You want to watch for quickly increasing swelling, which could indicate he's still (or restarting) bleeding.

[BatterseaBrindl]

Feel better soon Joe!!

 

FYI

My dogs are all blood donars... as were our GSD and Pointer before they got too old.

Our blood bank never uses the jugular. They always use a vein in the forelimb.

[joejoesmom]

My Joe had a slight bruise after giving blood once. It cleared up just fine but it was never swollen. I think he moved unexpectedly while donating.

 

Feel better soon Joe!!

 

FYI

My dogs are all blood donars... as were our GSD and Pointer before they got too old.

Our blood banknever uses the jugular. They always use a vein in the forelimb.

 

My dogs are blood donors too. And they always use the jugular (Ohio State). So I guess it just depends on who is drawing the blood.

[45MPHK9]

My dogs are blood donors too. And they always use the jugular (Ohio State). So I guess it just depends on who is drawing the blood.

 

UPenn always uses the jugular for blood donation, too.

[schultzlc]

Luna and Nova had their vet appointments on Monday. Luna will be 9 this year, so she had her first senior blood panel drawn. The vet opted to use her jugular, and things seemed to go smoothly enough.

 

Fast forward to this evening. Luna was roaching on her pillow, and I was horrified to notice a huge bruise under her skin! I called up the Vet, who told me it wasn't that uncommon, but I am having a hard time curtailing my worry. Is there a timeframe when this should subside? Will icing help? And is this something I should bring up at future Vet appointments?

 

I should add that, while it looks horrible to me, Luna doesn't seem to be bothered. She is acting normal, playing, has been going for walks, eating, etc.

 

Here's a photo. It's a bit hard to see because Luna has the furriest neck/chest ever. It pretty much covers her neck down to her chest and over to each armpit.

 

[XTRAWLD]

Geeze. That's a lot of bruising. Kasey had blood drawn from the jugular only once, but he did not bruise a bit. Actually he NEVER bruised for any blood draws. That's not to say they don't and every dog heals differently. Ryder's little leg prick for a dental only went away end of last week, so that was about 2 weeks worth of bruising there. You have reason to worry because that looks scary (although truthfully I think it's fine but you never really know). Is it worth going back to the vet to show them just for peace of mind?

 

I don't let the vet draw from the jugular - greyhounds leg veins are usually fine for draws.

While it's not preferred, vets will draw from the jugular for reasons that a leg vein is not sufficient (mostly because they need a large amount of blood in one go and it's the best vein to do that with).

Edited March 10, 2016 by XTRAWLD

[Guest mgodwin]

When Ginny went for her annual the vet did a jugular draw for her samples and she bruised up a bit. I didn't notice it until a day later after she managed to clothesline her self on the car window as I was turning out of the drive-thru so I thought that might have done it. I mentioned it to the vet when we were talking about her "low platelet count" and the she said that was probably from them drawing blood and told me that if she wasn't bothered by it and it wasn't getting worse that there's nothing to worry about. It's similar to when we get a bruise. It may be a little uncomfortable but it's nothing to worry over unless it gets worse.

[schultzlc]

Is it worth going back to the vet to show them just for peace of mind?

 

 

 

 

Thank you XTRAWLD and mgodwin for your responses.

 

The vet called this morning to give me the results of both girls' blood work, so I took the opportunity to ask him about the bruise and see if we needed an appointment. He didn't sound very concerned, and said that while it looks awful, and it may get even more ugly before it goes away, it probably isn't indicative of a huge issue. Unless it starts to swell or cause major discomfort, there was nothing evidenced in her bloodwork that would show a clotting issue/ low platelets, so he's confident she'll be fine. We'll just take it easy for a while, and I'll leave her tag collar off while we're in the house to keep any added pressure off of her neck.

[seeh2o]

Carl had that happen, he had a bald neck at the time, it looked awful. They kept him while I went to work to make sure he was going to be ok. He was, but it sure looked hideous while it absorbed. So long as there is no open wound, you could put arnica gel on it to help it go away faster.

[KF_in_Georgia]

My vet's office took a blood draw from Silver's jugular today. It took them three tries before they got enough blood for a senior labwork panel, and they put no pressure on afterward.

 

On the bright side, she's the hairiest greyhound I've ever seen, with a pelt like rabbit fur. And she was certainly not traumatized. More like annoyed.

 

It'll be interesting to see what it looks like tomorrow.

Edited March 11, 2016 by KF_in_Georgia