Jugular Hematoma From Blood Draw

[tbhounds]

From personal experience and being a registered veterinary technician hematomas happen even when the proper technique is used. Now in my 9 years of working as a technician in the veterinary profession I have never seen a dog or even greyhound bleed like that following a blood draw and I have worked ER and general practice. I would be more concerned about a clotting issue. At least from the photo that was posted.

As a LVT of 13 yrs--gotta tell ya--I have seen them--one of my own hounds had one from a jug stick (e-vet). Clotting panel normal.

[KristenMichele]

As a LVT of 13 yrs--gotta tell ya--I have seen them--one of my own hounds had one from a jug stick (e-vet). Clotting panel normal.

Really!!!?? I have had numerous greyhounds and have never seen anything like this. I was shocked when I saw the photo. Now Ive seen your typical small little small hematomas but nothing this big since Ive started working in veterinary medicine, except on a dog that had got into rat poision. That is for sure new to me. I guess there is a first for everything.

[Guest mydes1998]

Update on Lucy (my beagle)... Her hematoma has begun to go down - just shy of the 72 hour mark. Her energy level is picking back up, too. Besides eating and going potty, she had only been sleeping upstairs. Normally, she never likes to be in any area of the house alone. Now, she is following me around the house as usual and laying down in whatever room I'm in. She ate about 50% more food than usual the past day or so, but I suppose losing 1/2 cup of blood will cause a need to replenish. She's not too interested in the bowl I put down a few hours ago, so that appetite must be balancing out, too. She's got some unsightly bruising, but isn't indicating that she's in pain. All is well! Thanks for allowing me to intrude in the world of greys. You all were vessels to my peace of mind. I can tell you love your dogs as much as I love mine.

[Riverhound]

Update on Lucy (my beagle)... Her hematoma has begun to go down - just shy of the 72 hour mark. Her energy level is picking back up, too. Besides eating and going potty, she had only been sleeping upstairs. Normally, she never likes to be in any area of the house alone. Now, she is following me around the house as usual and laying down in whatever room I'm in. She ate about 50% more food than usual the past day or so, but I suppose losing 1/2 cup of blood will cause a need to replenish. She's not too interested in the bowl I put down a few hours ago, so that appetite must be balancing out, too. She's got some unsightly bruising, but isn't indicating that she's in pain. All is well! Thanks for allowing me to intrude in the world of greys. You all were vessels to my peace of mind. I can tell you love your dogs as much as I love mine.

 

 

 

Hope you stick around, or even just check in sometimes. Pictures of any critter are always welcome!

[Brandiandwe]

Great update! We have many honorary greys here, and a beagle is, after all, a hound!

[hikinghounds]

Glad she is feeling better!

[Jiffer]

BTDT... over the years, ours have had post-draw hematoma's on legs and necks, depending on which area the vet stuck (none of them have been diagnosed with any clotting issues). It has nothing to do with technique or bad practices.

 

The worst one we had was during a blood donation (all of mine were donors at one point). Uber got spooked by a piece of equipment being rolled by, jumped and ripped the needle out of his neck. They sent him home wearing a pressure bandage, but yeah, he was bruised right down to his chest and it just glowed through that white fur of his.

 

I've come to expect it as a totally normal greyhound thing so every draw we do sees a pressure bandage going on for at least two hours post draw... if my vet forgets, I remind her.

[moofie]

Hattie didn't have a lump but had bruising down neck to chest a short while after blood donor session had it checked out by a vet just in case but just where blood had leached out under the skin and soon cleared up. It wasn't from the donation site but where they'd taken the sample from her neck, they do pressure wrap post donation that leave on for about 45mins but not for sample. She has been fine on donations since (either leg or neck sample draw) and our local vet nurse said it has happened to her greyhound occasionally who they use for blood at the surgery.

[Guest annickaandjef]

Hello!

 

A bit random to be reopening this thread after many years, but my 7-year-old Penny just had this same thing happen (or at least a similar thing).

 

I found this thread while sitting at the emergency vet last night and found it very helpful. In case others have this same experience with their greys in the future, here's what happened.

 

Penny had her annual check-up and vaccinations yesterday morning at the vet. This included Bordetella, Rabies, DHLPP and a 4DX heartworm test that included a blood draw. All was fine.

 

12 hours after her vaccinations, she was roaching on her bed and I noticed a huge red welt all over the white spot on her chest (she is otherwise all black). I took a closer look - her skin was really dark red underneath the white fur, with a little soft lump on one side of her chest. I assumed it was an allergic reaction to one of her vaccinations so I called the 24/7 vet and they suggested bringing her in.

 

They did a full exam, bloodwork and clotting test, all pretty normal, no signs of rat poison or other stuff that would result in abnormal bleeding. The 24/7 vet, who also has a greyhound, suspected that she was bumped in the chest (possibly while having her nails trimmed earlier that day) that resulted in a bruise. A bruise?! I was shocked. They also told me that the bruise wasn't just on her chest - it went all the way up to her neck. I felt so terrible for her - imagine a bruise that size.

 

This super helpful thread, though, made me think about the blood that was taken earlier that day at the vet - that theory also checked out with the 24/7 vet on call. She prescribed Aminocarproic Acid for Penny and basically just said to monitor the size of the bruise. I'm relieved that Penny is okay - I'm also surprised that I'd never noticed a bruise on her in all of the 3 years we've had her. This is probably because it's pretty hard to see her skin beneath her black fur, but still. I had no idea greys bruised easily.

 

Thank you so much to OP and everyone else on this thread - your insights really helped!

 

Below is a pic (the black line is from the vet, who drew it on to mark where the bruise was last night and for monitoring any further progress).

 

[BatterseaBrindl]

Our Vets always draw from the leg.

We are also lucky to have a canine blood bank here and they also use the leg.

[Melissa_kitten]

My 3.2 lb applehead chuhuahua had blood drawn 5 days ago and this same thing happened. She has blood/bruising all the way down her chest. I took her back to the vet and he placed a wrap around her next and has me applying warm compresses a few times a day. It seems to be slightly working but very hard to tell. She’s sleeping more but eating and drinking, as well as urinating fine. I’m just very worried because she’s so tiny and fragile at about 15 years old. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.