Walking Gingerly And Large Red Splotch On Inner Thigh

[Guest lovnmygreys]

Has anyone ever seen anything similar before? Al was fine earlier today but it was like all of the sudden he was walking very gingerly. He laid down and my husband was checking out his legs when he found large red splotches on his inner thighs. They almost look like deep red bruises. We never saw him fall or bump into anything. He's usually a drama queen, so I would think we would have heard him if he'd been hurt.

 

He did find a tick on him, but from everything that I've read, Lyme is usually on one side and will switch to the other (in lameness). The splotches are nowhere near the site of the tick.

 

I'm just worried about him. Something is obviously not right.

[macoduck]

Hopefully it will just be bruising of an unknown origin.

 

Take pictures. Circle the bruised area with a Sharpie pen so you can judge if it increases.

 

On the bad side it could be immune mediated thrombocytopenia or a staph infection.

[Guest lovnmygreys]

Thank you macoduck. I'll do the sharpie thing. I need to look up the other thing you said so I can watch for any additional symptoms.

[tbhounds]

Sounds like trauma. He may have slipped when you weren't looking.

[greysmom]

Watch it closely for the bruising to spread. Is it sore to the touch? You might try some warm compresses (or cold ones if it's been awhile) if he'll let you.

[Guest lovnmygreys]

He had a really hard time getting up this morning, then almost toppled over when he squatted to poop.

[BatterseaBrindl]

Time to make a trip to the vet....

[Houndtime]

Are the bruises getting larger? He could have internal bleeding. Leg bruising was a sign we missed when John E had a tumor on his spleen. Please get your dog to the vet asap.

[Guest lovnmygreys]

Thanks everyone. I'm taking him in this afternoon. :-/

[carronstar]

Good thoughts for the vet visit. Please keep us updated as you can.

[Guest lovnmygreys]

Back from the vet. His platelets are WAY down and he has a soft heart murmur. They are doing a senior profile on him and should have those results tomorrow. He's on prednisone and they will check him again on Thursday. My poor boy. He did mention immune mediated thrombocytopenia as a possibility. Now we wait and see. :-/

 

Al is such a gentleman. He stood still for all of the poking and prodding and kissed the tech. I love my boy.

[macoduck]

What were the platelet numbers? Greyhound range is 80,000-200,000 per Dr Stack or 110,000-205,000 per Dr Couto.

Edited November 30, 2015 by macoduck

[Guest lovnmygreys]

What were the platelet numbers? Greyhound range is 80,000-200,000 per Dr Stack or 110,000-205,000 per Dr Couto.

He said 76 in the office test, but when he did the smear test he didn't see any platelets. Another reason he wanted to send the blood work out to double check everything.

 

He told me that low normal was in the 140's?

[macoduck]

Check out www.greythealth.com

 

That's Dr Stack's site. Print out some of the articles and give them to your vet.

[Guest lovnmygreys]

Ok. Thank you.

[kudzu]

Poor baby boy & such a concern for you.

 

Back from the vet. His platelets are WAY down and he has a soft heart murmur.

 

Do you mean way down compared to his prior lab work? Or do you mean the lab norms? For my dogs, I care more about how things compare to their own personal norms. Either way, it is very good the work to have the follow up work done. Sending good thoughts. Hope your boy feels better quickly & the news isn't bad.

[MaryJane]

Greyhound platelets will clump together and are hard to count accurately with the automated methods. Ask your vet to have the lab do a manual count which should give a more accurate result.

[Guest lovnmygreys]

Way down compared to norms. When he said that low normal is in the 140's and Al was in the 70's I just assumed that was a crazy low number. Sorry. Didn't mean to be dramatic. I'm just so worried about him. He's resting comfortably now, under his blankie with a heater running near by.

Greyhound platelets will clump together and are hard to count accurately with the automated methods. Ask your vet to have the lab do a manual count which should give a more accurate result.

 

Greyhound platelets will clump together and are hard to count accurately with the automated methods. Ask your vet to have the lab do a manual count which should give a more accurate result.

 

Thank you Mary Jane. I'll talk to the vet tomorrow.

[macoduck]

Has the bruising area spread?

[Guest lovnmygreys]

Yes. Most definitely. Last night it was a concentrated area on each thigh. Today it's almost over his entire thigh and down his legs.

[4My2Greys]

That doesn't sound good. I know I would be worried. I pray it isn't anything serious.

[Houndtime]

Did the vet check his spleen and liver? I hope he will be ok.

[Newgreymom]

Daisy had the same symptoms and Dr. Couto diagnosed her with thrombocytopenia. She was started on Doxycycline at the specialty center and her platelets starting rising. Her count was in the 40-50 range if I remember correctly. Seriously low. We didn't think she would pull through and she did! Dr. Couto kept her on Doxy for like 6 weeks or longer as he thought TBD has something to do with it also. Keep us posted...

[kudzu]

Way down compared to norms. When he said that low normal is in the 140's and Al was in the 70's I just assumed that was a crazy low number. Sorry. Didn't mean to be dramatic. I'm just so worried about him. He's resting comfortably now, under his blankie with a heater running near by.

 

You didn't sound dramatic. Sorry, wasn't trying to imply that. You've every reason to be worried. I'd feel the same way. Hang in there.

[tbhounds]

Please run a tick borne disease test before continuing with the pred. The pred will suppress the immune system-not something you want to do if they have a tick borne disease.

Edited to add-really shouldn't see brushing with a 70,000 platelet count. I would still consider trauma.

Edited December 1, 2015 by tbhounds