by Janet Farricelli CPDT-KA

Created on: May 18, 2008

Dogs may be prone to various serious blood disorders. A common blood disorder is blood that does not clot properly and therefore, does not allow to bring the bleeding to a halt in a timely matter. Coagulation disorders arise usually for three main reasons:
1) when there are an insufficient number of platelets
2) when there are damaged vessels
3) when there are deficiencies of basic substances that allow coagulation.

Coagulation takes place when platelets stick to each other and with the ruptured vessel's lining. Any issue that causes interference with this process will likely result in a coagulation problem. Below are listed some common causes of coagulation problems:

Immune-mediated Thrombocytopenia (ITP)
This blood disorder takes place when a insufficient amount of platelets is produced.
A dog normally has a 600,000 platelet count per micro-liter of blood, dogs affected by thrombpcytopenia have less than a 40,000 platelet count per micro-liter and therefore, may be prone to spontaneous bleeding. This mostly happens when there is an immune triggered event. In other words, the immune system attacks the body's own platelets. Common symptoms of this disorder are:
Nose bleeds
Presence of blood in urine
Presence of blood in stool
Skin bruising (ecchymosis)
Small dots of blood in the whites of eyes, skin and/or gums (petechiae.)

Diagnosis is mostly obtained by exclusion, in other words, by ruling out other possible causes of bleeding. Treatment involves containing the bleeding, resolving the underlying cause and administering corti-costeroids if the immune system is attacking it's own platelets.

Thrombocytopathia
In this case the platelets are of a sufficient amount but they are not functioning as they are supposed to. This condition can be acquired from aspirin usage, warfarin poisoning (rat poison) cancers or kidney/liver failure or it may be genetically linked.
Treatment is relative on solving the underlying issue.

Von Willebrand's disease
In this case a vital substance that allows the platelets to stick together and coagulate is lacking. This disease is hereditary thus, passed on genetically.
This disease is often discovered when after an injury the bleeding does not cease. Dogs affected by this disorder may be prone to nosebleeds that hard to stop ad may require packing. Other bleeding issues may occur with bleeding gums, heat cycles and post-partum. Some puppies are found to have this disorders when the bleed excessively after having their umbilical cord cut. Fading puppy syndrome

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