Low Platelets

[specialk2979]

I'm concerned for my dog's life.
This past Tuesday I pulled my dog from getting his teeth cleaned out of fear of how he'd react with the anethesia. I found an emergency hospital near my house had another type of anethesia available for older dogs. So I signed him up for an appointment to meet with the doctor. He got a complete blood workup as well as a catheder tube insertion to check for blockage in the penis. We were told that he would bleed for about a day b/c of it. We later brought him back b/c he had a small pool of blood on the floor and he was shaking uncontrollably. At the hospital, we had discovered that his blood tests had come in already and the results were that his platelets were really low...27. We chose to have my dog stay over night at the hospital to be monitored. One day later, his platelets dropped even more...12 and his red blood cell count was lower than before. We have also been informed that they were giving him more meds. I am so concerned as we haven't gotten any answers yet. How soon til the meds start working? Will my dog die from this? The doctor doesn't seem nervous or worried at all, like this happens all the time. But I'm not convinced as he's not improving any.

[Misfits4Me]

Welcome...I'm not understanding this.....I sure don't understand the catheter part....Did you say that was routine? That doesn't make sense.....Or the pulling your dog from the dental.....Would you please come back and explain again?

I'm hoping we can help you & your guy.........Thanks,Karla

P.S. How old is this guy and what breed? What did the rest of his bloodwork look like? Anything else???  

[ginger899]

I do so understand how worried you must be. And added to that, it's always horrid when they are in hospital, even for a short time, I know.

What was the initial reason he had a catheter inserted "to check for blockages in the penis"?
When he had his bloodwork -were there any abnormal values anywhere? Did the vet go through the results with you? How for instance was his liver function? Does he have any signs of infection? What's his white blood cell count?

Your vet will have to run a few tests to get to the bottom of why his platelet count is low. There could be a number of different reasons.  It is possible for your dog to receive a platelet transfusion if necessary, to help his situation, but the cause for this in the first place will have to be found and treated.

I hope he will be OK. I am sure the best place for him right now is at the vet's where they can monitor his condition. Good luck and I hope things will work out well for him.