My dog has anemia and an abscess. Is it serious and what can I do?

Anemia in puppies can be caused by tick born infections and from intestinal parasites. There is also a small chance that a puppy would be born with a bone marrow problem. The doxycycline has a good chance of a cure, but I would highly encourage you to visit with your veterinarian about a broad spectrum deworming protocol to make sure that is addressed as well. Depending on how anemic he is will determine how long he takes to recover. However, if the medication is working you should see improvement within 2 weeks or so. A follow up appointment with your veterinarian would be a good plan. Best of luck and I hope he improves soon. Thank you for using Pet Coach.

The anemia could be because of the worms, as well as the nutritional demands of pregnancy and nursing her pups. You can deworm her while she is on the antibiotic, however make sure the deworming treatment is safe for nursing animals. To help with the anemia try the following Limit energy expenditure everyday (think frequent walksfor short amount of time) Iron rich foods- cooked spinach and extra lean ground beef Here is an amazing resource to explain anemia and what you can do now; https://www.petcoach.co/article/6-things-you-should-know-about-anemia-in-dogs/

It looks like your dog has a chronic disease and serious anemia. Without knowing whether your dog was also checked for tick diseases, such as Babesia, Ehrlichia or also for autoimmune anemia, and certain viral diseases, and without a hands-on exam there is no way to tell whether she will be okay. Ehrlichia and Babesia infections can be treated as well as autoimmune anemia. Since your puppy is very young it may have a terrible flea infestation which is causing the anemia. Your veterinarian should be able to advise you properly.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Ginger! It may be best to discuss this via consult, I have many questions: how old is GInger? Can you post images of the blood work to show how anemic she is? Can you post the X-ray images? Severe anemia can cause "passing out" episodes due to lack of oxygen delivery to the tissues. Severe anemia causes weakness and collapse. Both of these things can be why she vocalizes and stretches out (passes out or collapses from the anemia). The big question is why is she anemic. Causes of low red blood cells is either from decreased production of red blood cells from the bone marrow (from cancer or fibrosis, toxin, drugs, hormones or immune destruction), blood loss (gastric ulcers, bleeding in to the abdomen) or destruction of the red blood cells from immune destruction (from vaccines, drugs, cancer or the immune system went crazy one day. I would recommend an abdominal ultrasound and further testing for immune mediated hemolytic anemia. Make sure she doesn't have an infected uterus. Hormones from not being spayed can cause bone marrow issues. If the ultrasound is normal, her estrogen levels are normal and she doesn't have immune mediated hemolytic anemia I would recommend a bone marrow aspirate. I hope this helps and I wish Ginger the best!

Hello. I am, unfortunately, unfamiliar with all the parasites present in your area, but there are several tick borne diseases that can cause the symptoms you describe. Ehrlichiosis is a blood parasite that is spread through tick bites & will cause fever, malaise, anemia, thrombocytopenia ( low platelets ), elevated ALT ( liver enzyme ), loss of appetite & weight loss. The disease can be mild or life-threatening. Many of these tick borne diseases present in a similar manner. Treatment with tetracycline drugs such as doxycycline are standard, & treatment is often 3 weeks long. Most dogs do very well if there are no other underlying diseases or problems. If this sounds like what WaWa has, then for the most part, she should recover. Make sure that from here on out you do meticulous tick control. Good luck & thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hello, and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Since I have not examined Ghontu and I don't know anything about her history or exam findings, I would refer to your normal vet for guidance. However, the hematology report attached looks good to me - I am not seeing evidence of anemia, as Ghontu's PCV is normal. Her slight deviations out of the normal range of her neutrophils and lymphocytes would not have me worried either, unless there was something found in her exam to suggest that those were areas of concern. It looks like they did see a small amount of roundworm (ascarid) eggs in her stool, so she should be given a broad spectrum dewormer. I cannot give prescription medication advice without an exam, so again I would refer you back to your regular vet for deworming guidance. Hope this helps!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This may be the time for your veterinarian to check in with an internal medicine specialist as this is a bit more complex than typical. Possibilities include an immune-mediated hemolytic anemia in which case other immunosuppressive drugs can be used with prednisone or possibly an infectious disease. They would be able to recommend further but reaching out to a specialist would be an option for further tests/recommendations. Hoping for a speedy recovery!