My puppy has anemia and chronic disease. Will he get well?

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.

Depending on the cause of the anemia, it may or may not be a future problem. As long as the condition is not one with the potential for recurrence, I would expect him to grow and thrive as a normal dog.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! To be able to help your pup, it is crucial to find out why he is not eating and most importantly why he is anemic. This may be due to an immune mediated condition or an infection of some kind. For this reason, I recommend that they proceed with diagnostics such as infectious disease testing and abdominal ultrasound to look for possible reasons. Therapy would be dependent on findings. Hoping for a speedy recovery!

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.

Puppies usually have lower red cell values than adults since they don't have as many red blood cells yet. But 16% is a little low for a puppy. Has your vet tested for intestinal parasites? Hookworms (and fleas and ticks) can remove a surprising amount of blood from a small puppy. Another cause of anemia with normal white blood cell values are blood diseases such as tick-borne disease. If a puppy is able to eat a good-quality puppy food and the cause of the anemia is treated, they will be able to replace the lost blood cells over time.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. If Moji continues to be anemic, he may need a blood transfusion. This could be due to his immune system destroying his red blood cells in a condition known as Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia (IMHA). Treatment for IMHA typically entails suppressing the immune system along with treating any potential infectious causes. It sounds as if the veterinarian working on Moji is treating him appropriately. Unfortunately, treating anemia can be a waiting game. Blood values need to be monitored every 2-3 days in the initial period and if the red blood cells continue to decline, he will need to be hospitalized for further treatment and closer monitoring. I hope Moji gets better soon. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

Anemia should be ideally retested. At this stage, with the clinical informations you provided, is mild to moderate and could have been caused only by inflammation. I would recommend to retest the anemia when both the abscess is completely resolved and the course of treatment over. Please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.