My dog's enlarged spleen is bleeding. Why can't vets drain the blood?

Hello, sorry to hear about Joba. With hemp-abdomens (blood in the abdomen) about 80% of them are associated with some sort of tumor, most commonly hemangiosarcomas. Of these, 50% have spread to other parts of the body at the time of diagnosis. You can consider having surgery to stop the bleeding, however, this may only buy you 1-3 months. If you are inclined to have further diagnostics and would consider surgery, I would recommend having him re-evaluted by your veterinarian to discuss these options with them. They may refer you to an emergency center as Joba may need a transfusion to be a good candidate for surgery. Hope this helps and best of luck.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! As a veterinarian who specializes in cancer and sees a lot of splenic tumors on a regular basis, I can tell you that this could have happened as a result of an arrhythmia as some of these tumors that affect the spleen such as hemangiosarcoma can result in arrhythmias or a result of a splenic mass rupture causing significant internal bleeding. So sorry for your loss.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I am so sorry for the loss of your beloved Jimmy! Losing a pet is one of life's hardest moments. We see a lot of older dogs on Emergency for collapsing. A common cause is bleeding around the heart (pericardium) due to a mass on the right atrium of the heart or from a ruptured tumor on the spleen or liver in the belly. If Jimmy's belly was big and the Vet said it was from blood then I would assume that there was a tumor that burst in his belly from the spleen or liver. I am so sorry for your loss, please let me know if I can help in any other way.

My first question is whether your veterinarian tapped the abdomen to get a sample of the fluid....if so... what was it. With sudden abdominal distension, low red blood cell count I would be most concerned about a bleeding tumor. The fact that liver enzymes were elevated days following a steroid injection is hard to evaluate because the steroid injection wound cause a spike in the liver values....so were they elevated to start with or only following steroid administration. The best thing to do here is have an abdominal ultrasound and collect fluid. If the fluid is blood...there is likely a bleeding tumor. If the fluid is not blood....she may have right sided heart disease (heart worms or other cause), some type of cancerous process somewhere or other chronic metabolic disease. If you are uncertain about your veterinarian, ask for a referral for an ultrasound or seek a second opinion. I hope you find some answers . Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

I would highly recommend taking her to a vet as soon as possible. Bleeding in the eye can be due to local trauma to the eye but also can be connected to underlying disease like toxin (rat poison), bleeding disorders, cancer, high blood pressure or infectious disease. I would be very concerned in an older dog with enlarged spleen that the blood in eye is related to this. I would recommend x-rays of the body and blood work to look at organ function and platelet count. Also, taking sassy to an ophthalmologist would be in her best interest

Enlarged spleens can occur for many reasons including immune mediated disease, infections and tumours and the treatment for each is quite different. Blood tests to rule out infections and removal and biopsy of the spleen are often used to investigate. There is no single treatment which would be expected to be curative but a well balanced diet is recommended

Hi and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I'm so sorry to hear about Sadie. This sounds very serious. Anytime there is fluid in a body cavity, the situation is serious. I would need to know more to give a better answer but in a German Shepherd dog of this age, one thing is likely and that is a tumor of the spleen. These are called hemangioma or hemangiosarcoma or it could even be a hematoma or benign growth on the spleen that is bleeding. These are usually a surgical emergency especially if they are bleeding into the abdomen. Depending on what type of Other reasons for fluid to accumulate in the belly would be heart disease, liver disease, other tumors or masses in the abdomen, kidney problems. A tap of the abdomen (abdominocentesis) would reveal what the fluid is and maybe how to proceed. I would advise taking Sadie back to your vet or taking her somewhere else for a second opinion if you want to try to do something with her. And I would advise this as soon as you can get her there. Not sure if surgery is an option and that would depend on her condition and what you do comfortably afford for her. I'm so sorry again and I really hope that she gets better very soon.