Dog has fever, lethargy, low platelets, tick tests negative. What's next?

My next step would be to send off blood for a test for plague (Yersinia pestis) and Tularemia, especially if your dog has access to areas where there are rodents, squirrels and rabbits. These would not be included in regular blood work. You may also want tod discuss a disease called malignant hyperthermia with your veterinarian. Other common causes of "fever of unknown origin" would be tumors, however your vet apparently ruled those out with blood tests, ultrasound, and xray and possibly blood parasites such as Ehrlichia spp, Babesia spp and similar. A heartworm test may also be advisable.

The problem here is to establish the underlying cause of thrombocytopenia (low platelets). Immune-mediated thrombocytopenia is one of the most common causes. This process usually occurs in the spleen although the liver also plays a role. Thrombocytopenia develops as platelet destruction exceeds compensatory production by the bone marrow. Immune-mediated thrombocytopenia can be classified as primary or secondary. Secondary processes can be caused by infective diseases or tumors very commonly. Usually to determine a diagnosis more tests needs to be performed like abdominal ultrasound and chest x rays. Infective diseases like Ehrlichia, Anaplasma spp for example should be ideally evaluated as well. Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum (where you can post pics of the blood tests) or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

There are many things this could be: * tick fever * liver disease (even with normal blood values they can have liver disease) * immune mediated disease causing destruction of red blood cells * a toxicity of some kind Those are the ones that come to mind right away. I'm glad she is improving but more testing would be needed to figure this out. As long as she is headed in the right direction, keep on with your vet's treatment and be sure to follow up with them.

Hello, According to the attached diagnostic test results, Bruno tested positive for Babesia. Babesia is a red blood cell parasite that usually causes anemia but it can cause decreased platelets and kidney injury. I would advise you to discuss therapy with your veterinarian as soon as possible. The disease is treated with a couple of drugs but typically imidocarb.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor girl! General tests to consider include bloodwork (CBC and chemistry panel), urinalysis, thoracic radiographs and ideally abdominal ultrasound. This would be a good place to start to see if the cause can be found. An infection is possible though other things like inflammatory diseases or cancer can also cause a fever. This can be done stepwise which may be more cost effective. Good luck and best wishes for your girl!

There aren't home remedies that will help very much, other than good husbandry, good quality food, and a comfortable environment. Sometimes steroids are needed to suppress the immune system, they will also help with fever. The fever is just a sign that the immune system is working, so it is not always a good idea to make it go away. If she is uncomfortable, you can use a tepid bath to help with the feeling of being hot. You can discuss appetite stimulants with your vet. Or you can use bland human foods like boiled chicken breast, cooked white rice, scrambled eggs, toast, etc.

Poor guy. I highly suspect that Ghost may have a tick borne disease that was transmitted when the ticks were feeding on him. I would highly recommend taking him back to your vet for a tick titer test to check for these diseases and also get him started on antibiotics (i.e. Doxycycline is the antibiotic of choice for tick related diseases) right away! If he is still not able to recover well wthin 24 hrs of starting the antibiotics, then you should consider having him hospitalized with IV fluids and around the clock care. His condiiton is not good and I would err on the side of caution. I am so sorry that Ghost is so ill, and I sincerlely hope he is able to make a full and speedy recovery soon. Best wishes and take care.