My Shih Tzu has low blood counts and is lethargic. Is a biopsy needed?

The white blood cell count is very high indicating an infection and is concerning. The platelet count is low but it can also vary based on how clean the blood collection method is as this can cause artifacts sometimes. If that is accurate and it correlates with the low HCT value, then it is very concerning as that can indicate an auto immune disease,a tick borne disease, or a blood disorder from a toxin such as rat poison. All of these causes are very serious and can have prolonged recoveries

Hello and welcome to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I would recommend a visit with a vet. It sounds like your puppy needs intensive care, IV fluids, possibly glucose supplementation. If he is eating and drinking and not vomiting, these are good signs, however if he is very lethargic and not moving that is concerning. To tell what is going on, what treatment to perform and prognosis, he needs more tests to determine what the cause of his illness is, so I cannot give any more specific answers. You can try posting your question again with blood results (picture of the results) along with any other information (temperature, heart rate, gum colour, how long he has been sick for, etc.). We might be able to better help you with that. Best of luck with Luffy!

With a white count that keeps getting higher despite antibiotics I would be concerned there is cancer hiding somewhere. An ultrasound would be my next test as it can look at the intestine, lymph nodes, liver and spleen. The spleen makes the red blood cells, and if it has a tumor then that can cause that count to drop. An immune disease can also cause a low red count.

Hello. Those blood results indicate that there is a low red cell count, low white cell count and low platelets. This COULD indicate leukemia as all three cell lines are low, however it could also be due to a systemic infection and the platelets being low could be due to clumping. The first next step would be to send the blood away to an external lab to look for regeneration, as well as platelet clumps. If your dog is acting sick your vet may want to start on antibiotics in case of a systemtic infection. I suggest you go back to your vet and discuss these results, and discuss what the pathologist comments were if the blood was sent away externally. If bone marrow disease is suspected they can do a bone marrow biopsy.

This may be a good case to choose a Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach Consult as there are a lot of variables we would need to know to help you the most. Causes for low white cells could be severe, overwhelming infection, viral, or even something like cancer. Many medications would take longer than 5 hours to see a positive response, but it varies based on the presumptive diagnosis your vet has made and the particular medication. Some medications can be dual purpose and treat pain. There are many diagnostics I would recommend based Kent he bit of information you gave us, like other tick testing, blood chemistry, urinalysis, x-rays, ultrasound, fecal testing, etc.

Hello, sorry to hear about Theo. This is really dependent on the type of infection. If the infection is responding well to antibiotics and her bone marrow is now starting to show evidence that it may be working, then you could likely hold off on obtaining a bone marrow biopsy after consulting it with your veterinarian. Alternatively, if the bone marrow is not responding adequately, or if an underlying cause for such a low WBC count is not able to be determined, then a bone marrow biopsy is likely the next best diagnostic step. Hope this helps and best of luck.

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.