My dog has low platelets. How did the vet rule out rat poison?

Your veterinarian is correct that this is very uncommon. They likely gave the medication to treat rat poisoning just in case. You may also want to look into genetic testing to see if Bella carries a mutated gene that increases her risk of bleeding since this is very important to know moving forward for the rest of her life. The best person to answer is your veterinarian. Veterinarians would rather clients ask all the questions so that they can be sure clients understand the rationale behind medical decisions. I’m glad Bella is doing well now and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Immune mediated disease or rat poison is a possibility since tick disease have been ruled out. Prednisone or prednisolone is typically recommended to start as a steroid. Dexamethasone is an option also, it is a lot stronger than prednisone so the GI side effects can be worse, but not a wrong option.

Hello, the low number of platelets is very common in automatic blood test done by a machine, machines tend to undercount the number of platelets and it is considered to be not accurate, for this reason the vet will usually do a blood smear and count the platelets manually. i would definitely not be worried about that.

Hi there, if Thanos's platelets are only slightly low I wouldn't be too concerned. When blood is taken platelets often clump together so you get a falsely low reading. You could get your vet to have a look on a blood smear for clumps and do a manual count as the machine is often a little off. Unless there is a true deficiency in platelets due to a disease there is very little you can do to increase them, and you likely don't need to anyway.

Mila should be seen by a veterinarian immediately. This product is an anti-coagulant poison that inhibits normal blood clotting and leads to internal bleeding. Fortunately, there is an effective antidote (Vitamin K) but it's important to make sure you minimize the amount of poison Mila absorbs, and get her started on the antidote. Depending on the timing of the ingestion, your vet may make Mila vomit, and may give her something to minimize absorption, or they may recommend testing her current blood clotting ability. Then they will likely start her on a regimen of Vitamin K. Hope this helps! https://www.petpoisonhelpline.com/poison/long-acting-anticoagulants-mouse-and-rat-poison/

You are describing pancytopenia which is a low red blood cell, white blood cell and platelet count. We see this disease process secondary to infectious diseases carried by ticks, toxins such as hormones or even secondary to some medications such as anti-inflammatories, primary diseases of the bone marrow and cancer. Unfortunately, it is a problem because if left untreated his platelet count will continue to drop resulting in bleeding and his low white blood cell count predisposes him to infection. He needs to be tested for tick borne disease and possibly have a bone marrow aspirate. In the meantime, your veterinarian may recommend treating him with doxycycline and prednisone.

I’m glad to hear that Neeko’s kidneys have fared well despite what sounds like quite a scary situation! Her platelet count (PLT) looks perfect. The PDW and PCT counts give us information about her platelets’ sizes and distribution. Since Neeko’s platelet count is adequate, it’s possible that her body has been working hard to make new platelets, which are larger than older, mature platelets. Larger cells result in higher PCT numbers, which can make the PDW number a bit lower (more large new cells than smaller older cells). I wouldn’t think twice about these numbers given her recent illness, particularly considering that everything else has improved so much. I hope that everything continues to go well for Neeko!