My dog died after tick fever treatment. What were the complications?

I am sorry to hear of your loss but without a full post mortem exam there is no way of knowing what contributed to such a severe condition. Tumours in the legs generally do not resolve within 5days and the severe, progressive anemia would indicate a possible bone marrow condition or autoimmune disease which may possibly have been triggered by ticks or an internal tumour

I am sorry Scooby is not feeling well. Typically this swelling is called edema. Edema is when fluid accumulates and can be due to many things. The test results you posted do not have tick titers. If you are concerned about tick disease I would test for tick titers. Also another piece of information that would be helpful is a protein level. When protein levels are low it allows edema. The doxycycline itself will not cause edema. However if Scooby does not have a tick born disease it is possible the doxycycline is not going to be useful in solving his problem. I hope that helps

Hello. I am so sorry to hear about Isis. An enlarged spleen along with nose-bleeds could be due to many different disorders including tick-borne diseases that attack the red cells. Other causes could be rat bait, an auto-immune disease called "Immune mediated thrombocytopenia" or "Immune mediated hemolytic anemia" which is when the immune system attacks the platelets or the red cells. These can also occur together which can cause bleeding. Also, any severe infection can result in "DIC" or "Disseminated intravascular coagulation" which can result in bleeding. Other causes could be a congenital clotting disorder. With the fever a tick-bourne disease or an auto-immune disease are most likely. Without doing other blood tests it would be impossible to know for sure. I am so sorry about Isis. All of these diseases are unfortunately very serious and hard to treat.

Hi and thank you for posting on Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Gosh, I am sorry to hear this with Scooby. Lasix will not help much with edema that is because of an inflammatory response such as a bacterial infection. It will however work for subcutaneous edema or fluid in the chest caused from heart failure or liver failure. I would advise against giving anything that was not directed or prescribed by your veterinarian. I would try and see your veterinarian as soon as he/she gets back into the office for an exam or you may also visit an emergency veterinarian for an exam. The swelling may be due to the infection or perhaps evidence of liver or heart disease. It is important to determine what the cause is so the proper treatment can be administered. Thanks for posting and best of luck to you and Scooby.

Blood is certainly a possibility, and could be a very serious complication. However tick fever can also cause vasculitis. This is inflammation of the blood vessels and can make them “leaky” and fluid can leak out. I think if you have noticed anything new since the diagnosis that a follow appointment with your veterinarian would be a good plan. Best of luck and thank you for using Pet Coach.

His chances of recovery to an acceptable level of independence are very very small at this stage. I recommend you discuss euthanasia with your family and your vet in order to free him from further discomfort

I'm sorry to hear that Bodhi is having this problem. The lab work you have posted here looks pretty good - no anemia or significant thrombocytopenia, so I'm unsure why you say he seems to be regressing? If he hasn't been able to keep his medications down, this could certainly be a reason for the disease to relapse - so I would recommend discussing this with your veterinarian to see what he/she suggests. Using an anti-nausea medication such as Cerenia can help to prevent vomiting if this is the main problem. If the current meds simply don't seem to be working well, then a different immunosuppressive medication like cyclosporine or azathioprine could potentially be added. Fluid in his belly is definitely concerning, so I would want to find out what this is. Your veterinarian may be able to aspirate some of it to determine if it's blood, clear fluid, or something else. If he's bleeding into his abdomen, I would be concerned about a clotting disorder of some kind, or possibly a mass on his liver or spleen that may be bleeding - these are not always visible on ultrasound. If the fluid is clear, then it's more likely to be related to cancer or heart disease. So all in all, I would recommend talking with your veterinarian about what he/she recommends as the next step from here. You can ask about the options I've mentioned above, if you wish.