My 6-week German Shepherd puppy has low blood, stomach pain, and fever. What to do?

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.

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.

You will not notice any physical changes with a raise in platelets. They simply form clots. Energy will increase with better oxygen-carrying ability, which is accomplished by having more red blood cells. Hemoglobin is in red blood cells, and can be low with anemia or iron deficiency. Making sure that Luffy has a good-quality dog food and a few treats of iron-rich foods (like spinach or red meat) will help by giving the body the building blocks it needs to make more red blood cells.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Nine days is a bit long to be related to the vaccines. The stool in the picture looks normal to me. I’m not sure what HB is -perhaps posting a picture of the bloodwork could help us. The platelets are a little low. Drinking and urinating a lot could be a sign of infection but is often completely normal for puppies. Long story short, if the fever is persisting this long, something else may be going on. Perhaps there is a tick borne- or other disease which can cause fever and also low platelet count. I recommend seeing your vet for re-evaluation to help see what is going on. Best wishes to you and Billu!

Ouch! That's quite the reaction. If Lisa still isn't acting herself fully, it is best to schedule a recheck with the vet. There may still be some sort of reaction going on from whatever she got into, or it may be that there is some GI upset from eating the meal still causing symptoms. A complete check including possible x-rays and blood work can help you figure out the cause as well as treatment to help get her feeling better.

First of all the blood test seem to be completely normal. secondly, a bulging stomach could be caused by many reasons such as a bloat, a tumor or a heart problem, none of which would show up on the blood test. i recommend taking her back to your vet in order to do an xray or ultrasound next.

She needs to be evaluated by a veterinarian and have bloodwork performed immediately. If she is bleeding, she could be aborting the litter. In some cases, we can check progesterone levels and supplement if needed.