My senior lab has cancer & low platelets. What should I watch for?

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.

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.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Coco! I am very worried about Coco. The most common cause for bruising of the skin and gum bleeding are low platelets. This can be caused by loss, destruction or the body stopped making platelets. Common causes of destruction is immune, infectious (tick borne), secondary to medications, recent vaccination or even cancer. I recommend that Coco be seen immediately and have blood work done. Low platelets are treated with immunosuppressive doses of steroids and doxycycline. Animals with low platelets can become anemic which is life threatening. I wish you the best!

The main two things i would suspect is Tick fever caused by a bacterial called Erlichia (it is treated with an antibiotic called doxycycline). it could also be an autoimmune hemolytic crisis, this will need to be treated with steroids.

It sounds like Luki has low red blood cells and platelets levels. This can occur for a number of reasons including autoimmune issues, infections, bone marrow problems and bleeding. Some forms of cancer can cause these issues but in an 11 month old dog an infection or autoimmune issue is probably more likely. In many cases this problem is treatable. Prognosis is better in situations where an underlying cause can be determined such as an infection or ingestion of rat bait. Depending on the severity of the anemia and low platelets, a blood transfusion may be recommended.

It looks like Jasmine may have a bone marrow cancer. The prognosis for this is generally poor and treatment may include expensive aggressive inpatient supportive care including possibly IV fluids, antibiotics, blood transfusions and forced nutritional support. Chemotherapy is the classic treatment for most types of bone marrow cancers. I recommend taking her to an oncology (Cancer) specialist at a specialty/referral hospital for a consult/workup to determine options and to discuss endpoints for humane euthanasia. Best wishes-

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! i am sorry to hear of Daisy's illness! Causes of nose bleeds are: trauma, foreign body in the nose, bacterial or fungal infections, low platelets, clotting disorders, cancer, tick borne diseases. The nose bleed could be from the chemo knocking her platelets down too low or sadly it could be that the lymphoma is in her nasal cavity. I recommend you take her to your Vet or her oncologist and have them run a CBC to check her platelets. They can also put her on a Chinese herbal remedy that can help stop bleeding called Yunnan Baiyao. I wish Daisy the best!!