Reptile & Amphibian Forums

We had two happy, healthy Miniture Schnauzer sister dogs. They were five in April. Ruby was normal Sunday morning and they developed a kind of moaning. She would only lay up-right on her haunches instead of her usual side position. We put her to bed that night hoping all would be well the next day. Monday morning she was making a nosie that made you know it was associated with breathing, but not terrible. An appt. with the vet was scheduled for three. By two she had QUICKLY gone down-hill and the vets coundn't get a tube down her throat and had to do a trach. She had a hard time with it, but hoped it would work. We brought her home for about four hours, but returned her to the vet because of concerns of continued bleeding from the trach tube, nose, and increased difficulty in breathing. We thought we had lost her on the table, but the vet did another emergency trach and put her on O2. She got somewhat better, but I was still concerned with the non-clotting issues. Finally, it was determined that she had very few platelets and they were given followed by Vit. K injections. The bleeding stopped for awhile and the vet wondered about Decon exposure of which we cannot see how that was possible. I should add the difficulty in her breathing came from excessive swelling in her neck. Even under her tongue was swollen. Multiple does of steroids, anti-histimes and antibiotics did nothing to help the whole day and she just got worse and worse. Her breathing the second time at the vet was fast, shallow and labored. I would hate to think that someone would poison a pet, so my question is....I know decon etc. takes days to work for anticoagulation part, so what caused the excessive neck swelling leading to respiratory distress? I can't see how they tie together. We are so heart-broken and just was an answer. Obviously Ruby passed away, but her sister is fine. Thank you for any help.

It is possible that she had been poisoned by Decon several days previously. As the platelet level dropped, she would be bleeding, likely into her abdomen, leading to a loss of red blood cells, so that her tissues would be getting less oxygen. As blood loss continues, more fluid enters the tissues, causing swelling. It is usually generalized, but some tissues may swell more than others, such as in hr neck.

Another scenario is Anaplasmosis due to a tickbite. Ask your vet if she was tested for this.

She didn't have bleeding into her abdomen ( a chest x-ray was done). They also checked the fluid in her neck and is was clear without WBC's. She wasn't running a temp. Any other possible explanation? The not knowing is what tears me up and knowing how she suffered. Thank you.

Was she tested for tick-bourne diseases?

No, she wasn't tested for tick-born diseases...but that one you mentioned earlier ana something didn't fit. We haven't been around forests or trees. We live in a sub-division of one acre lots. Her and her sister stay in the yard. Could the anticoagulation be a shock response to laboring so long and hard to breath? Thank you so much for helping me work through this.