Dog bleeding from nose and died.

Dr. Marie replied:

Oh, I'm so sorry to hear about Duke.

You are right in saying that we won't be able to know much without a post mortem. But, I can give you some ideas as to what could have happened.

Bleeding from the nose can often mean that there is a problem with platelets. Platelets are cells that are responsible to help the body clot. If platelet levels get low then we can see bleeding. If Duke died this suddenly then there is a high possibility that he had bleeding internally and died from blood loss into his abdomen.

So, what can cause low platelets? If you live in an area that has a lot of ticks then it could have been caused by a tick borne disease such as ehrlichiosis.

It's also possible that there was a tumor in Duke's spleen then this can cause the body to destroy platelets and can also cause bleeding into the abdomen.

Another possibility is a disease called immune mediated thrombocytopenia or IMT. We don't know what causes IMT but what happens is that the body's immune system starts to destroy its own platelets. While IMT is treatable, if there is severe bleeding internally then there would have been nothing anyone could do.

One other thought for the bleeding would be exposure to rat or mouse poison. If Duke had ingested one of these toxins then these can cause severe bleeding.

I can't really tie together the leg shaking with what happened to Duke. The only slight connection I could make would be lyme disease. Lyme can cause platelet problems and can also cause joint pain. But, I have also seen dogs who have a tremor in a leg and we never find out why. It is also possible that this is due to joint pain such as a hip or knee problem.

It may be worthwhile to have your vet test for lyme disease if this is something that is seen in your area.

I'm so sorry for your loss. It really sounds like there was nothing that anyone could have done.

Dr. Marie



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