Anemic dog.

Dr. Marie replied:

Hi Laura and thanks for your question.

I normally wouldn't be too concerned about these red blood cell levels as long as a dog is bright an dhappy and eating well. But, if he's starting to get lethargic then I am a little bit worried.

One thing that could tie everything together would be if the rat had gotten into rat poison. What most rat poisons do is cause an animal to have trouble clotting their blood. If eaten in large amounts then an animal can bleed to death. If an animal gets a small amount (or possibly eats part of a rat that had eaten rat poison) then they can have some minor issues with bleeding.

Take a look at Sammy's gums. Do they look pink? or are they close to being white? If they are white then I would get him to emergency tonight.

Another possible reason for bleeding would be if he had a stomach ulcer and this can be really serious. It's not common, but I have seen dogs that are on prednisone that get a stomach ulcer. Usually though the dog has to be on a really high dose of prednisone to get an ulcer. Most of the time if there is a stomach ulcer we will see black tarry colored stools.

If you weren't going away then I would advise you to just keep an eye on Sammy. However, I think you probably should have a vet take a look at him just to be sure everything is ok. The first thing they'll want to do is check his red cell level again.

One other thing to look for to determine whether you need to rush into emergency is signs of tiny amounts of bruising. If you see any little purple bruises on his belly or gums then this is a sign of clotting problems and needs to be addressed right away.

I hope he is ok!

Dr. Marie

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