# Low Platelets



## Penny & Maggie's Mom (Oct 4, 2007)

What is the rest of his CBC look like? hematocrit?


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## RaeRae1706 (Nov 4, 2010)

Everything else was within the normal range. I dont have a copy otherwise I would post a photo.

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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

any chance of tick exposure?


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## RaeRae1706 (Nov 4, 2010)

I pulled a giant green one off of him the other day, the second he has ever had in his life.

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## Allan's Girl (Apr 16, 2009)

No words of wisdom, just wanted you to know that I hope he gets better very soon.


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## BajaOklahoma (Sep 27, 2009)

Clumping platelets can give a false low platelet reading. The machines don't recognize the clumps as platelets and report a low number. It can be recognize on the smear. I know some medications can cause it to happen, but I'm not sure about other causes.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

I would request a full tick panel (not just the in office one) be done. If you've found two, there are probably a whole bunch you haven't found.
The low platelets, coupled with decreased appetite, could well indicate a tick borne disease.


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## Bosn'sMom (Feb 11, 2013)

this (extreme low platlets) happened to my friends corgi.... the pup was soo sick but is back on the mend and will be on meds for six months. Here was the diagnosis: Immune-Mediated Thrombocytopenia


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## Jennifer1 (Mar 31, 2012)

Bear had low platelets a few times when she was getting weekly bloodwork for hemangio treatment.
In her case it was usually false lows due to clumping. They should be able to tell that by looking at a smear under the microscope.
The time it was real, she had some sort of hemolytic anemia. Also, they can tell that by looking at the shape of the red cells.


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## cgriffin (Nov 30, 2011)

I would also request a full tick panel. My senior boy Thunder has had a lower than normal platelet count for the last 3-4 years. We originally did a tick panel and some doxy, but no positive for tick disease. So, we figured that is his normal range. No signs of sickness, good appetite.

Last year he had two surgeries to remove a cancerous growth - fibrosarcoma- no bleeding problems at all. So, he is does not have a bleeding disorder.

He has been testing with low platelets twice a year, sometimes closer to normal, other times lower. He did test positive for Ehrlichia in January and was on three weeks of Doxycycline. 
End of June he had his geriatric profile done again, lower than expected platelets again, did a tick panel, all came back normal, no disease. He is acting normal, eating normal. 
So, we are keeping an eye on it, but the vet and I suspect low platelet count is his normal for some reason. 

Clumping of the platelets has also been mentioned at the vet's office before, which would be a result of the blood draw. The lab mentioned a couple of times 'clumping of platelets' a couple of years ago. So, error in blood drawing could be a possibility also. 

But, I would still say, have a full tick panel done and send out. Good luck, I hope it turns out to be nothing.


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## w00f (Nov 4, 2011)

Clumping can also be a sign of a disease process and not just from the draw, so that can get hard to interpret.

Please do not allow steroids alone, if this is a tick disease, that would be very bad. Not all tick diseases can be caught by current tests either. 

Aggressive dose for doxy is 10mg/kg twice a day, which is almost 5mg/lb twice a day once converted. I prefer to start on doxy and see if there is a response, and then add the steroids if the doxy isn't sufficient.

There is a problem getting doxy in many cases nowadays. Using the prescription plan card at Walgreens has been the best deal in many places, but it pays to shop around if your vet doesn't ahve any.

Not sure on most dogs if you can be sure about how many ticks they may have been bitten by. Even on my short haired dog, they could hide in weird places (even between the toes.


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## RaeRae1706 (Nov 4, 2010)

I got a call from the vet this afternoon and they said that the blood work came back completely normal. Last night he had diarrhea but has been eating a bit more today. Tomorrow morning we are going in for another blood draw. They are going to test for valley fever which is rampant in our area.

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## w00f (Nov 4, 2011)

You might be able to run the tests through Protatek Labs (a specialty lab), and with the cost savings throw in the tick tests. It would require you to have the vet draw and prepare the blood, and you send it in. Call the lab first for pricing and bundling. For the price of one test through the vet, I think I had 8 of them run last time I had a couple of panels run on my girl.


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## KathyL (Jul 6, 2011)

I'm glad to see recent bloodwork showed his platelets within normal range. Do you recall what they were the first time? Harley had a very low platelet count (40,000) but he had cancer also. He began doxycycline while I was waiting for tick panel tests to come back. They were all negative and the oncologist felt the low count was due to IMT and he went on high dose of prednisone (80 mg/day) and the count only went up a little. Azathioprine was added and the count never got much higher than 70,000 or so. Unfortunately he had several things going on at once and the side effects of the meds really affected his quality of life. the odd thing was that the sudden drop in platelet count came as a total surprise because he was doing really well despite the cancer -- high spirits, excellent appetite. 3 is very young so I would think the possibility of a tick borne disease has caused the count to drop. I hope all goes well.


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