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Pet Forum / Miscellaneous / Animal Health / December 2007Aging Beagle with an infection..
Hi all, I have a 14 year old Beagle at home - and today she had a trip to the vet. As a result of blood work - the vet called me and said that her organs are functioning fine - not concerned at all. He said his concern is with her blood count - apparently her blood levels are slightly low (I believe he said white blood count is 4.5 - should be in the above 6.0 range) - white and red. What he did find was she has an infection in her mouth/teeth. He put her on an antibiotic (which I can get the name of when I get home) - and he said he wants to see her again in 3 weeks to re-test. Other than the infection - she is very sprite for a 14 year old dog WITH spinal arthritis and cloudy vision. She still jumps , does stairs, jumps couches - and eats like a tank. Basically asking - will infections cause blood levels to lower - and once infections are gone or getting treated - will blood levels elevate again? He scared me with talk of other possibilities that it may be tumors, bone marrow etc.. I know it's always a possiblilty - that's life. But looking for your advice/experience. Thank you, Any type of infection will affect the blood count so if it's off once the antibiotics treat the infection the numbers should return to normal. Celeste > Hi all, I have a 14 year old Beagle at home - and today she had a trip > to the vet. As a result of blood work - the vet called me and said [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > > Thank you, Hi Spot - thank you for your reply. It eases my mind a bit - for now. For her age - every day she is active and happy is a bonus. > Any type of infection will affect the blood count so if it's off once the > antibiotics treat the infection the numbers should return to normal. [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > > - Show quoted text - - apparently her blood > levels are slightly low (I believe he said white blood count is 4.5 - > should be in the above 6.0 range) - white and red. .........Get a copy of the lab report so you can see the actual numbers and which WB cells are decreased. If there's a bacterial infection the WBC should be increased. They decrease in a viral infection. If RBC is low that means the bone marrow isn't producing enough, the dog is bleeding somewhere, or they're being destroyed. IOW the dog is anemic and the cause must be found. There's 2 kinds of anemia - regenerative (where the blood marrow is cranking out new RBCs but they're disappearing somehow) and nonregenerative (where the blood marrow is not regenerating new RBCs). http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/ClientED/lab.asp http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=0&cat=1474&articleid=987 Another good site for blood chemistry interpretation (but not CBC): http://www.nwlabs.co.uk/testinterpindx.html What he did find > was she has an infection in her mouth/teeth. He put her on an > antibiotic (which I can get the name of when I get home) - and he said > he wants to see her again in 3 weeks to re-test. ......Probably Anerobe. Make sure your dog gets plenty of water as this antibiotic can affect the kidneys, especially vulnerable oldsters. Make sure the dog has been fasted for 12 hours before the next blood draw. > He scared me with talk of other possibilities that it may be tumors, > bone marrow etc.. .......Yes, a possibility, but if the WBC and RBC are still depressed, I'd also look at tick disease and have a test run for that. .....Despite the blood values, your pup sounds like he's doing very well for his age! buglady take out the dog before replying > - apparently her blood> levels are slightly low (I believe he said white blood count is 4.5 - > > should be in the above 6.0 range) - white and red. [quoted text clipped - 33 lines] > buglady > take out the dog before replying I just spoke to the vet - and I should have mentioned this - but my little one has a history of Chronic Infection in her mouth - and that is where he is thinking it may be more so than bone marrow. He said obviously with blood work you don't want to discount anything - and it's a possibility - but he said not to get to alarmed by it at this point. Thank you all for your advice/feedback. Good morning all - I was wondering if you could answer something else for me. Being very paranoid that my dog MAY have Bone Marrow issues (just preparing myself if that is the case - and educating myself). When diagnosed - depending on how early it is diagnosed - how long can a dog live comfortably with the condition. > > "Inquiring Mind" <sam.venn...@gmail.com> wrote in message > [quoted text clipped - 47 lines] > > - Show quoted text - To quote my vet when it was suspected that the cancer my cat had may have already spread past her leg and into her pelvis. He said the humane thing was to put her down on the operating table that bone cancer is one of the most painful there is and he refused to bring her out of anesthesia if it had spread to her pelvis. I agreed with him I could see what effect it had on her and it was contained in just her leg at that time. Luckily for her he could amputate her leg and that seemed to have stopped the spread of the cancer. . I truely hope your dog is ok but if not please consider giving her peace before it becomes painful for her. Good luck Celeste > Good morning all - I was wondering if you could answer something else > for me. Being very paranoid that my dog MAY have Bone Marrow issues [quoted text clipped - 65 lines] >> >> - Show quoted text - > To quote my vet when it was suspected that the cancer my cat had may have > already spread past her leg and into her pelvis. He said the humane thing [quoted text clipped - 83 lines] > > - Show quoted text - Nothing has been determined yet - as they vet hopes it's the chronic infection that is causing the difference in blood levels. Of course if she is in pain then I love her more to let her go - but as of now she is still strong physically (even tonight she almost pushed me out of the way). Her organ diagnosis was great - my vet was very pleased with her age - and how her vitals are in terms of organs - but said at this point it's not so much a concern as it is that he wants to monitor what the antibiotics do to do the infection and if it changes the blood count results. In a week and half I will bring her back to see if there have been any changes. I think I may be jumping the gun - but you hear stories - and I just like to educate and prepare myself. >To quote my vet when it was suspected that the cancer my cat had may have >already spread past her leg and into her pelvis. He said the humane thing [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] >I truely hope your dog is ok but if not please consider giving her peace >before it becomes painful for her. I'm not sure what the OP means by "bone marrow issues", but that isn't synonymous with bone cancer. Also, cats are not dogs. Certainly bone cancer is very painful, and it is incurable; by the time osteosarcoma is diagnosed in dogs, it has usually spread to the lungs, even if it's only micrometastases that is undetectable on x-rays. Amputation does not stop the spread of osteosarcoma in dogs. However, this doesn't mean that it's necessary to euthanize a dog upon diagnosis of bone cancer. Individual animals have very different pain tolerances, and what's true for one isn't necessarily true for another. We lost our 14 year-old Siberian Husky to osteosarcoma in April; she had the disease for 22 months by the time of her death. Our 10 1/2 year-old greyhound was diagnosed with osteosarcoma 2 months ago, and at the time of diagnosis the cancer had already spread to the lungs. He doesn't have much time left, but he is still quite happy, eats with enthusiasm, plays with stuffies, and clearly gets enjoyment from life. Not only would I not want to have missed that time with Tasha and Nick, but I don't think they would have wanted to miss it either. Hopefully Inquiring Mind's beagle doesn't have either bone marrow issues or bone cancer. Mustang Sally >> Good morning all - I was wondering if you could answer something else >> for me. Being very paranoid that my dog MAY have Bone Marrow issues [quoted text clipped - 65 lines] >>> >>> - Show quoted text - > Good morning all - I was wondering if you could answer something else > for me. Being very paranoid that my dog MAY have Bone Marrow issues > (just preparing myself if that is the case - and educating myself). > > When diagnosed - depending on how early it is diagnosed - how long can > a dog live comfortably with the condition. ..........At this point you're just scaring yourself. I don't know what you mean by bone marrow issues. I can't see any reason to be talking about bone cancer in a dog with these symptoms, which are largely abnormal lab values. Take a deep breath and relax. There's plenty of time to panic later, but hope you don't have to. buglady take out the dog before replying > > Good morning all - I was wondering if you could answer something else > > for me. Being very paranoid that my dog MAY have Bone Marrow issues [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > buglady > take out the dog before replying It's just a scary thought - and a way to prep myself with knowledge. What did you mean "...which are largely abnormal lab values." ? Thank you, > What did you mean "...which are largely abnormal lab values." ? *please trim your posts* .........Your dog didn't have symptoms, and the only thing abnormal so far is bloodwork. Not to be ignored, but you didn't go to the vet because your dog had a visible problem, right? My maxim is always look at the dog, not the bloodwork. If your dog was seriously ill, at his age, he wouldn't be acting very spry. Seems to me this could be very fixable. ........If you decide to scare yourself anyway, you can Google suppressed RBC and WBC production and go from there. Other searches I'd try: bone marrow dog OR anemia dog or leukopenia dog. Leukopenia is lowered WBC. ........I'd consider tick disease before cancer for this pup, especially if there was a short bout with illness a few months ago: http://pet-diseases.suite101.com/article.cfm/ehrlichia Drugs and pesticides can also cause abnormal bloodwork. So can autoimmune diseases. General info: www.merckvetmanual.com buglady take out the dog before replying |
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