# Smokey has no platelets.



## Dianedp (Dec 16, 2018)

It's been a long time since I posted. Smokey, our Havanese mix, has immune-mediated thrombocytopenia (ITP). He went to the vet Wednesday and was fine. He went to the groomer Friday morning; when he got home, I saw all these bruises around his groin area. I texted a picture of them to the vet's office. About five minutes later, they called and asked how soon I could be there. (The answer was ten minutes.) The vet kept Smokey for six hours, during which I imagined every possible bad outcome and wished for every good one. The first batch of tests showed that Smokey's platelet count, which should be between 150,000 to 400,000, was zero.

Zero.

My heart just dropped when I heard that number. I was already terrified when I saw the bruises because I know unexplained bruising can be a symptom of leukemia. From leukemia, my mind went to cancer, the illness that killed my daughter's nine-year-old dog 18 months ago. Fortunately, every other blood test came back normal he's got the right amount of white and red blood cells. The vet was worried about even doing the tests since his blood won't clot, but the positives outweighed the negative.

Smokey is now on a very high dose of steroids, along with two pills to protect his stomach lining from the steroids, and his anti-anxiety medicine to keep him from running around, The vet said to treat him like he's made of glass. She also said Smokey's *probably *going to be okay, as long as the steroids work, because we caught it so quickly. It's going to be at least 4 - 6 months of treatment. I have read that there is an 80% survival rate, but I've mentally bumped that up to 90% because I prefer that number.

We'll be getting his blood drawn every couple of days until he reaches 50,000. I believe it's weekly after that until it reaches a number I don't yet know. As soon as it gets to 50,000, she'll lower the dose he's getting a bit, since steroids aren't good for him.

Has anyone else dealt with this?

PS: Please keep Smokey in your thoughts.


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## mudpuppymama (Mar 24, 2012)

Oh wow...I feel so bad for you and Smokey. I pray that the treatment is successful.


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## Melissa Woods (Feb 21, 2019)

Oh wow. Positive thoughts your way. You must be so worried.


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## Molly120213 (Jan 22, 2014)

Best Wishes for a complete recovery for Smokey.


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## stephsu (Apr 27, 2020)

I am so sorry. I actually had this as did my kids when I was pregnant. My son's platelets went down to 4k. No idea what it is for dogs but IVIG infusions worked for us. Hoping the treatment works and he will recover soon.


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## Faithb (Aug 18, 2020)

I am sorry to hear about Smokey and hope that he makes a full recovery! My thoughts are with you both.


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## Ditto's Mom (Apr 29, 2007)

Sending positive thoughts and prayers for a complete recovery for your sweet Smokey.:smile2:


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## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

Sorry to hear Smokey is going through this. Hoping your little one recovers quickly.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

I’m so sorry! I do know two Havaneseand one other dog who have gone through this. Two of them, it was determined that it was initislly started by a tick borne disease. The other one they never determined the cause. All three dogs recovered fully, though it was a rocky road for all of them!


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## Jackie from Concrete WA (Mar 23, 2015)

Oh poor Smokey and poor you! I'm so sorry and prayers for Smokey are on the way. Please keep us updated on his recovery.


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## EvaE1izabeth (Nov 14, 2017)

Oh my heart dropped when I read about it! I’m so sorry you’re going through that. Thank goodness he’d gone to the groomer so you could see it on his skin! 

Does it make him tired or not feel well? I hope he recovers quickly!


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## Dianedp (Dec 16, 2018)

*Update on Smokey's condition.*

I'm updating this on Thursday. It's been a rough few days. On Monday, after his first recheck, Smokey's platelets were up to 16,000, but his body had killed off 80% of his red blood cells. After a discussion about options with the vet of the day (we haven't been able to see *our *vet since this started, although every vet has been exceptional), we decided to monitor him at home, hoping things would improve. The vet had us pick up a hard copy of Smokey's records, in case he had to go to the hospital outside of their office hours. He also told me some things about how the hospital worked, so I would know. (That vet did his residency there.)

Sometime Monday night Smokey had a black stool, a sign of internal bleeding. We don't know when that happened, because we didn't find it until after his respiration became so fast that I drove him to the ER at 5:30 Tuesday morning. They put him in the ICU. He had oxygen, a blood transfusion, and a dose of chemotherapy (two studies have shown that chemo and steroids increase the speed with which the body makes new platelets) on Tuesday.

His platelets are at 10,000 now and have stubbornly been there for three days. However, he is getting better in that he's acting more like a puppy (he was as limp as a dishrag when we put him in his car seat Tuesday morning--scared me to death). His bruises are fading and he's not developing new ones. I visited him yesterday and he walked into the visiting room and tried to give me some kisses. He held his head up for about five minutes, then acted curious again when he heard noises in the hall. He also ate two training treats, which is good because he hadn't eaten at all. I took them some of his food, and he's been eating since he got it. (Smokey *hates *canned food.)

He's now on all oral medication and his IV is out. We plan to bring him home in the morning. The doctor wants him to stay until his platelets reach 40,000, but we just _cannot _afford it and the doctor understands completely. I could have brought him home today since he's on oral meds and off the IV, but I wanted to give him one more night with constant specialized care. We have always used Care Credit for our pet bills, but we've never put $6,000 on the card in 24 hours before. (Our next pet will have health insurance.) We want to leave some room on it in case he relapses--plus, we'll be doing daily blood draws and giving him medicine daily for up to a year. Pet health care is something we never gave a thought to before, and now we're crossing our fingers we'll be able to afford to get our baby all the care he needs, knowing that if we can't, he'll die. This is a new kind of terror for us.

Until he reaches 40,000 platelets, we'll be keeping him in our bedroom 24/7, except for potty breaks. Eventually, he'll get bored hanging out with just me and his dad; we're hoping that will happen _after _he reaches 40,000. I'm actually looking forward to him feeling well enough to celebrate "bark o'clock" again. (That's usually around 2:00, then again between 6:00 and 7:30.)

Thanks for all the positive energy; it's working!


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## Dianedp (Dec 16, 2018)

EvaE1izabeth said:


> Oh my heart dropped when I read about it! I'm so sorry you're going through that. Thank goodness he'd gone to the groomer so you could see it on his skin!
> 
> Does it make him tired or not feel well? I hope he recovers quickly!


I actually sent a text to the groomer, telling him how grateful I was that Smokey had an appointment that morning. I'd feel even better if the groomer had TOLD me about the bruises, but I'm not going to say that.


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## Dianedp (Dec 16, 2018)

mudpuppymama said:


> Oh wow...I feel so bad for you and Smokey. I pray that the treatment is successful.


Thank you so much.


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## Dianedp (Dec 16, 2018)

Melissa Woods said:


> Oh wow. Positive thoughts your way. You must be so worried.


Thank you. I was. But I didn't realize how worried I could get until I took him to the ER on Tuesday morning, after his body killed the majority of his red blood cells. I was so terrified we'd never see him again.


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## Dianedp (Dec 16, 2018)

stephsu said:


> I am so sorry. I actually had this as did my kids when I was pregnant. My son's platelets went down to 4k. No idea what it is for dogs but IVIG infusions worked for us. Hoping the treatment works and he will recover soon.


Thank you. Having that problem as a pregnant woman sounds terrifying to me; I'm so glad you and your kids recovered. 
Dogs are supposed to have between 150,000 to 400,000 platelets.


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## Dianedp (Dec 16, 2018)

Faithb said:


> I am sorry to hear about Smokey and hope that he makes a full recovery! My thoughts are with you both.


Thank you so much.


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## Dianedp (Dec 16, 2018)

krandall said:


> I'm so sorry! I do know two Havaneseand one other dog who have gone through this. Two of them, it was determined that it was initislly started by a tick borne disease. The other one they never determined the cause. All three dogs recovered fully, though it was a rocky road for all of them!


We know that Smokey's wasn't tick-borne. The cause is probably a vaccine or the injection of his heartworm medicine; those are what he got Wednesday at the vet. There's no way to be sure that's what caused the problem, but they are the likely cause. Even though he'd had all those injections before, this time something triggered his immune system to go haywire. Now Smokey can never be vaccinated again. I'm glad he's a pampered indoor prince.


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## Dianedp (Dec 16, 2018)

Jackie from Concrete said:


> Oh poor Smokey and poor you! I'm so sorry and prayers for Smokey are on the way. Please keep us updated on his recovery.


Thanks so much.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Dianedp said:


> We know that Smokey's wasn't tick-borne. The cause is probably a vaccine or the injection of his heartworm medicine; those are what he got Wednesday at the vet. There's no way to be sure that's what caused the problem, but they are the likely cause. Even though he'd had all those injections before, this time something triggered his immune system to go haywire. Now Smokey can never be vaccinated again. I'm glad he's a pampered indoor prince.


I have one ona vaccine waiver also, though THIS didn't happen to him, thank heavens!


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## EvaE1izabeth (Nov 14, 2017)

Dianedp said:


> I actually sent a text to the groomer, telling him how grateful I was that Smokey had an appointment that morning. I'd feel even better if the groomer had TOLD me about the bruises, but I'm not going to say that.


There are so many of them in that picture, unless it was my own puppy and I knew the marks weren't there before, I think I would assume they were birthmarks! Of course, a groomer would have to know the difference. I've never seen anything like that, I can't imagine how scared you must have been. I'm so glad he's starting to feel better, but I hope he doesn't feel TOO much better so you can keep him down for as long as you need!


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## Terri (Nov 7, 2013)

Sending all our prayers and thoughts for a heathy recovery for Smokey. So glad you are a wise owner and knew right away something was not right. I had never heard of l this, so it is wonderful you took the
time out to let us know about it and show the pictures of what to look out for, just in case. Please keep us updated with Smokeys progress...Blessings.


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## Jackie from Concrete WA (Mar 23, 2015)

Oh I am so terribly sorry for the ordeal you are going through. My heart breaks for you and Smokey! Sending prayers your way as I type this.


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## Dianedp (Dec 16, 2018)

EvaE1izabeth said:


> There are so many of them in that picture, unless it was my own puppy and I knew the marks weren't there before, I think I would assume they were birthmarks! Of course, a groomer would have to know the difference. I've never seen anything like that, I can't imagine how scared you must have been. I'm so glad he's starting to feel better, but I hope he doesn't feel TOO much better so you can keep him down for as long as you need!


Smokey's low blood count is keeping him worn out, which is of course good and bad news. He does perk up, but he spends most of his lying down. But... his platelets are at 160,000 today! That's a low normal. We're elated. His red blood cells are up to 19%. Obviously, that's not good, but it's higher than yesterday's 16%, so we're moving in the right direction.

I'm glad Smokey was groomed that day and upset that our (regular) groomer didn't say anything. My daughter pointed out that I should have called him that day to see how bad they were when he groomed him, I was too worried at the time.


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## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

I'm so very sorry for you and Smokey having to go through this. I wonder if the groomer even noticed the bruises? Possibly the bruises were developing after grooming due the pressure applied? The groomer definitely should have noticed. Poor little guy. I would be extremely upset and on the phone! I'm glad to hear Smokey's labs are improving. Wishing your little one recovers quickly.


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## EvaE1izabeth (Nov 14, 2017)

I wondered the same thing, about the clippers maybe causing the bruises. Assuming light pressure can cause those kind of bruises with low platelets. I just think about how many times I go a day or two days without seeing the stomach of my Havanese. He gets belly rubs pretty much every day, but he often lays up against me with his belly facing away when he wants a belly rub. But I do always check out his haircut after he goes to the groomer. It reminds me to make sure I’m looking him over regularly. If the clippers did cause the bruising, it seems like it’s a more fortunate way of discovering the problem, at least compared to something much more dangerous like a fall off of a bed.


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## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

EvaE1izabeth said:


> I wondered the same thing, about the clippers maybe causing the bruises. Assuming light pressure can cause those kind of bruises with low platelets. bed.


I guess the clippers could also cause bruising. I was thinking the bruises were due to the groomers hand pressure. It wouldn't take much pressure to cause a bruise with very low platelets.


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## Dianedp (Dec 16, 2018)

EvaE1izabeth said:


> I wondered the same thing, about the clippers maybe causing the bruises. Assuming light pressure can cause those kind of bruises with low platelets. I just think about how many times I go a day or two days without seeing the stomach of my Havanese. He gets belly rubs pretty much every day, but he often lays up against me with his belly facing away when he wants a belly rub. But I do always check out his haircut after he goes to the groomer. It reminds me to make sure I'm looking him over regularly. If the clippers did cause the bruising, it seems like it's a more fortunate way of discovering the problem, at least compared to something much more dangerous like a fall off of a bed.


Smokey often lays where I can see his belly, but his hair was covering it before he was groomed. With how bad the bruises were, I'm sure they formed before seeing the groomer. (I found them 20 minutes after he was groomed.) You're right, though, grooming might have caused worse bruises because he was already at zero platelets.

There's only anecdotal evidence that vaccinations cause immune-mediated thrombocytopenia, but he received vaccines Wednesday afternoon, less than 48 hours before being groomed. Smokey will have a medical waiver for all vaccinations for the rest of his life. I'm so glad both of the dogs in our household are indoor dogs.

And you're absolutely right; falling would have been *so *much more dangerous for him.


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## EvaE1izabeth (Nov 14, 2017)

Dianedp said:


> Smokey often lays where I can see his belly, but his hair was covering it before he was groomed. With how bad the bruises were, I'm sure they formed before seeing the groomer. (I found them 20 minutes after he was groomed.) You're right, though, grooming might have caused worse bruises because he was already at zero platelets.
> 
> There's only anecdotal evidence that vaccinations cause immune-mediated thrombocytopenia, but he received vaccines Wednesday afternoon, less than 48 hours before being groomed. Smokey will have a medical waiver for all vaccinations for the rest of his life. I'm so glad both of the dogs in our household are indoor dogs.
> 
> And you're absolutely right; falling would have been *so *much more dangerous for him.


Since it's possible the vaccinations caused it, do you think it's a temporary reaction or will he always have it?


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## Mikki (May 6, 2018)

OMG!!! How much more bad news can we deal with. I've never heard of this medical problem but it sounds like with patience the prognosis is good and you have a good Vet.


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## ShamaMama (Jul 27, 2015)

We're sending positive vibes your way. How old is Smokey? Thank you for telling us about this condition. We're looking forward to your future updates. Shama says, "Hi Smokey! I like your name!"


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## P Bennett (10 mo ago)

Dianedp said:


> It's been a long time since I posted. Smokey, our Havanese mix, has immune-mediated thrombocytopenia (ITP). He went to the vet Wednesday and was fine. He went to the groomer Friday morning; when he got home, I saw all these bruises around his groin area. I texted a picture of them to the vet's office. About five minutes later, they called and asked how soon I could be there. (The answer was ten minutes.) The vet kept Smokey for six hours, during which I imagined every possible bad outcome and wished for every good one. The first batch of tests showed that Smokey's platelet count, which should be between 150,000 to 400,000, was zero.
> 
> Zero.
> 
> ...


How is Smokey now? I just got a call from the Vet that my 4 year old named Mugsy's platelets are 66K. I have never had an issue like this so I am worried. They are sending the lab to a pathologist to take a second look at it.


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## Lennonthedog (8 mo ago)

P Bennett said:


> How is Smokey now? I just got a call from the Vet that my 4 year old named Mugsy's platelets are 66K. I have never had an issue like this so I am worried. They are sending the lab to a pathologist to take a second look at it.


How is your dog doing? Mine just got diagnosed today and they are testing for cancer. I am very worried


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