gsdog2 Posted November 30, 2010 Share Posted November 30, 2010 I have a 9yr old male GSD that started having nosebleeds two weeks ago (that I've noticed). I first found brown spots on our garage floor where he has a bed and sleeps at night. We have three dogs but the other two sleep in crates - this boy prefers to sleep on a large mattress on the floor. I noticed brown spots on the floor but it didn't occur to me that one of the dogs was bleeding until the spots increased. We checked all three dogs and couldn't find any cuts or anything that would cause the spots of blood on the floor. Later that day my GSD had blood literally dripping from his nose, but it only lasted about 5 minutes and gradually it became clearer in colour and slowed down. As it was Sunday and the bleeding seemed to ease I waited until the next day and took him to the vet first thing in the morning. The vet couldn't find any obvious cause and said we could either try some AB's or what she'd really like is to send him to the specialist for an Endoscopy. We chose the Endoscopy as we didn't want to waste time guessing what might be wrong. An appointment was made and he was at the specialist first thing the next day prepared for a GA and Endoscopy. After some discussion with the specialist I was advised that my boy should also have an MRI just in case the Endoscopy didn't show anything - with the bleeding it's not always easy to see what's happening. My GSD had both the Endoscopy and MRI with no evidence of tumours, fungal infection or foreign bodies. The nasal passages appeared to be inflammed - possibly due to allergies or reactions to inhaled irritants (not that I can think of anything that has changed recently that would cause this ) We are now waiting on the results of the biopsy. I brought him home last Wednesday, as he stayed overnight at the specialist centre, and although he was still bleeding from the nose occasionally it seemed to be improving. He was sent home on Cephalexin to guard against possible infection from the biopsy, but I hoped that maybe it was helping with whatever was causing his nose bleed. This was a week ago now and today I've noticed the bleeding has started again - not all the time, but it's there. The specialist told me he would ring either yesterday or today with the results of the biopsy, but as yet I haven't heard anything. I will ring him tomorrow morning, but in the meantime I was hoping someone here might have come across something like what my boy is going through that I could put to the specialist when I speak to him. Any help would be welcome as this boy is very special to me and not knowing what's wrong with him is very upsetting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KOE Posted November 30, 2010 Share Posted November 30, 2010 Is he on any drugs , high blood preasure in dogs cause nosebleeds as do some drugs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gsdog2 Posted November 30, 2010 Author Share Posted November 30, 2010 Is he on any drugs , high blood preasure in dogs cause nosebleeds as do some drugs. No, the only medication is Heartguard once a month. His blood pressure was "slightly" raised, however the specialist felt it was only due to the excitement of being at the centre and not enough to cause his nose to bleed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Lolapalooza* Posted December 1, 2010 Share Posted December 1, 2010 What a frustrating situation for you :D This happened to me about 18mths ago, we had biopsies x3 which showed nothing, MRI (showed worn through septum which in the end they assumed was cancer) all up it cost me $8000?! My girl had pyometra on top of that and the only way they could stop her massive nasal bleeding was to tie off both her carotids. After this they told me if it was cancer she would only live 3 months maximum, my girl is still alive....nothing wrong with her and I still have NFI what happened! My friend who has a bitch similar age has nose bleed post caesarean and after biopsy it showed allergic rhinitis. Is their any way your GSD chas had an anaesthetic recently (my friends girl had for her caeser and 4 weeks before the bleeding my girl had been inseminated with frozen semen under GA) I hope so much that you get answers soon. To stop the bleeding they can tie off his carotids....this was described by my specialist as a fairly benign procedure (?!) and although it wont give you an answer it will stop the bleeding. Hugs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adza Posted December 1, 2010 Share Posted December 1, 2010 I have no answer for you but all the best for your boy hope everything works out OK. :D I really hate not knowing what's going on it's the hardest thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekhbet Posted December 1, 2010 Share Posted December 1, 2010 have they tested his blood to see if his clotting factors are normal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gsdog2 Posted December 1, 2010 Author Share Posted December 1, 2010 Spoke to specialist this morning and the result of the biopsy was that he has inflamed cells and the most likely cause is Lymphoplasmacytic Rhinitis. The specialist wants to treat him with cortisone, however when I brought my boy home he was drinking large amounts of water and urinating more than normal (he's back to normal now), so before he starts on the cortisone he will be having blood and urine tests. On top on this the specialist now informs me that he is moving interstate so he will pass my boy's history on to one of the other specialists. When I asked who I should ask for if I need someone in an emergency he named three different people who might be able to help (not one of them work at the centre full-time). *Lolapalooza* - no he hasn't had a GA in years (probably 2005). Pyometra is such a scary thing, and being told she had cancer as well it certainly puts my problems into perspective. I'm so glad she's ok now Nekhbet - the specialist has mentioned this, but ruled it out as he is only bleeding from the nose. At this stage we have spent over $2000 (I would spend $$$ again if it would help) with no definate diagnosis and back to our vet tomorrow for tests and cortisone as the specialist agrees they are quite capable of carrying out the same tests he was going to carry out, and they are much closer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Lolapalooza* Posted December 1, 2010 Share Posted December 1, 2010 Good Luck P.S Bloody Dogs can drive us to drink!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekhbet Posted December 1, 2010 Share Posted December 1, 2010 Nekhbet - the specialist has mentioned this, but ruled it out as he is only bleeding from the nose. yeah he should have really done this first. If an inflammed site is bleeding out constantly there might be another bleeding you DONT see. I would get a complete blood spectrum done, I mean everything, and go from there. Especially since he's drinking so much water Hope things get better for you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erny Posted December 1, 2010 Share Posted December 1, 2010 I agree with Nekhbet in that a full blood work up would be in order. Being hypothyroidic can result in nose bleeds. But then so can a number of different things. Hope you manage to get to the bottom of this asap and that it proves to be something that is easily and successfully treatable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flaves Posted December 1, 2010 Share Posted December 1, 2010 My old boy had granulated something or other that manifested itself with nosebleeds. He bled regularly until he was on cortisone, and he was on that until he died Hoping the outcome is good for your boy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gsdog2 Posted December 2, 2010 Author Share Posted December 2, 2010 Nekhbet - the specialist has mentioned this, but ruled it out as he is only bleeding from the nose. yeah he should have really done this first. If an inflammed site is bleeding out constantly there might be another bleeding you DONT see. I would get a complete blood spectrum done, I mean everything, and go from there. Especially since he's drinking so much water Hope things get better for you I mentioned this to the vet and he's now doing full bloods and Urinalysis. I'm really hoping nothing too serious shows up. He's assured me if there's a problem it will show in these tests and I should have the results tomorrow. All going well we'll start the cortisone tomorrow afternoon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erny Posted December 2, 2010 Share Posted December 2, 2010 I'm really hoping nothing too serious shows up. He's assured me if there's a problem it will show in these tests and I should have the results tomorrow. All going well we'll start the cortisone tomorrow afternoon. I don't wish to stand on any Vet's toes, although I'm sure I often do. I'm sorry for that as I do not ever intend to give the impression that I think I know better. As a general rule, I do not. I readily and freely acknowledge that. BUT .... if the results for thyroid show up as ok, I wouldn't be trusting that result unless the bloods were checked by Dr Jean Dodds in the USA. Reason being is that our facilities in Oz don't pick up thyroid issues until the thryoid is further degenerated by comparison to the testing facilities in the USA. I don't trust the analysis comparison we do here either. I'd prefer to know this as a certainly before heading down the cortisone track. But that's just me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gsdog2 Posted December 2, 2010 Author Share Posted December 2, 2010 I'm really hoping nothing too serious shows up. He's assured me if there's a problem it will show in these tests and I should have the results tomorrow. All going well we'll start the cortisone tomorrow afternoon. I don't wish to stand on any Vet's toes, although I'm sure I often do. I'm sorry for that as I do not ever intend to give the impression that I think I know better. As a general rule, I do not. I readily and freely acknowledge that. BUT .... if the results for thyroid show up as ok, I wouldn't be trusting that result unless the bloods were checked by Dr Jean Dodds in the USA. Reason being is that our facilities in Oz don't pick up thyroid issues until the thryoid is further degenerated by comparison to the testing facilities in the USA. I don't trust the analysis comparison we do here either. I'd prefer to know this as a certainly before heading down the cortisone track. But that's just me. Thanks Erny - I'll be speaking to my vet again tomorrrow morning so I'll mention the thyroid to him Today has been a good day for my boy, with no sign of blood from his nose. And as I mentioned earlier the drinking and urinating is back to normal, however I'm still concerned that this happened after a GA - not a normal reaction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekhbet Posted December 2, 2010 Share Posted December 2, 2010 I'm more surprised that a dog with a bleeding problem was not blood screened before the anaesthetic to check for organ function. My old boss would have thrown a pink fit hope you egt some results soon please keep us posted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gsdog2 Posted December 2, 2010 Author Share Posted December 2, 2010 I'm more surprised that a dog with a bleeding problem was not blood screened before the anaesthetic to check for organ function. My old boss would have thrown a pink fit hope you egt some results soon please keep us posted I've been thinking the same thing - and we're talking about a specialist I'm wondering if the original vet (not the one I saw today, but from the same surgery) should have done a blood screen before sending my boy off for the Endoscopy. At the time all I could think was - tumour!!! and just wanted to get him checked out. My poor OH couldn't look sideways at me without me - I wasn't thinking straight as I was sure I was going to lose my beautiful boy. With hindsight things could have been handled better Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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