Unexplained Bleeding In Dog...

[enna]

I found a patch of blood on my dog's bed this morning and I have no idea where on her it came from? She had only been in the room alone for about a minute when I came in and found it. A little later she tried to lick it off - which made me remember her licking the bedding a few times in the past month and there being a slight stain afterwards, but I had no idea what it was from. Now I'm thinking it may have been blood too. I couldn't find any blood on her. She's desexed.

She's still energetic and acting perfectly normally. I took her to the vet this afternoon and she checked her over and couldn't find anything wrong at all. She said there are further tests that could be run but since she seems healthy (no vomitting, diarrhoea, blood in urine or faeces, normal heartbeat and body temp) and we have no indication of where the blood came from there's not a lot of point as we have no idea where to start. She said to just wait and see if it happens again and bring her back if it does.

Has anyone had anything like this happen with their dog before? My concern is what if it's something serious and we leave it, and also what if it happens again and I take her back but there's still no real idea of where it came from?

[Erny]

Enna - I have nothing to say to help you and can think of nothing other than what you've already been informed. My previous (avatar) girl "Kal" (bhcs) had bloody spots on her bedding that took me a little bit to pick up on too. It turned out to be from her nose. I initially deduced this by making a mental note of where and how she was sleeping (ie what position) and matching it to where the blood spot was. Might not be her nose, but it is one other orifice to keep a check on. Also perhaps check her mouth (teeth; lips) in case she might have a tooth problem or nicked her lip. Unlikely as these things may be, it's just other places to be mindful of. It might just be a small nick from a foot pad, or end of her tail or something - sometimes these things, once the bleed stops, are really hard to pick up on and may well be nothing.

Edited March 1, 2011 by Erny

[enna]

Thanks Erny. I had a good look in her mouth and around her nose (and everywhere else!) and there were no signs of anything wrong. She is a light haired fluffy dog so you would think there'd be some trace of where it came from, but apparently not.

I guess I'll just have to keep an eye on things and hope it was nothing serious.

[Trixibelle22]

I had this happen with one of my dogs and it was coming from her anal glands. She would clean herself up but I would find it on the tiles. Took a while to realise where it was coming from. Very scary at the time but after some abs. All sweet.

[sas]

My boy has had mystery blood spots before, turned out to be a blood nose.

[Rottifan]

Same - mystery blood spots that were light in colour came from my boy and took a while to detect.....he was 4 and not yet desexed and was found to be leaking from his private parts...desexed and ultrasound of prostrate to ensure there was nothing else and the issue stopped, thankfully. It was an early warning sign that alerted us to the fact that it could have turned into something nasty (prostrate issues). Good luck with your girl and keeping watch!

[Kirislin]

I wonder if you got some white tissue or toilet paper and dabbed it on suspect orifices you might find some colour.