David Lock

We have a Cavalier King Charles - sweet little girl but now over 13 which is old for her breed and she's a bit wobbly on her pins.

Some weeks ago she was bleeding quite badly from her mouth. We did an emergency vet thing but vet couldn't find where blood was coming from and, quite frankly, was pretty hopeless. But this has started again a few days ago and she is off her food and clearly not quite right. I do think it is mouth related as she is not coughing up or anything like that. Yes she does have bad teeth as older dogs often do but that seems unlikely to be causing this. We will be going to a new vet tomorrow but wondered if anyone had any ideas. Perhaps something a bit unusual like a blood disorder or something?

Please no stupid comments. david

97TURBO

In no way wanting to put you in a panic, but our friends dog of 15years went in for something similar which was problem with his gums, however sadly they found a tumor at the back of his throat. On the vets advice he never woke from his anesthetic.
The point is though, part of the bleeding was from his gums.

oldsplice

Possibly gums, or lost a tooth. Poor little sausage.

Ellie*

I would have said teeth/gum related problem.

hope shes better soon xx

billythekid

Try and keep fluid intake up and give her some cheese if she is not eating. Is she eating anything at all?

Ellie*

yogurt?

tarmac terror

iTrader: (2)

Could she have cut her tongue recently? My dog did this chasing after sticks - I got a fierce bollocking from the vet. Would try to keep the fluids going in until you can get her to the vet.

David Lock

Thanks guys and gals,

Well I guess we may have some more news after vet visit tomorrow. She is drinking OK but didn't eat her main meal although an off-cut from the ham in my sandwich seemed to go down well

I suppose we are sort of prepared if there is any really bad news and we are old enough to have been through the last days of several pets before but it doesn't get any easier does it.

Paws crossed

Thanks d

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Leslie

I imagine you have to be guided by what the vet says. I am very sorry to hear of the problems. Despite her age, I really hope that an answer can be found and that she will get over it all.

Les

David Lock

Well thanks Les and others,

We took her to the vets as said above but no unambiguous black and white answers but we half expected that.

Lots of prodding and blood tests and a good look inside her mouth. No obvious lumps/bumps,tumours but she is very anaemic although apparently still producing red cells. Too much loss of blood would, of course, lead to her being anaemic but no real reason for blood seemingly coming from her mouth and not being coughed up. It could well be she has a tumour of some kind but why this would result in bleeding as she has been was not explained.

So 180 quid, some magic pills, take her back next week and report any sudden changes later it is still a bit of a mystery.

And the good lady popped in to the butchers on the way home and bought a small piece of rump as a treat for her - can't remember the last time I had a bit of steak

david

Ellie*

what pills?

David Lock

E, Well we asked for some antibiotics to counter any gum infections she may have and vet has given her some Vitamin K which helps with blood clotting (although I was a bit doubtful about this as her blood does clot reasonably). So nothing super special. David

Leslie

I hope she gets over it,and has lots more steak!

Les

dunx

iTrader: (3)

Ox heart and sheep liver are cheaper...

windyboy

hope she's alright and gets better, we have 2 CKCS's - one black and tanned and the other is blenim coloured, loveily dogs

windyboy

billythekid

Fingers crossed for you.

David Lock

Thanks folks, good wishes much appreciated. Bleeding all stopped and she spends most of time snoozing or, as Windyboy will know, snoring/grunting away

Went out to get some Ox heart but just not available at most butchers these days. Did get some liver and Ox tongue though. dl

little-ginge

David, sorry to hear about your pooch. Its always heartbreaking as they get older, and when something like this crops up, you cant help but feel helpless & frustrated.
Would she eat vegetables, if you steamed them? Green veg is full of iron. The best are broccoli and believe it or not peas ( i was anaemic last year, so know all about it!). My dog is 'tricked' into eating broccoli if it is soft and squished up into her food.

Also Kelp either tablet or powder is supposed to be good.

http://www.viovet.co.uk/Non-Prescrip...ck_find=114323

David Lock

Thanks L-G, Good idea about the veggies so might give that a whirl. Good news is she is back on her grub and wolfed down the last bit of steak we kept for her The bad news is she may have got a taste for the good life

I'll have a look at the link, cheers. David

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Leslie

Looks like she is on the mend then, that is good to hear.

I hope she continues with the "good life"

Les

little-ginge

DL, i know its only the beginning of the week, but any update? Hope she is better..

ScoobyWon't

My Newfoundland pup eats gherkins, both plain and pickled. He pinches them if he gets a chance. No need to trick him

pimmo2000

iTrader: (6)

Cheeky *******s .. for the £45 it cost just to see our vet I wouldn't take anything other than a very, very polite offering of advice ..

David Lock

Well nice of folk to ask

Yes she is better which is great. No more bleeding that we can see and back on her upgraded menu. Still spends most of her time snoozing but that's just old age - I know how she feels.

Due back to vet on Wednesday. We rather suspect that she had an abscess on her gums which can be quite nasty and bleed a fair bit. This is one reason why we asked for some antibiotics. As it happens the Mrs is a dentist (retired) so knows her way around teeth and gums although this is not something we mentioned to the vet in case she thought we were trying to be "clever".

I also think that some vets take a default position of "it's probably something serious" so be prepared. But to be fair vet doesn't know the animal (or us as owners) and she seemed to be pretty thorough.

So hopefully she lives to bark another day. But she is getting on.......

David

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Out of interest I checked the internet price for the antibiotics she is on, Noroclav, and they are around 40p each. Vet charged over £8.00 for 5 number. Taking the p,iss a bit really.

Leslie

Very glad to hear she is doing alright.

Les

little-ginge

The prices vets charge are horrendous! Ella, our Boxer was on immune-suppresant tablets for a while - thank god we had insurance as they were £5 EACH

You can ask your vet to write a prescription so you can get the meds on line - but a lot of vets are very funny about doing this and charge you something equally obscene for doing it

Glad to hear she is better