Canine Anemia

I never knew a dog can get anemic until it happened to my own pet.

Mango was behaving odd for the last few days. Not much appetite and she seems to be a bit lethargic, she doesn't follow you around that much. Her little energy seem to be only used on barking at neighbours or their dogs.

We brought her to our parents on Sunday night. And at around 7.30pm, my mum called us, sounding panic. Apparently Mango just had somekind of seizure, she hid under the chair, with her head shaking and her eyes are not moving, she was not responsive to my mum's calling. Unfortunately the vet is not open on Sunday night. So I told them to observe her for a while and let's see how it goes from there. I have decided to bring her to see the vet the next day.

So last night, after an early dinner, we brought her to Ting & Lu. The vet didn't even touch her yet, and can already diagnose she is anemic. I asked him how he knows?He said you can tell by looking at the inside of her ears, its not as pink as it should, and true to his words, we notice the colour was paler. He prescribed antibiotics and multi vitamins(liquid) for Mango. If she doesn't get better in 10 days, she will need to go back :(

Anyway, I did some research. And I would like to share some of the info. I got the info from this website.

causes for blood loss:

- parasites such as fleas (its been a long time since we found any fleas on her)
- wounds or traumas (we did notice some blood stain on the floor last weekend and thought she's having her period, which in the end is not)
- toxic or chemical poisoning (this I am not sure, we made sure we don't spray insectide near her/ her stuff, but I remember last week, Oink was on a mission to kill the hordes of ants crawling near the window, I am not sure did she walk near the area after that)


How to detect :

- gums and insides of the eyes are pale/ white
- lethargic and weak
-panting, labored breathing and fast pulse
- if the bleeding is internal, the stool are of darker colour (black)
- if the anemia is serious, may have heart murmur and rapid heartbeat

Our vet has advised us to feed her chicken liver or any tonic that can help promote blood cell production. My dad just sms-ed me to tell he bought some chicken livers. I think I want to go find supplements that has iron in it.

I hope my Mango gets well soon.