Clotting

[engteach64]

My dog has been licking like something is in her mouth for the pat few hours. A few minutes ago...excuse me while I gag...she spit out a big old blood clot. Still gagging. She is up and around and acting great now, but it freaked me and my son out. Should I save the clot (gagging) and maybe take it to the vet, or just flush it? Is this something that I should worry about?

A little history on my dog. Three years ago she ate onions and it killed her blood cells or something. She almost died. She take medicine regularly basically to stay alive. Prednesone I think. She is 11 years old, and going down hill, but she is still functioning. I just worry about her when these things happen.

Thanks.

[siamcat]

I'm so sorry. I can understand how you feel.
I guess you could keep the sample if you still have it. Doctors always want samples.
Hopefully she will have a few more good years and as long as she's not in pain and happy you can make the most of them.

[Brad Buckley, D.V.M.]

Given the history of bleeding disorder, I recommend having your dog evaluated to make sure that she has adequate clotting factors.

Sorry for the delay in the response and I hope all is well.

[engteach64]

Thank you both. I knew she had about six more good months, but with this, her swollen eye, and every now and then she drags her legs behind her, I feel I am prolonging her life for me. I just am not ready to make the decision to let her go. I will take her to the vet and see what they say. I'm not happy to be visiting this again since she seemed to be doing so well, but then has bad days. Hopefully the vet will ease my mind and say it is all allergy related. :-s We will see. Thanks again.

Dr. Buckley~answering me any time is a great help. Don't ever appologize for delay when I am grateful that you just have this section on the forum to help out before we can get to the vet. I can't say how much I apprecaite this.

[engteach64]

Well, my son texted and told me Haley's face was now swollen. She looks like a rat her nose is so swollen. Turns out it is an absessed tooth (which cannot be pulled). He gave me antibiotics, medication for the eye ulsor, and reassured me all is well for now. He made me feel good when we left. He was great.