Our dog has an Internal Bleeding in his thigh?

Question

Our dog is bleeding internally in the thigh muscle of his back leg. We originally thought is was a snake bite, but now this is eliminated as the vet drained what originally was thought to be an absess and found a blood clot. We have no idea what is causing it although the dog had a minor fall on the stairs and landed like a spread eagle. Now he refuses to eat and drink, and it is very difficult for him to walk and he prefers to lay down. He is also almost 16 and this doesn't help.

The vet wants to run all sorts of tests- blood work to count cells, tissue test at a pathologist and still has no idea what is going on.

My questions are: what are the possible causes for the bleeding and how they can be determined- what tests should be run for them?

Answer 1

I would let your vet run whatever bloodwork s/he feels is necessary.  Your dog could have a possible blood disorder that is affecting his clotting abilities.

In addition to routine chemistry's, CBC, and electrolytes, I would suggest clotting factor tests.

Good luck.  I hope you get answers