# Immune mediated Thrombocytopenia?



## Gizmosmom (Oct 21, 2004)

A while back I took Gizmo for grooming. When I went to pick him up, the groomer pointed out a "rash" on his tummy. I thought maybe it was from shaving him, though the groomers said that it was there before they started. A few days later I noticed bruises on him where the groomers had held him. Naturally I was livid that they had handled him so roughly. I decided that I would not be taking him back. After two weeks the rash was still there and he was still getting more bruises. This is when I took him to the vet. They did every test imaginable. When they came back, his platelets, which should be at 450, were at 15. The vet, by process of elimination determined that Gizmo had immune mediate disease. He is now on medication and his platelets are back to normal. I was wondering if anyone else has experience with this condition, and what your experience has been. Did it return? How long were they on meds etc. Any info would be great.


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## Nikki's Mom (Feb 13, 2008)

I have never heard of it. Is it like hemophilia? When you do research on it, can you post more info to SM so we can be aware?

Your poor baby! I wish you the best.


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## MalteseJane (Nov 21, 2004)

Alex had idiopathic thrombocetopenia (means they don't know from what). You were very very lucky. If you would have waited a little longer, your dog would not be here anymore. I have posted about this quite a few times here on this site trying to warn people. 
It starts with something looking like a rash and bruising. I was ticked off by somebody else and when I went in to the vet and he told me it's a rash, I asked for a complete blood panel (for my peace of mind). And thankgoodness I did. His platelets came back at 69. When the platelets fall too low, they can hemorrage in their lungs and this is the end. Some dogs need transfusion. Alex was on prednisone for at least 6 months. We monitored his platelet count every week for some time. He had not a recurrence since but I can tell you one thing, he is not having any surgery done even teeth cleaning without making sure his platelets are OK. And I am watching out for any rash coming up.


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## my baby (Aug 22, 2006)

I have never heard of it before, sounds awful, poor baby.
Thanks for posting more info on the subject because it helps us be more aware of the condition. Keep us posted on how Gizmo is doing. :grouphug: :grouphug:


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## NewMom328 (Apr 15, 2005)

I have heard of it in people but not animals. Good thing you caught it and took him to the vet in time. Hoping for a speedy recovery for Gizmo


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## Gizmosmom (Oct 21, 2004)

MalteseJane, I am SO glad I took him. Like I said, his platelets were already at 15. He is on predisone now aswell and platelets are back up but the vet said that he will be on them for a while. Good that you insisted on the bloodwork! My vet wasn't going to, but eventually he was like "I'm just too worried about this, we have to do a full workup". I'm glad he did. 

All I can say is watch your dogs for anything weird. You can't be too careful. Follow your gut!


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## Maidto2Maltese (Oct 19, 2004)

Ahhh so glad you got right on this and had the dx early!

Want to mention another thing that can create the bruising etc is a tick borne disease called ehrlichiosis caused by the brown dog tick. Not saying this is what Gizmo has but want to warn people that if they notice any bruising whatsoever to get the pooch to the vet quickly for testing as this is becoming more widespread. Also it may not show any symptoms till months after a tick bite.

Praying little Gizmo recovers completely and quickly!


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## gizzy's mom (Jun 3, 2008)

> Ahhh so glad you got right on this and had the dx early!
> 
> Want to mention another thing that can create the bruising etc is a tick borne disease called ehrlichiosis caused by the brown dog tick. Not saying this is what Gizmo has but want to warn people that if they notice anyruising whatsoever to get the pooch to the vet quickly for testing as this is becoming more widespread. Also it may not show any symptoms till months after a tick bite.
> 
> Praying little Gizmo recovers completely and quickly![/B]


Hi I pray for your baby that all continues to go well. My Gizmo(aka Gizzy) was lost to SARDS and Immune Mediated Retinopathy. Both are sort of rare diseases that there are no answers for or known causes or until recently no know cure. Gizzy ate the menu foods recalled dog food. I took him to the vet the same day I found out about the recall and all his blood work came back fine. So no worries right ! Wrong. As months past he started acting strange. We couldnt really put our finger on anything in particular other then his appetite was finicky. The vet had said he needed a good teeth cleaning and I thought well maybe his teeth are bothering him today. Before I could get him in for the cleaning he really got to acting funny. He wouldnt jump up on the couch or in my husbands chair at night. One day he would eat like crazy and the next nothing. He was drinking alot of water too. But It was August in GA and I just thought he was hot. It was time for his shots so I went to the vet and explained what was happening. They did the routine exam gave his shots and told me to make the appt for his teeth. They were not really bad but needed a cleaning. He had also gained a good amount of weight. And again I attributed that to the ravenous appetite, and the lazy dog days of summer. October came around and it appeared one day suddenly that he couldnt see. He was only 5.5 yrs old. I took him to the vet on a friday. Explained the vision problem. They did some more tests and I was to call the next morning. By Saturday morning Gizzy was completely blind. His kidney functions were way off. I quickly did search after search to find answers for sudden blindness and the only thing coming up was SARDS. After 5 months of back and forth to the vet and special diets. Opthamologists, testing etc... I had to put Gizzy down. He was miserable. I did have a bit of hope because after the depression was gone, the poor guy just laid there. He seemed to bounce back a bit and had mapped out the house and gotten into a routine. Seemed to have accepted the blindness. But as fast as he seemed to be getting better his kidneys began to fail and he became very anemic. Now all the experts say that the recalled food has nothing to do with this. Or over vaccinations which I think we all do to our babies. But yet have no other answers as to how or why it starts. I have a few theory's but thats all they are. I dontated his tissue and organs or whatever they needed for research. There was from Gizzy's donation a lab that got a experimental treatment and got 100% site back. ! That was the best news I could have ever gotten. That Gizzy's hardships helped another dog to see again. Now this treatment was used on 2 other dogs with not the same drastic results but its a start. Kody's sards research has a good bit of information about this. Dr Grozdanic at Iowa State University has spend many hours trying to come up with a cause and cure. I got his information when I joined a blind dogs forum which is absolutely wonderful !!!!!! Met some of the best people ever that help me cope with all this. I suggest you keep doing research on this and watch for any different behaviors. Also think back if there was any new medications , recent vaccinations, new flea or heartworm meds. Sounds like you got control of it in time though. And although its not the same thing as I went through with Giz it sounds like a unknown cause. I say all this to bring awareness as i had no clue about SARDS or immune mediated retinopathy. I pray that all remains well for your baby.


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