Dog Anemia: Understanding and Treating Canine Blood Def

Today's article is all about learning what canine anemia is.

Anemia

Red blood cells and hemoglobin are crucial components of blood.

Hemoglobin is a protein found within red blood cells, responsible for transporting oxygen throughout a dog's body. If a dog has anemia, it means there's an issue with either the red blood cells themselves or the hemoglobin within them.

Why is canine anemia so serious?

Whichever type of anemia a dog has, it disrupts the body's oxygen supply system, leading to breathing difficulties. As the body tries to compensate for the lack of oxygen by increasing blood flow, the dog's heart rate rises, and it becomes weak, losing its appetite. These symptoms, particularly the increased heart rate, can be fatal for many dogs, especially those with poor exercise tolerance. Temporary loss of appetite may not be a big deal for large breeds, but it can be very dangerous for small breeds prone to low blood sugar.

Besides an increased heart rate, drowsiness, and loss of appetite, anemic dogs may also exhibit symptoms like difficulty breathing, pale mucous membranes, weight loss, blood in urine, feces, or vomit, and nosebleeds.

So, anemia must be taken seriously. However, before focusing on anemia, it's even more important to pay attention to other abnormalities in your dog.

Does anemia mean there's a more severe disease in your dog?

Indeed, canine anemia is typically a secondary condition to another more serious illness. This means that if you notice signs of anemia in your dog, there's likely a more severe underlying condition. Anemia is often just a "sidekick" to these diseases, such as:

Trauma:

Severe bleeding can lead to anemia, especially after a significant loss of blood. Often, the bleeding goes unnoticed by owners because internal injuries to the dog's organs have already occurred.

Parasites:

Intestinal parasites, such as Babesia, a blood parasite that breaks down red blood cells, and hookworms, which can damage the intestinal mucosa, are common causes of anemia.

Tumors:

Tumors, being a mass of blood and tissue, can cause anemia if they rupture and are not promptly treated.

Blood loss with clotting dysfunction:

When blood loses its clotting ability, it can gush out of the dog's mouth, nose, eyes, and other organs, a condition known as hemophilia, which is quite rare.

Toxins:

Some medications can interfere with blood clotting, such as rodenticides.

Chronic diseases:

Various chronic diseases, such as kidney and liver diseases, can suppress the bone marrow's ability to produce red blood cells, ultimately leading to anemia.

And the most common cause, malnutrition. When a dog's daily nutritional intake is insufficient, the bone marrow slows down the production of red blood cells, causing anemia.

What should the owner do?

It's all about three words: follow medical advice.

The common causes of canine anemia are listed above. It's not hard to notice that many of these causes are related to diet, especially feeding your dog human food. So, please don't feed your dog anything randomly and encourage your family to do the same.