Dog Community

Need Help !

Posted : 10/19/2012 2:01:34 PM

Does anyone have any experience or info about a large dog with a smaller then average heart ? How it would effect an older dog ?

Or white a very low white blood cell count , its as low as 7 accompanied by accelerated heart rate and difficulty breathing and vomiting? Ever heard of anything similar ?

calliecritturs

Posted : 10/19/2012 2:29:44 PM

WHITE blood cells rather than red blood or platelets? ~~White blood cells that low are NORMAL (in fact 7 is a tad high (and I'm looking at bloodwork I just had done on mine that came back from Idexx)~~

I'm correcting this -- the IDEXX range is 4.0 - 15.5 so 3 isn't massively low but is out of range.

Now RED blood that came back that low would be IMHA, and **would** be accompanied by vomiting -- in fact 7 is deadly low (almost too low to transfuse), and red blood THAT low would cause severe heart trauma because the heart can't pump enough blood when it's that low.

Somehow I'm thinking I'm not getting what you're saying.

Small hearts happen -- but typically they have to work harder (so it ages the heart and puts a burden on a smaller heart)

JackieG

Posted : 10/19/2012 2:41:13 PM

Normal WBC is between 6,000 to 17,000 microliters. Often the numbers on the reports don't include the full number and are expressed as a single or double digit, such as 7. Seven is in the low normal range for WBC. I am tracking one of my dog's CBC weekly as he's being treated for cancer. His WBC is below 3 right now, which is low.

What does the vet have to say about this dog?

PawMaid

Posted : 10/19/2012 2:44:33 PM

We did x rays ,blood work and calium slide. Found out he as a small heart for his sizes. Very low white blood cell count. The vet said normal white is Between 6,000-17,000. Kobe is at 7. He ran the blood work twice. Both time white came out 7. Vet can't connect it to the vomiting, elevated heart rate and trouble Breathing.

PawMaid

Posted : 10/19/2012 2:46:20 PM

The vet also said that the cell counts where way lower then you Would see if he where fighting a infection.

JackieG

Posted : 10/19/2012 2:54:29 PM

Could the vet have meant 7,000? When I said my dog was below 3, I was not adding the zeros. He's actually at 2,500 and it's fairly common to say the figure without the zeros. Different labs have slightly different normal ranges. If it's at 7 per microliter, I've got no clue what might be going on. Maybe someone with more knowledge can help.

PawMaid

Posted : 10/19/2012 3:04:33 PM

He just said 7. I not sure exactly what he mean. He did say it was adnormaly low ..he was showing 2 Other vets . They all seem a little stumped.

calliecritturs

Posted : 10/19/2012 3:20:45 PM

Ugh I'm wrong -- I'm glad I checked back (work is incredibly busy today and I picked up a wrong line). My vet has just switched to Idexx from Antech and I'm having the devil's own time reading this (my eyes slipped to the wrong line so I was way off) so what I said wasn't accurate.

Idexx's range for WBC is 4.0 - 15/6 as the "General Range" so 3 would have been low but not THAT low. -- and like Jackie I'm assuming it's in the thousands (altho what I said above is Idexx's ranges -- but I know Idexx reports read different than what I'm used to reading for Antech but my vet told me he got fed up with some sloppy work and switched *sigh* so I'll get used to it!)

Just by way of comparison -- Luna's is 5.1, Tink's is 9.8, and Charlie's is 9.2 -- same dogs, same food, none fighting infection but still quite a range.

The WBC fight infection ... so "low" would be ok if there were no infection to fight.

Essentially I wouldn't think white blood cells would have a ton to do with a *small* heart - a smaller heart has to work harder to push the same volume of blood thru. You'd need to watch blood pressure, and such with a smaller heart.

The breathing change can be heart. If the body is having a hard time getting as much oxygen as it wants they will pant to offset that and that would not be unheard of in a small heart.

PawMaid

Posted : 10/19/2012 3:55:10 PM

With everything Kobe has been though and had done We never knew his hart was small. We knee he had a memmer . But the vet when viewing the x-rays mentioned it several times. Crouse that was the first time I got to go back with him and help with Everything.

PawMaid

Posted : 10/19/2012 9:01:41 PM

Got back from vet. Did EKG .it showed no irregular beat It has a heart rate of 170. The correct WBC. 1.7 They have him over night at another vet. She is run some Different tests and checking the BC's again.