suddenly, My dog has no platelets!!!

I don't know anything about this,,but I just wanted to say this sounds very scary,,,I know how much you are worried. I bet someone will come along soon and know something about this....please check back.  Meanwhile I just wanted you to know that we all care here...and hope that your doggy conditions DOES reverse itself. Keep us updated please!
Dyan and Bubblegum

Sounds like your vet thinks it's ITP If they gave you a steroid to treat. If it is that, 1/3 get better, 1/3 have at least one relapse, and 1/3 don't get better. Sounds a little scary but 2/3 get better Other things cause thrombocytopenia too, I would guess that your vet already investigated those things. I'm sorry you are going throught this, but it sounds like your pup is lucky to have you! In people who don't respond to steroids, we take the spleen out, I'm not sure if they do this in dogs too, it doesn't mention it in the vet med books I've been neurotically reading, one of the vet type people I,m sure will have some more info.

Immune-mediated Thrombocytopenia. I've seen a few cases, and its really rather scary. I have personally held the throat of a small poodle for over an hour after a blood draw. She was getting such a huge hematoma that we were worried it would cut off her ability to breath... it was very scary for the owner, but the dog ended up doing fine.

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=1646

http://www.vin.com/Members/SearchDB/vp/VPA01412.htm

thank you all. []
 
2nd day on the cortisone tablets today. I was wondering if this could have any connection to Frontline Plus - the flea and tick liquid that is applied to the skin. I treated my dog with Frontline just days before noticing the first red spots and bleeding. He's had it before, but does anyone know if there could be a connection?
 

If you had vaccinations within a week of the problem, then I would suspect a connection, but not from the frontline. Frontline usually produces skin irritation or an acute allergic reaction. Platelet destruction is usually due to excess antibodies or a confused spleen, neither of which should be associated with frontline...

Its possible I guess... but I wouldn't jump to any drastic conclusions.

I would NOT rule that out at all.
In fact, I guess I would be happy to find that it was Frontline,,,so that I could avoid it.
Not sure how you go about figuring it out though.

Has your dog ever been tested for Von Willebrands?  It's just a thought.

I think that anything that effects the immune system could be involved and Frontline being a pesticide could.
There is a very well known endocrinologist, William McK Jefferies. His main work was with adrenal glands and cortisol. He says that the adrenals are more susceptible to damage from drugs,chemicals and toxins than any other gland in the body. Once they are damaged they can produce too much or too little of various hormones. These hormones affect the immune system greatly. In fact, he writes in his book, "no other hormone can bring a body out of auto-immunity than cortisol hormone". So it's no wonder vets and M.D.'s use cortisone and other steroidal hormones to treat immune issues. Now looking into it further there is more info that if the steroidal hormone is administered but builds up and doesn't clear from the body (such as from a slow metabolism or hypothyroidism) that those antibodies actually drop off again instead of remaining normal and normalizing immune function.

There is one adrenal layer that produces estrogen and estrogen precursors or 'prohormones', that can effect antibodies also. Those antibodies can become deregulated and even turn against the body tissue and organs instead of protecting them. My own dog was producing too much adrenal estrogen and her antibody levels IgA, IgG and IgM were very low and she often had infections. Since correcting the hormone levels and normalizing her 'total estrogen', her antibody levels have returned to normal.

A vet told me that the excess adrenal estrogen also makes it easier for bruising to occur.

Has your dog ever been tested for Von Willebrands?  It's just a thought.

You still have normal platlet counts with von willebrand's, the platlets just don't function properly

Ah, thank you Ottoluv, that was an ignorant oversight on my part []

Ah, thank you Ottoluv, that was an ignorant oversight on my part 

Don't worry, my neurosis getting the better of me again

ORIGINAL: Ninya

thank you all. []

2nd day on the cortisone tablets today. I was wondering if this could have any connection to Frontline Plus - the flea and tick liquid that is applied to the skin. I treated my dog with Frontline just days before noticing the first red spots and bleeding. He's had it before, but does anyone know if there could be a connection?

 
The vet said he'd be hungrier and thirstier than normal on these tablets. You should have seen him last night - couldnt stop drinking! Doesnt appear to be hungrier than usual though.
 
Is it possible to sue Frontline if a link can be established?

Is it possible to sue Frontline if a link can be established?

 
  It's very unlikely that Frontline caused this; it's not absorbed into the system. I'll be praying for your precious peanut and sending healing thoughts; please keep us updated.

I'm not positive if I think Frontline could have caused it or not,,,I do think its possible.  BUT I sure would think that to sue a company over it,,,you were need more than eveidence.  We have to realize that anyone or any animal could have a bad reaction to anything,,,,,gee that could probably mean  bubblegum, or candy.  I would think the only way you could sue a company for selling a product that caused a problem is if you can prove they knew it would cause one.  I think there are dogs out there having reactions to Frontline and any other product, but I don't think there are many as to how many are using it.  I think you have to prove a company is negligible for selling it, and I think that you will have to look a long way to find enough dogs that have had problems with Frontline to make that happen.
I think Frontline is pretty safe in the long run, but I wouldn't use it unless it was absolutely necessary.

I think you have to prove a company is negligible for selling it, and I think that you will have to look a long way to find enough dogs that have had problems with Frontline to make that happen.

There always is risk with every medication you take or give, while you can sue for anything you want in the united states, you are unlikely to get anywhere without exactly what dyan is suggesting. You would need evidence that the makers of frontline know it causes this and continue to sell without adding it as a risk on the packaging. Kinda like the cigarette industry knowing for 20 years that cigarettes cause cancer and not disclosing it, or pfizer and vioxx (although there isn't good evidence they really knew it caused cardiac issues)

I have to say, it makes me sad that many people are so quick to sue. Doctors, vets, nurses, scientists aren't perfect, they do the best they can with the evidence they have in front of them. I think we all should realize that every choice we make has potential concequences.

Remember breast implants bankrupted several companies because people thought they caused cancer, autoimmune dz, etc. Three 10+ year studies, two of which were done at the powerhouses of Mayo clinic and Harvard, showed that is not true. Sometimes bad things happen and there is no reason or someone to blame

Ok, off the soap box