Need Advice
11-year-old Belgian Malinois with severe anemia/thrombocytopenia — looking for advice and similar experiences
About two weeks ago, my 11-year-old Belgian Malinois, Baloo, suddenly started refusing his food. At first, I thought it was because I had switched his food from his normal chicken formula to a salmon formula.
A couple days later, I noticed he was panting more than usual and had a runny nose. When I got home from work, he was shaking his head and walking a little crooked, so I made a vet appointment because I thought he had an ear infection.
The vet checked his ears, which were fine, and ran bloodwork. His CBC came back very abnormal.
Red blood cells:
RBC: 4.37 M/µL — low
HCT: 29.3% — low
HGB: 11.6 g/dL — low
MCV: 67 fL — normal
MCHC: 39.5 g/dL — slightly high
Reticulocytes: 145.1 K/µL — high
Reticulocyte %: 3.3%
The analyzer interpreted this as “anemia with reticulocytosis — likely regenerative anemia.”
White blood cells:
WBC: 31.27 K/µL — high
Neutrophils: 0.90 K/µL — very low
Lymphocytes: 27.6 K/µL — extremely high
Monocytes: 2.31 K/µL — high
Eosinophils: 0.14
Basophils: 0
Platelets:
PLT: 47 K/µL — extremely low
The vet put him on 20 mg of steroids once a day. We were initially considering tick-borne disease, but his vet has since told me this isn’t Lyme disease.
The vet has discussed possibilities including blood loss/internal bleeding, destruction of red blood cells, immune-mediated disease, and cancer/blood disorders, but we don’t have a definitive diagnosis yet.
What makes this so incredibly difficult is everything else happening in my life.
I recently moved to a new state after my divorce, and I don’t really know anyone here. Right now, Baloo is pretty much all I have. He’s my best friend, and I’m absolutely terrified.
The vet basically told me there isn’t much I can do right now other than keep him comfortable and spend time with him. I’ve taken this entire week off work to be with him, but I have to go back Tuesday. With how wobbly he is and the risk of him falling, I don’t feel comfortable leaving him home alone.
I’m completely overwhelmed and honestly don’t know what I’m supposed to do.
I also recently lost my best friend to suicide, and I’m already struggling to process that loss. Now I’m sitting here wondering if I’m prolonging things with Baloo because I’m not ready to let him go, or if he still has meaningful time left with me.
I feel guilty either way. I’m scared that if I let him go too soon, I’ll regret taking away time he could have had. But I’m also terrified that I’m keeping him here because I can’t handle losing him.
The steroids seem to be helping. He has a great appetite, is drinking, using the bathroom normally, and his stool looks normal. His gums are light pink. He’s still interacting with me and seems comfortable when he’s lying with me. His breathing is still concerning and seems rough/fast, though.
I’m not necessarily looking for someone to diagnose him over the internet. I’m hoping to hear from people who have experienced something similar, especially dogs with regenerative anemia and very low platelets.
What questions should I be asking my vet? What tests would you ask about next? And how did you know when it was time to let your dog go?
I’m completely lost right now. I don’t know if I’m looking for advice, someone who has been through something similar, or just someone to tell me I’m not completely fucking crazy for feeling this way.
Thank you for reading and for any guidance you can offer. ❤️