bloody nose

[tinytwo]

Hello, everyone! I was on vacation for a bit, and am now back!

Yesterday Harper had a bit of a bloody nose! I noticed it when I gave him a biscuit with peanut butter on it, and there was a bit of blood on the floor where he had been licking. I thought he had poked his mouth with the biscuit, but the blood was actually coming from his nose.

There were 8-10 drops on the floor. I got a washcloth to dab at his nose, and there was just a bit. Not dripping from his nose, just was inside the nostrils a bit, and would come off on the cloth when I dabbed. After just 2-3 minutes it was gone. Then, after playing with our other pup, Abby, it started up again. No dripping, just right inside the nostrils, it would come off on the sofa when he put his head down, and also when I dabbed at his nose.

A bit of background...we used to occasionally let the pups go next door to play with a very friendly, kind neighbor dog (only when we were outside, also). But, a few houses down, there is a new dog we're not so sure about, yet, so we have improved our fencing, so our dogs can't come and go, and the other dogs can't come in.

Harper and Abby are frustrated by this and have started to dig with a passion. They were never diggers before. Plus, it has been very hot, 95-100 degrees. And, we don't have central air conditioning, just a swamp cooler + window air conditioner. So, I was thinking, the digging, + the heat, dry air, and then the blowing of the swamp cooler...could that be irritating his nose? Or could it be serious? No bleeding today, thankfully!

[josie1918]

I am not attempting to alarm anyone here, but unless you can actually see an external injury (scratch) we can assume it is an internal, nasal bleeding issue. He should be seen by a vet as soon as possible, it could be a lot of things, particular diseases such as von wilebrands disease cause unusual bleeding, it could also be a nasal tumor.

[Duffy Jones]

Totally agree with josie1918. Unilateral epistaxis (nose bleed) can come for a few things including nasal foreign body, bleeding disorder (even though that is usually were both nostrils are involved), fungal infections, bacterial infection, hypertension or nasal tumors. I did not see how old your dog was but nasal tumors much more common in older dogs then younger dogs. I would not take this lightly and get him to your vet. They will typically take blood work looking for low platelets or other issues that might cause bleeding. Then from there they might treat with antibiotics if it looks like a rhinitis or radiographs and scoping if it looks like something worse.

We as vet (and I am assuming josie1918 is from reading her posts) take nasal bleeding very serious because it can be an indication of alot of serious diseases.

Let me know if I can help but I would have him seen ASAP

duf

[tinytwo]

Thank you both for your replies! Yikes! I will definitely get him in to the vet!
By the way, Duffy, he has just turned 9 months old.

[Duffy Jones]

Good - I am glad he is young and hopefully it will be something easy like an infection or even a something stuck up there like a piece of grass. Please keep me informed on how he is doing.

duf