Dark red tongue and other symptoms??? - Page 1

I received these e-mails from a friend, and I have no idea what is going on with the dog. It all started with them telling me that Zina has bruises around her nipples. (????) Then: “We have some questions that you may be able to answer. Zina's mammary glands are still swollen, and there is still some bruising around them. She still has an inverted vulva, and now her tongue and gums are starting to turn a dark red. She has been out of heat for some time now, and we have had her at the vet for testing many times. The tests don't come up with anything so far. I have looked on-line, and can't find anything that explains this, and the vet hasn't found anything yet either. Can you give me any insight as to what may be causing this? Zina acts fine, looks good, and is eating well, other than being picky about her food, but this stuff doesn't seem to go away.” I asked: “Is she on any medication?” “No, Zina is not on any medications other than the once a month heartworm pills as well as flea and tick prevention. As far as the inverted vulva, we will probably have this surgically corrected to help prevent the urinary tract infections. Please post her symptoms on the GSD messageboard, and perhaps someone can help out. I am starting to get concerned for her well being, and I certainly hope nothing happens to her.” Then: “I took Zina to a specialist yesterday, and they can't find out what is causing the problem. All of the testing and physical exams show that she is healthy, and she acts very healthy as well. They said it may be hormones, and that could be resolved by spaying her, so I have scheduled her for a vulvaplasty to correct her inverted vulva, and getting her spayed.” Does anyone have any idea??? The dog is about 1 year old.

Any chance she could be pregnant?

I would be interested to know what kind of tests were done.... Have never heard of bruising around nipples.. what kind of specialist?? Have they done any testing for von willebrands or haemophilia A?? I'm not sure why I ask that..it just came to mind.. Is her vulva really inverted or just sort of more folded or tipped?? I would hesitate to do a surgery on a dog who is not right and the bruised nipples and dark gums and lips would indicate that something is not right.... That's not to say at some point that maybe that couldn't be fixed if it's that bad but some dogs are just built that way and you have to be sure these are knife happy!! In all my years I've never seen an inverted vulva and I've looked at a lot of them.. wouldlove to see a picture... Sorry I am not really coming up with anything just sort of throwing thoughts out there.. these things are tough without pictures...

Have they done a PCV? and QBC?

There are several possibilities. The first question I have however, is who says the dog has darker than normal red gums and a tongue? Is this confirmed by a vet? Secondly, how long has this been going on? Yes, what tests or bloodwork have been done? Where does the dog live, how old is it, any prior health problems to date? What is it being fed? Is there any chance that the dog is seizing and these have not been witnessed and the bruising is from injury sustained during seizures? IF the tongue and gums are really dark red, indicating bruising or bleeding is going on there, this could be some sort of a problem with vitamin K deficiency, VWB or some other type bleeding disorder. However, the disease that immediately comes to mind with unexplained bruising, though not always evident, is leptospirosis. Another potential cause would be a herpes virus infection and still another would be aflatoxin poisoning. What is the dog being fed and what is the grain in the food? Much more information is necessary here. If good vets and a specialist do not find cause for alarm, and if the dog really is not showing signs of illness, I wonder whether the initial observation of the bruising or dark tongue etc. is really a correct assessment.

maybe a silly question but.. Does she seem to be not getting enoug air ? darker gums tongue appear with lack of oxygen, correct?

Echo I think the color would be bluish from lack of profusion.

Was this her first heat? At least wait one more heat cycle before doing any type of surgery on the vulva, most fix themselves after a cycle or two. I have seen this at least 6 or 8 times...always fixes itself...from my experience. The bruising...is it actual bruising? or just black? If it is black skin, I would suspect a secondary staff infection. Just throwing some things out for you. Hope you get good help.

Thank you for all the responses! Unfortunately I don’t have much detail such as what type of food she is eating now, or what exact tests were done. I will post answers to your questions as soon as I have them.

Here is the response from Zina's owner: """ 1. She is not pregnant. 2. There have been many tests. CBC timed bleeding test was done by pricking her gums and seeing how long it took to clot (<1 minute which is normal), heart and lungs are normal (vet says she has a very athletic sounding heart and lungs) does not have vonwillenbrans tick testing was sent to North Carolina and came back normal liver enzymes are normal all other blood work is normal 3. The dark tongue started about 6 weeks ago 4. Affiliated Veterinary Specialists are who looked at her. www.avsspeciaists.com 5. I am not sure what a PCV or a QBC is 6. She is fed Innova EVO dry dog food and Merrick wet dog food. Both are all natural, and any treats she gets are all natural as well 7. No seizures 8. The mammarys and nipples were swollen and had definite bruising, not just black skin. Most of this has gone away now, but the tongue and gums are still dark red. I have attached some pictures of her mouth, I hope they come through OK. The vet did not say that she needed the surgery, just that she would be prone to infections. We don't want her to have to go through various infections and the associated medications. """ PS I will post pictures as an "ad"