Nose Bleeds in Dogs

[SpiritLady]

my dog has leishmania for which there is no cure. he is now showing symptoms and one of them is nose bleeds. does anyone have any idea on a good way to stop nose bleeds in dogs?

[lankeela]

So sorry to hear this, has your dog been abroad (or are you not in the uk?), as Leishmaniasis has been found mainly in dogs imported to the UK. First aid for nose bleeds is to keep your dog calm as increased blood pressure will increase the bleeding. An ice pack applied to the bridge of the nose will constrict small blood vessels which will slow the bleeding. Make sure he can breathe ok. Your vet should be able to prescribe something like ACP to keep him calm, but make sure he is kept warm as they have trouble regulating their temperature when sedated. I do hope he has a long and trouble free time ahead of him.

[SpiritLady]

thank you so very much for your reply. i will do an ice pack for him. we live in spain and he has had leishmanina for 5 years now. i have been very lucky with Chewy as this is the first signs of the illness he has shown in the 5 years. he had his first nose bleeds just before xmas and the vet expalined what the problem was and the fact that there is not a lot we can do really. Chewy has had 7 bleeds in the past 2 days now but is fine inbetween. hes eating his food, running around and being normal but its just horrible to see him when he looks at you with blood coming from his nose wanting me to do something to help him. all i can do is keep him calm and be there for him ..... and clear up all the mess!!!! he takes medication every month - 4 tablets a day for 10 days and he has been on these for the last 4 years so they have done a good job keeping the illness at bay. his blood test levels each year are not high but he is also getting old now so that may not be helping the situation. thank you again for your help from me and chewy

[lankeela]

How sad, you obviously love him very much. Unfortunately this is one of the things people are not told about when taking their animals abroad, and I know of several who have contracted this disease whilst travelling and then returned to the UK.

On another sad note, I read today of many English people returned from living in Spain and just dumping their dogs as it is too complicated/expensive to get pet passports. The rescue centres there are full to overflowing and they have no equivalent to our RSPCA to help unwanted dogs.They are all run by unpaid volunteers.

[SpiritLady]

my chewy was a rescue dog that i got after being here for 9 months. the stray dog problem over here is bad. i run a local paper where i have a pet section to help peole re home their dogs if they are moving or for people who find puppies dumped at the bins that need new homes. because we are english, the spanish know we are soft on animals and will dump their dogs at the gate of an english person - i have had 3 puppies dumped at my gate that i have had to re home. a friend of mine used to run a rescue center before she had to move back to the uk and funding is a huge problem. we held 4/5 fund raising events each year and this kept her afloat. thank goodness the vets bills are so much cheaper than in the uk