Blood Disorder - When should I be concerned

[JamieK]

Hi My dog Jaxson is a 2 year old American Fox Hound who was rescued in Mississippi. I have had him since he was 4 months old. His last two blood test results show his RBC, Hematocrit and Hemoglobin's to be high. His Platelets are normal. His BEAM seems to be good. I do work from home and all three of my dogs usually sleep at my feet or on the couch while I am working. Jaxson is a sun bather. During the day when we go out in our back yard he will lay down in a sunny area on the porch or on the lawn and can get grumpy when I ask him to come back in LOL. 4pm to bed time which is around 10:30pm is their active time. He loves to play and he eats well. I guess my question is with these high counts if they become an issue what are there signs I would physically see in him. The other concern I have is that his rabies titer came back very low. I have added two new supplements to help boost his immune system to help bring that titer back to "quote unquote" expectable level. The last think I want to do is give him an vaccines. I have attached his last blood test results.

Thank you for the help Jamie Keever

 

[Dr. Sara]

Dear Jamie,
I doubt that these elevations in RBC number / hematocrit / hemoglobin are significant. These are mild elevations, most likely representing relative polycythemia, or increased red blood cells in relation to the total fluid volume of the body. It is not due to over production of red blood cells.

In clinically normal dogs like Jaxson, this occurs most commonly because of a mild loss of fluid due to subclinical dehydration. Jaxson's urine is quite concentrated at 1.041, telling us that his hydration could be better. In young dogs this is not a big deal, as they will drink and easily replenish their fluid volume, thus diluting the blood back to normal concentration of red cells.

Another common cause of relative polycythemia is splenic contraction due to excitement. The spleen stores red blood cells, and when animals are afraid or excited, the spleen may contract and release a lot of these red blood cells into the circulation. The values return to normal after about an hour, so if Jaxson was excited about his blood draw, this is another possible cause.

In general, we are not concerned by mild elevations in hematocrit / hemoglobin / red blood cell numbers.
If the hematocrit was consistently in the mid to upper 60s, that could indicate absolute polycythemia, which can occur naturally in individuals living at high altitudes. Absolute polycythemia can also occur when dogs inappropriately secrete erythropoieitin from their kidneys due to certain kidney tumors or pyelonephritis. In cases of severe heart and lung disease the kidneys may secrete excessive erythropoieitin because the body is not receiving enough oxygen, and this can also cause absolute polycythemia.

Remember, the Rabies titer ONLY tells us the circulating levels of antibody, because that is all that can be measured. Titers can not measure the memory cells that produce antibodies. Memory cells may not produce many antibodies until they are stimulated to do so because of the presence of the virus to which they are primed to respond. Immune boosting supplements should be safe, but they may make no difference in the titer level. Some dogs simply do not produce many circulating antibodies.
I hope this helps!
Regards,
Dr. Sara
S.F. Chapman MS, DVM, VetMFHom, CertIAVH

 

[JamieK]

Hi Dr. Sara

Thank you so much for this great explanation. Jaxson does not drink a lot but I do put about a cup to a cup and a half of water in his raw food (BID) making sure he is getting enough to drink. We did do two CBC's (a week apart) the first one was with no water before drawing blood and the other was allowing him to drink as much as he wanted. Both blood draws were around 10am in the morning. both with no food. Both with almost the exact same results. Thank you again so very much!!!!

 

[JamieK]

Hi Dr. Sara

I want to thank you again so much for taking the time to explain Jaxson's blood work to me. Thinking about this I can not think of any other veterinarian that has taken the time to explain something to me in such detail. It really mean a lot. I also want to thank all the wonderful veterinarians and holistic minded people who have put together this wonderful community where we can learn and grow with all this wonderful knowledge and insight on how to help keep our fur babies happier and healthier. It is so much appreciated. Love you all.