Nosebleeds in a Dog: Buddy’s Nosebleeds. What Would You Do if It Was Your Dog?

Nosebleeds in dogs are not common. The dog’s nose won’t bleed as easily as a human one does.

If your dog’s nose starts bleeding, it isn’t likely they just bumped it on something. There are many potential causes for canine nosebleeds but minor trauma isn’t one of them.

Potential causes of nosebleeds in dogs include:

  • serious trauma
  • foreign bodies
  • clotting disorders
  • poisoning
  • infections
  • liver failure
  • certain medications
  • cancer
Nosebleeds in a Dog: Buddy's Nosebleeds. What Would You Do if It Was Your Dog?

Buddy’s story

Buddy was a10-year-old Golden Retriever.

He was a talkative dog; he’d communicate with whines, moans, sighs, and groans. That’s why when he started snorting, everybody assumed he just expanded his vocabulary.

It wasn’t until Buddy started sneezing so hard he almost blew his head off when his parents took him to a vet.

The veterinarian figured Buddy was suffering from seasonal allergies. It is possible though, in dogs, allergies typically manifest through their skin rather than sneezing.

When Buddy developed a hematoma, it fit in with the allergies theory–ear infections and allergies do often come hand-in-hand.

The hematoma continued having to be drained over and over and over.

It always filled back up. Even after surgery, the moment the stitches were removed, the ear flap filled with blood yet again.

Then, one day Buddy sneezed really hard and started bleeding from his nose. The vet technicians said they’ve never seen that much blood come from a dog who wasn’t shot or hit by a car. Buddy bled so much that he needed a blood transfusion.

X-rays didn’t show anything, but Buddy’s blood pressure was high. The veterinarian figured that the high blood pressure was behind all that bleeding.

Once Buddy was put on medication, things seemed to have stabilized.

Until Buddy had another bleed. It wasn’t as violent as the first time, but there was a steady gush of blood out of Buddy’s nose. That’s when it was decided that Buddy needed his nose properly examined with rhinoscopy.

What would you make off Buddy’s symptoms? How do you feel about Buddy’s initial diagnoses? What would you do if it was your dog?

Read Buddy’s full story here.

Further reading:
Symptoms To Watch For In Your Dog: Nosebleeds (Epistaxis)

Further reading:
Nose Bleeds (Epistaxis) in Dogs

Categories: Conditions • Diagnoses • Dog health advocacy • Nose bleeds • Nosebleeds • Real-life Stories • Symptoms

Tags: : • • • • •

Jana Rade

I am a graphic designer, dog health advocate, writer, and author. Jasmine, the Rottweiler of my life, was the largest female from her litter. We thought we were getting a healthy dog. Getting a puppy from a backyard breeder was our first mistake. Countless veterinary visits without a diagnosis or useful treatment later, I realized that I had to take Jasmine's health care in my own hands. I learned the hard way that merely seeing a vet is not always enough. There is more to finding a good vet than finding the closest clinic down the street. And, sadly, there is more to advocating for your dog's health than visiting a veterinarian. It should be enough, but it often is not. With Jasmine, it took five years to get a diagnosis. Unfortunately, other problems had snowballed for that in the meantime. Jasmine's health challenges became a crash course in understanding dog health issues and how to go about getting a proper diagnosis and treatment. I had to learn, and I had to learn fast. Helping others through my challenges and experience has become my mission and Jasmine's legacy. I now try to help people how to recognize and understand signs of illness in their dogs, how to work with their veterinarian, and when to seek a second opinion. My goal is to save others the steep curve of having to learn things the hard way as I did. That is the mission behind my blog and behind my writing. That is why I wrote Symptoms to Watch for in Your Dog, which has turned out being an award-winning guide to dog owners. What I'm trying to share encompasses 20 years of experience.

Share your thoughts