# Bruising and laser treatment



## hershey109 (Jan 11, 2011)

Hi everyone! Sorry I haven't been posting for a long while now as I got busy. I do manage to peep in and read every once in a while..

Got some questions on laser therapy...

So last Saturday Hershey went to the vet for her annual checkup and vaccines. She got her rabies vaccine and they drew blood also. Her DHPP (I don't get the L) will be given next month as I do not want that given with the rabies. Anyways, so she had small bruising on her arm, which made me think they drew blood there. And they did it there last year so I didn't worry. Just last night (Sunday, a day after), I noticed a lot of bruising in her neck all the way to the chest. The chest section seems to have a small lump and it is very soft. I got really worried and rushed her to the emergency vet. The vet said it might be because they took blood on jugular venipuncture. I said I was not told, I thought it was on the arm. I asked if the bruising on the chest could be caused by them restraining her too hard. She says she hope not. They did coangulation test to make sure her blood is clotting properly and she did laser treatment on the bruises. The emergency vet says my vet is her personal friend so she would call her on her cell phone to let her know.

I got a call from my vet office this morning, saying my vet is out sick but they got the call from Dr Wheat (emergency vet). They are offering laser treatment for free for the next couple of days/weeks.

My question is... does anyone know here if laser treatment is safe? Should I just let her bruises heal naturally? This looks kind of fishy to me and making me think more and more that she got her chest bruises because of them restraining her.

Below are pics, they don't show the bruises as bad but they look worse in person.

Appreciate your thoughts.


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## susan davis (Mar 25, 2011)

This is a hematoma from a venipuncture (collection of blood under the skin) of the jugular. My pup/s have had this too. If they are doing coagulation tests, then they must have a thought that she is not clotting her blood well? That in itself would point to her having this bruise. If you want to try laser, fine, it won't hurt, and if you decide against it, fine too. It will go away, but may take a few weeks. The vet really can't do anything to prevent this, as pressure against the area would choke the dog! Little dogs can have blood drawn on the leg, but most techs draw out of the jugular.


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## Brodysmom (Jan 8, 2009)

Susan is right. They drew blood out of her jugular vein in her neck. Then there was seepage which causes the bruise. I don't know anything about laser treatment for bruises. I would just let it heal on its own.


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## hershey109 (Jan 11, 2011)

Thank you both for your response! Guess I am just a nervous mom! I have never seen this before as it's the first time blood was drawn from the neck.

The coangulation tests came back ok.

I brought her to the vet and politely refused the free laser treatment they were offering. They noted on Hershey's records that she bruises very easily. I'll be watching/waiting for it to heal. My poor baby.


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