Blood from the Nose or Mouth

12.4.2 Blood from the Nose or Mouth Sometimes an animal may have blood around its nostrils or around its mouth. This is most often due to bleeding in the nose or throat. However, it can also be from bleeding deeper down in the lungs, causing the animal to cough up blood (e.g. an old abscess in the lungs that finally ruptures and causes bleeding).

Symptoms/Diagnosis: Determine if the bleeding is from one nostril or from both nostrils. If the bleeding is from one nostril, then there may be parasites (leeches or maggots), a wound or a tumor in that particular nostril. Look for swelling. Find out if leeches are a common problem in your area.

If bleeding is from both nostrils and the animal is breathing very hard, then suspect that the bleeding is in the lungs. This is a very serious condition and there is little an AHA can do.

Treatment:

For maggots. See pages 118-119.

For nasal leeches. See page 112.

For bleeding from the lungs: keep the animal quiet and offer plenty of water to drink.

Control/Prevention: See sections on leeches and maggots.