🩸 Vet-Approved Guide to Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation (DIC) in Dogs and Cats (2025) 🐶🐱

By Dr Duncan Houston BVSc

DIC (Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation) is a medical emergency that causes pets to bleed and clot at the same time. It’s not a disease itself—but a fatal complication of another severe condition 🧬. In this 2025 guide, Dr Duncan Houston explains how to recognize DIC early, understand its causes, and support life-saving treatment ⚠️.

🧠 What Is DIC?

DIC is a critical imbalance in the body’s clotting system. The blood starts forming tiny clots throughout the body while simultaneously losing its ability to stop bleeding. As clotting proteins and platelets are used up, uncontrolled bleeding occurs 🔄.

⚠️ DIC is a life-threatening emergency and carries a high risk of death without immediate veterinary care.

🧨 What Triggers DIC?

DIC is always secondary to a severe underlying illness. Common causes include:

• 🔥 Severe infections (sepsis)
• 💔 Pancreatitis
• 🐍 Rattlesnake bite
• 🧬 Immune-mediated hemolytic anemia (IMHA)
• 🩸 Immune-mediated thrombocytopenia (IMT)
• 🧪 Hemangiosarcoma (blood vessel cancer)
• 🧫 Liver failure or trauma
• 🥵 Heatstroke or severe crush injuries
• 🦟 Heartworm disease
• 🧂 Cushing’s disease
• 🧬 Glomerular or protein-losing diseases

In cats, DIC is most often linked to feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), lymphoma, or hepatic lipidosis 🧪.

🧪 What Happens in the Body?

In a healthy body, tiny vessel injuries are patched up by clotting proteins and platelets. Once healed, clots dissolve. In DIC, this process spirals out of control 🔄:

• ⚡ Massive clot formation begins throughout the bloodstream
• 🧪 Clotting proteins and platelets are used up
• 💉 Blood loses ability to clot properly → spontaneous bleeding

The result? Simultaneous clotting and hemorrhage—a catastrophic cycle that damages organs and leads to shock 🫀.

🔍 Signs of DIC

DIC often begins silently—with only lab changes at first. Early detection is key in high-risk patients ⚠️.

🐾 Clinical signs include:

• 🩸 Bruising (petechiae or ecchymoses)
• 🔴 Bleeding from gums, nose, rectum, or urine
• 🩺 Excessive bleeding after injections or surgery
• 🌡️ Sudden drop in blood pressure or collapse

🧪 Bloodwork may show:

• 📉 Low platelet count
• ⏱️ Prolonged clotting times (PT and PTT)
• 🧫 Elevated D-dimer (fibrin degradation product)
• 🩸 Low fibrinogen levels

⚠️ A positive D-dimer confirms clot breakdown. A negative D-dimer rules out DIC in dogs with 95% confidence but is less reliable in cats.

🧪 Thromboelastography (TEG)

TEG testing evaluates the elasticity and strength of a clot in real time. It’s used in critical care to:

• 📊 Assess clotting function
• 🔮 Predict survival outcomes in dogs with DIC

Dogs with weak clots on TEG testing have significantly worse survival rates ⚠️.

💉 Treatment of DIC

🎯 Primary Goals:

• 💧 Restore blood flow and tissue oxygen
• 🧬 Stop abnormal clotting
• 🛡️ Prevent further bleeding

💊 Core treatments include:

• 💧 IV fluids to improve circulation and stabilize blood pressure
• 🩸 Plasma transfusions to replace missing clotting factors
• 🧪 Heparin therapy to prevent new clots (controversial and case-dependent)

🚑 Most Important Step: Treat the Underlying Disease

DIC will not resolve unless the triggering condition is successfully treated. In some cases, that’s sepsis, IMHA, cancer, or trauma 🧬.

📊 Prognosis

DIC is a severe and often fatal condition. Survival depends on:

• 🕒 How early it’s caught
• 🩺 The underlying cause
• 🚑 Speed and quality of critical care

Many patients do not survive unless the cause is quickly controlled. Early intervention in high-risk cases offers the best chance 🐾.

📲 Final Advice from Dr Duncan Houston

If your pet is facing DIC, time is critical. This condition can escalate within hours and requires intensive care 🆘. If your dog or cat is battling sepsis, IMHA, trauma, or similar diseases, monitor closely for bleeding, bruising, or signs of shock.

📱 For support managing critical care, blood tests, and understanding DIC risks in your pet, download the Ask A Vet App or visit AskAVet.com. Fast action can save lives 🐾🩸.