Abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence and treatment of canine immune thrombocytopenia (ITP), and to explore the prognostic factors. In this retrospective cohort study, 26 eligible ITP cases were collected from the Veterinary Teaching Hospital of China Agricultural University from 2018 to 2019, and the basic information, clinical manifestations, laboratory test results, treatment and prognosis of the affected dogs were recorded and analyzed. Among the medical records, the poodle account for the highest proportion (58%). Evans syndrome was significantly correlated with death in the short term (14 days) after diagnosis (P=0.02). When first admitted to the hospital, all dogs had clinical signs of bleeding. According to a new dog bleeding assessment tool (DOGiBAT), the scores of the patients in this study ranged from 3 to 10, and dogs with a score >5 were associated with death within a short period after diagnosis (P=0.03), suggesting that the bleeding score could be an indicator for the prognosis of the disease. Besides, the CRP levels in the bleeding score >5 group are higher than that in the bleeding score ≤ 5 group (P=0.01), which suggests that CRP could be used to determine the severity of ITP. This study suggests the introduction of a bleeding score tool in assessing the prognosis of ITP. Compared with a single clinical sign, the bleeding scoring tool could assess the severity of ITP with a reliable metric system.

Key words: dog, immune thrombocytopenia, Evans syndrome, bleeding score