Any ideas folks? A friend of mine recently got their first pup after years of consideration then an extensive search to find the right breed, then the right breeder. They've done everything correct, followed all my advice and done their research and decided on a show bred cocker spaniel puppy. Breeder looked great, pups well reared and all boxes ticked. They are living in Poland at the moment and travelled 8 hours each way to collect pup so this wasn't a dog down the road, ill thought out puppy at all. 

They collected their 10 week old puppy last weekend, first night went well, puppy was perfect. Then Wednesday night my friend messaged me a little concerned that the pup was quiet and sleepy, hadn't eaten as much and hadn't done a poo since morning. I reassured them not to worry, it was hot there (30+) and pup was still settling in. I said I was sure he'd be up early in the morning when it was cooler and wanting to run wild.

He wasn't quite himself the Thursday either, eating about half of what he should and still sleepy, with a slight limp. I really didn't think it was anything to worry about.

Then yesterday my friend got a message from the breeder saying the pups brother had died suddenly! Breeder offered to take pup back and refund completely but my friend loves him already of course. So off they dashed to the vets. The pup is severely anaemic and has some sort of mass/lump near his lungs. He had an xray and scan and blood tests and the vet doesn't know what the problem is but if he makes it through the night he will have a blood transfusion in the morning.

Breeder and vet both speak english and friend is learning Polish but still there is a slight language barrier, it seems that the vet thinks it may either be a tick borne disease or a genetic issue. Breeder hasn't seen anything like it before. Pups brother apparently started limping, then lost energy and was dead two days later.

Does anyone have any ideas? I'm gutted for my friend, they've done everything right and really deserved a healthy puppy.

What breed is this? I've read on a breed-specific forum of a male pup of a similar age with suspected haemophilia - all male pups of the litter said to be affected and one has died.  Do you know how your friend's pup has progressed, did he have the transfusion?

From what Merry paws has said I've just had a look and Hemophilia is prone in Cockers and due to the genes affects the males. Were the parents tested for this prior to breeding?
How is the little one doing today?

> Hemophilia is prone in Cockers

There's nothing about it on the breed club health page?

> Do you know how your friend's pup has progressed, did he have the transfusion?

He's a cocker spaniel and yes he had the transfusion and is much brighter today.

He's had steroids, antibiotics and an anti-haemorrhaging drug. There was a doctor (for humans) in the vets waiting room and she had a look at his blood tests and said if dogs are the same as people then it looks more like an infection because his platelet count is fine, it's his red cells that are low or something like that - again the language barrier makes it difficult.

> He's a cocker spaniel and yes he had the transfusion and is much brighter today.

That's good to hear .  I hope this will have been a one-off and he will go on to have a long and healthy life.  I was just struck by the similarities between your friend's dog and the other one.

A quick google for haemophilia/hemophilia in cockers has thrown up a number of references to it in American cockers, but not so many in English ones.  However, there is an English cocker spaniel living in Britain who is a "member" of the Haemophilia Society.

I Googled the condition with the word cocker and while the Yankee is more prone it does say the English cocker is also prone to the condition and that a dna test should be done

One of my pups lives in Latvia.  He nearly died after contracting babesiosis on a show round in Europe.  I believe it causes anemia... He received the treatment and it is few years ago now, he recovered beautifully :-). If this was my puppy I would be asking for the test definitely to make sure it is not babesiosis

> If this was my puppy I would be asking for the test definitely to make sure it is not babesiosis

Thanks, any clues or ideas welcome. The vet said it could be a tick borne disease, as I understand it though it's very difficult to identify babesios and to be honest the pup isn't needing to lose any more blood for tests. I think they just continue to treat whatever comes.

> I was just struck by the similarities between your friend's dog and the other one.

It could be his story, I've reached out to some friends in cockers to see if they had any ideas, maybe one of them posted on the breed forum.

> It could be his story, I've reached out to some friends in cockers to see if they had any ideas, maybe one of them posted on the breed forum.

From the latest post on the breed forum, it looks as if it is indeed the same puppy, and your friend posting about him!  (It's just a wee small world!)  Anyway, I hope all goes well with your friend and her pup and they can get a proper diagnosis and treatment plan in place for him.

Thanks very much, didn't realise she was on there, though I did send the bite stops here link before she got the puppy, which comes from cockers online so it's a natural progression