I made a post earlier about an injury my GSP received running into a branch and puncturing his shoulder/chest. There was continual drainage into his chest, even after the original puncture wound had healed. I was told by a vet in Bismarck, "You basically have 3 choices: send him to Minneapolis for surgery which will cost at least $1500, continue having the fluid drained with a needle (thoracocentesis) and hope he heals, or put him down. Our vet in Mobridge told me, "this doesn't make any sense...can we test him for a tick parasite? Every time we have an unexplained bleeder the test comes back positive." The test did come back positive and with a new antibiotic, Kota is pretty much back to normal. It's been 7 weeks. I visited with the Bismarck vets about it and they were very surprised.
Here's a link:
http://www.peteducation.com/article....2+2101&aid=430
One more reason to use tick meds.
Martin