CULLENS SIGN AND HEMOGLOBINURIA AS PRESENTING SIGNS OF RETROPERITONEAL HEMORRHAGE IN A DOG

Haemoglobinuria and periumbilical discoloration (also known as Cullen' s sign) are clinical signs uncommonly reported in veterinary patients. This report describes a case of retroperitoneal haemorrhage in a dog, associated with haemoglobinuria and Cullen's sign. To the authors' kn owledge, these clinical signs have not previously been reported singul arly or in combination with retroperitoneal haemorrhage in dogs. A neu tered male Shetland sheepdog, which was presented for haematuria, also had an abdominal mass, abdominal pain and a large area of periumbilic al discoloration. Laboratory studies determined that haemoglobinuria w as the cause of the red-coloured urine. Abdominal radiographs suggeste d a splenic mass and a coeliotomy was performed. During the induction and throughout the anaesthetic period the dog was hypertensive and a l arge haematoma originating from the right retroperitoneal space was id entified at surgery. The cause of the haemorrhage was uncertain but a ruptured phaeochromocytoma was thought possible on the basis of the pe rsistent hypertension and the location of the haemorrhage.