• Endotoxemia, sepsis, systemic inflammatory response syndrome.
  
• Neoplasia. Although any tumor can cause DIC, hemangiosarcomas and disseminated solid cancers are most often responsible.
  
• Tissue damage. Shock (e.g., gastric-dilatation volvulus, hemorrhagic shock), massive trauma, heat stroke, tissue necrosis (from infarction, hepatic necrosis, rapid lysis of large tumor burdens by chemotherapy).
  
• Intravascular hemolysis, especially autoimmune hemolytic anemia.
  
• Vasculitis. Causes include sepsis, Rocky mountain spotted fever, ehrlichiosis, heartworm disease, feline infectious peritonitis, canine herpes virus infection of neonates, canine adenovirus infection.
  
• Pancreatitis, hepatitis.
  
• Snake bites.

DIC can be difficult to diagnose because it can be triggered by many unrelated diseases, the clinical manifestations are variable, and there is quasi-consensus about what constitutes a definitive diagnosis. Diagnosis is based on the following criteria:

• Presence of an underlying disease known to be associated with DIC.
  
• Multiple abnormalities of the coagulation profile. Not all variables will be abnormal in every case. Some clinicians consider abnormalities in 3 of the following commonly available tests to be sufficient for a diagnosis: Platelet count; ACT, PT and APTT; fibrinogen concentration; AT-III concentration; FDP concentration; presence of schistocytes on a peripheral blood smear.

A retrospective analysis of 41 cases of DIC in dogs revealed sensitivities of these tests for DIC to be as follows: Thrombocytopenia, 80%; APTT prolongation, 87%; PT prolongation, 80%; hypofibrinogenemia, 61%; decreased FDPs, 60%; schistocytosis, 71%.

In cats with DIC, the sensitivities of these tests for DIC are: Thrombocytopenia, 80%; APTT prolongation, 70%; PT prolongation, 30%; hypofibrinogenemia, 25%; increased FDPs, 25%.

Whereas FDPs are elevated in 85-100% of people with DIC, these studies found that increased concentrations of FDPs were not very sensitive indicators of DIC in dogs and cats. The newer tests for D-dimer (a type of FDP) have recently been shown to be highly sensitive and specific for DIC in people and dogs.

In this study, D-dimer and several other FDP tests were evaluated in 20 dogs with DIC, and 30 clinically normal dogs. The D-dimer latex agglutination method assessed was the same one used at Antech Diagnostics. All 20 dogs with DIC had positive D-dimer tests (100% sensitivity), where-as 85-95% of these dogs had positive FDP test results with the other traditional methods. Of the 30 clinically normal dogs, 29 had negative D-dimer results (97% specificity). Therefore, Antech’s D-dimer assay is highly sensitive and specific for DIC, and performs as well as, and perhaps even better than, standard FDP tests. In addition to DIC, elevated (mild to moderate) D-dimer concentrations can also be seen in patients with liver failure, internal hemorrhage, local or regional thrombosis, and trauma.