Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) is a complex and progressive multisystem hemostatic dysfunction affecting dogs, felines, humans, and other animals (Hackner). DIC is significantly more common in dogs than in felines, but the mortality rate in felines is much higher, 93% compared to 50 to 77% in canines (Bruchim, Hackner). This fatal syndrome is not a specific disease but a secondary complication of an underlying disease (Bruchim). Marked by excessive intravascular coagulation leading to organ microthrombosis and inadequate organ tissue perfusion, DIC can also paradoxically affect clotting factors and platelet consumption, leading to excessive bleeding (Tilley 372, Nelson 1203) . Thrombosis associated with DIC is generally triggered by factors commonly referred to as Virchow's triad: stasis, hypercoagulability, and damage to the blood vessel wall (Bruchim). Therefore, any disease process that precipitates loss of vascular integrity, hypercoagulability, or capillary stasis can also induce DIC; Some common conditions associated with DIC are sepsis, malignancies (especially Oyknibart adenocarcinoma, hemangiosarcoma, and carcinoma of the mammary gland), heartworm disease, heat stroke, bacterial infections, pancreatitis and possibly neoplasms (Bruchim, Hackner, Nelson 1203). The signs of DIC are: varied as the diseases and conditions that precipitate it; the most universal sign is abnormal bleeding, such as excessive bleeding at venipuncture sites and petechiae or ecchymosis occurring spontaneously along the ventrum and inguinal body regions (Bassert 1161, Tilley 373). Three distinct phases of DIC are recognized: the chronic silent phase, the peracute hypercoagulable phase, and the acute consumption phase (Bruchim). Each phase...... middle of paper ......sink Saunders, 2010. Print.Bruchim, Yaron, DVM, Itamar Aroch, DVM, DECVIM-CA, Joseph Saragusty, DVM, and Trevor Waner, BVSc, PhD, DECLARATION “Disseminated intravascular coagulation.” Compendium of continuing education for practicing veterinarians 10th ser. 30.October (2008): n. page. October 2008. Web. March 16, 2014. Hackner, Susan G., BVSc, MRCVM, DACVIM, DACVECC. “Disseminated intravascular coagulation: an update for the clinician.” Cornell University Veterinary Specialists. Cornell University Veterinary Specialists, nd Web. March 16, 2014. Nelson, Richard W. and C. Guillermo. Couto. “Hemostasis disorders.” Handbook of Small Animal Internal Medicine. Second ed. St. Louis: Mosby, 1998. 1203-206. Print. Tilley, Lawrence P. and Francis Jr. WK Smith. The 5 Minute Veterinary Consultation: Canine and Feline. Third ed. Baltimore: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, 2004. 372-73. Print.