Strange condition

Carb

We've a four year old neutered Siberian Huskey in the Vets at the moment. A couple of weeks ago we noticed his stomach area getting quite large, and put it down to overeating/laziness. We eased back on the food a little, but there was no difference. We then thought he was constipated but from watching him this did not seem to be the case. Some evenings his sides were really solid.

Sunday night was the first night I noticed him moving slower, so, since I happened to be off Monday I took him to the Vet. He wasn't even able to get in the car. The vet patted him once on the back and commented that he had been loosing weight.

To cut to the chase, it seems his abdomen and now hind area are full of fluid, seemingly due to a low protein level, although the vet commented that the level of fluid seems extreme for the low protein level. This was also putting pressure on his lungs. There has been no change in diet, no obvious change in eating/toilet habits, no problems with his heart, kidneys or liver. Bloodtests have shown nothing, and I assume that an ultrasound has been done at this stage. He's in the vets since on drips/medication to try to get rid of the fluid with very little success. Last I heard it will have to be done manually. Samples are going to be sent to the Vet's College to see if they can shed any light on it.

So the million dollar question is; has anyone ever come across anything like this before, with their own or somebody else's dog.

All I can say is, thank god for insurance, we've already had a St. Bernard with a twisted stomach this year.

merryhappy

You say he has no heart problems, do you mean in the past or have heart problems been ruled out completley? Its sounds a lot like congestive heart failure caused by a leaking valve. You mentioned that he is having an ultra-sound if his heart is scanned the leaky valve will be detected.

Btw congestive heart failure is not as scary as it sounds I know a few dogs who have it years and living normal active lives with the aid of medication.

Paul91

Hey Carb - just wanted to wish you all the best and let us know how you get on, my thoughts are with you

Carb

merryhappy wrote: »

You say he has no heart problems, do you mean in the past or have heart problems been ruled out completley? Its sounds a lot like congestive heart failure caused by a leaking valve. You mentioned that he is having an ultra-sound if his heart is scanned the leaky valve will be detected.

Btw congestive heart failure is not as scary as it sounds I know a few dogs who have it years and living normal active lives with the aid of medication.

I don't know exactly what was done to rule it out, but it was the first thing the vet suspected.



Thanks Paul91.

Paul91

not sure if this will help but maybe worth a read?

http://www.petplace.com/dogs/abdominal-distension-in-dogs/page3.aspx

Carb

Paul91 wrote: »

not sure if this will help but maybe worth a read?

http://www.petplace.com/dogs/abdominal-distension-in-dogs/page3.aspx

Thanks for that. I think the vet has mentioned most of what is on there, obviously not in as much detail, but enough to give some assurance that he knows what he's talking about. Although I don't think he could know what type of fluid is there. Hopefully the vets college can give some answers hen they get the samples.

Paul91

i assume they will drain of some fluid with a syringe then - poor bow wow

Carb

Yeah, they had been using something else up to now, can't remember the name but it begins with "D" and ends with "tics". It wasn't sucessful but I was reading somewhere that this is generally no good for an abdominal build up, so it looks like its the needle for him. Should give him some comfort though.

Carb

Well, I'll know by dinner time if he's getting home, or getting a blood transfusion. They managed to get some fluid moved yesterday, so they are going to run all the blood tests again to see what's going on since the original tests. No idea what is causing it yet, but would still be glad to get him home. The other dog is driving us bonkers.

andreac

Was probably diuretics, to try get rid of the fluid.

I hope you get your doggy sorted soon.:)

Paul91

wishing you well

ISDW

Best of luck, I hope they manage to sort the problem out.

Carb

He's home now, but I'm not convinced.

He's not as bloated as he was, and is still taking diuretics. But to me he seems duller, and slower than when he went into the vets. He seems to be drinking as much as he's peeing so I don't know if the medication is actually making him go to the toilet more or whether its the water. Going up steps, or on to the couch seems like a real effort and he hasn't much interest in eating.

The vet said he seen a noticeable improvement in the last 24 hrs so I guess we'll have to wait a see what happens over the next day or so.

Carb

Sadly we had to have the dog put down last night. He hadn't eaten really since we took him home and you could see him wasting away. Brought him back to the vets yesterday morning and the vet said it didn't look good. He ran the bloods again and kidney failure showed up this time. Given that he had not responded to the medication he had been getting, the vet felt there was not much more could be done. In human terms he said you were talking dialysis and transplant waiting list. Suspected cause was a kidney infection at some point that turned bad. I guess these things happen.

Thanks to all those who posted suggestions and good wishes.

andreac

Oh Carb, im so sorry to hear this, it sounds like there wasnt much that could be done.
Im sure he didnt suffer too much.
RIP Little Doggie.

Paul91

sorry to hear that Carb - at least you did as much as you could, he'll be in doggy heaven now