This evening Tahlia, my Bullmastiff, was breathing very heavily along with restlessness and this went on for about 3 hours.
At about 1 am she was up to 135bpm, nonstop, so I made the call that it couldn’t wait till the morning & drove in. The office was very kind and understanding, definitely one of the best I’ve been to in my part of South Florida.
She immediately had an ultrasound done and it showed possible fluid/air in the abdomen. Cue my panic. They went ahead and drew a sample to get an idea of what it was, which turned out to be blood.
The diagnosis tonight is she has a small tumor on her spleen, either a cyst that ruptured or a mass of some kind.
This is what caused the internal bleeding. The better news is it’s not a severe bleed, she’s not anemic at all & is stable for tonight. In addition to the good news, she had her senior panel about 2 months ago and it was perfect, so I think we may have caught this very early. The mass couldn’t be palpated which is typically the number one symptom of this ailment; a distended stomach, and mass can be felt.
We’ll be heading to her primary vet in the morning for X-rays and more diagnostics on what we’re dealing with. I want to be as hopeful as possible for her but the high possibility of it being a Hemangiosarcoma is frightening. They don’t commonly have great outcomes and she’ll be turning 7 next month. So many stories have dogs who have a splenectomy lasting months at most.
I adore her and she’s been nothing but an angel for these 6 years. My number one concern is what’s best for her and what is reasonable for us to do for her.
Surgery to repair the bleed I think is the only option, but I’ll have to wait for the discussion tomorrow and what kind of tumor this is. She’s been put on cerenia, ondansetron and gabapentin to keep her comfortable and safe till tomorrow.
Keep her in your prayers y’all. She’s the best girl I could of ever asked to have & all my hope is going to her being the exception here.
At about 1 am she was up to 135bpm, nonstop, so I made the call that it couldn’t wait till the morning & drove in. The office was very kind and understanding, definitely one of the best I’ve been to in my part of South Florida.
She immediately had an ultrasound done and it showed possible fluid/air in the abdomen. Cue my panic. They went ahead and drew a sample to get an idea of what it was, which turned out to be blood.
The diagnosis tonight is she has a small tumor on her spleen, either a cyst that ruptured or a mass of some kind.
This is what caused the internal bleeding. The better news is it’s not a severe bleed, she’s not anemic at all & is stable for tonight. In addition to the good news, she had her senior panel about 2 months ago and it was perfect, so I think we may have caught this very early. The mass couldn’t be palpated which is typically the number one symptom of this ailment; a distended stomach, and mass can be felt.
We’ll be heading to her primary vet in the morning for X-rays and more diagnostics on what we’re dealing with. I want to be as hopeful as possible for her but the high possibility of it being a Hemangiosarcoma is frightening. They don’t commonly have great outcomes and she’ll be turning 7 next month. So many stories have dogs who have a splenectomy lasting months at most.
I adore her and she’s been nothing but an angel for these 6 years. My number one concern is what’s best for her and what is reasonable for us to do for her.
Surgery to repair the bleed I think is the only option, but I’ll have to wait for the discussion tomorrow and what kind of tumor this is. She’s been put on cerenia, ondansetron and gabapentin to keep her comfortable and safe till tomorrow.
Keep her in your prayers y’all. She’s the best girl I could of ever asked to have & all my hope is going to her being the exception here.
