Hi all,
I haven't been around much since we lost our Bella to kidney disease a year ago... and here I am again with more difficult news. Our Oreo started coughing a couple weeks ago after we started him on some meds for pancreatitis, and his breathing became fast and almost labored, so we ended up taking him into an urgent vet where x-rays showed he had an enlarged heart and fluid in his pericardium. A few different things could have caused that, we had the option of draining some of the fluid off, but we opted to wait until he saw a specialist so we knew what we were dealing with - if the fluid would come back in hours or days.
Well we somehow lucked out and got into a cardiologist who travels to our city a couple times a month - he happened to be in town that weekend and had a cancellation the next day. He did an echocardiogram and said our Oreo had a hemangiosarcoma (bleeding tumor) in his atrium, and it's bleeding into his pericardium. He told us, and all the research I've one online confirms, that even with the most aggressive treatment (surgery to remove it, chemo and radiation) it only would add about 6 months. He's almost 14 now, so we have decided to just spoil him and love him for whatever time we have left.
Surprisingly he is acting a little better now. He was super lethargic a couple weekends ago when this all was discovered. He's back to following me around the house and going up and down the stairs with me but still sleeps quite a bit.
Has anyone ever dealt with one of these in their pups heart? I would imagine we are either going to see him get super lethargic as it grows and puts pressure on his heart or it is going to burst and he's going to collapse. Neither sounds like a fun scenario at all.
I really thought we were going to lose him within days of the diagnosis because he just wasn't doing well at all. I'm glad we at least have had more time to spend with him and to prepare ourselves for what will come to pass. He is the absolute sweetest dog and it just breaks my heart that this is happening inside of him.
Anyway, thanks for listening and for any advice you can give.
Kerri
I haven't been around much since we lost our Bella to kidney disease a year ago... and here I am again with more difficult news. Our Oreo started coughing a couple weeks ago after we started him on some meds for pancreatitis, and his breathing became fast and almost labored, so we ended up taking him into an urgent vet where x-rays showed he had an enlarged heart and fluid in his pericardium. A few different things could have caused that, we had the option of draining some of the fluid off, but we opted to wait until he saw a specialist so we knew what we were dealing with - if the fluid would come back in hours or days.
Well we somehow lucked out and got into a cardiologist who travels to our city a couple times a month - he happened to be in town that weekend and had a cancellation the next day. He did an echocardiogram and said our Oreo had a hemangiosarcoma (bleeding tumor) in his atrium, and it's bleeding into his pericardium. He told us, and all the research I've one online confirms, that even with the most aggressive treatment (surgery to remove it, chemo and radiation) it only would add about 6 months. He's almost 14 now, so we have decided to just spoil him and love him for whatever time we have left.
Surprisingly he is acting a little better now. He was super lethargic a couple weekends ago when this all was discovered. He's back to following me around the house and going up and down the stairs with me but still sleeps quite a bit.
Has anyone ever dealt with one of these in their pups heart? I would imagine we are either going to see him get super lethargic as it grows and puts pressure on his heart or it is going to burst and he's going to collapse. Neither sounds like a fun scenario at all.
I really thought we were going to lose him within days of the diagnosis because he just wasn't doing well at all. I'm glad we at least have had more time to spend with him and to prepare ourselves for what will come to pass. He is the absolute sweetest dog and it just breaks my heart that this is happening inside of him. Anyway, thanks for listening and for any advice you can give.
Kerri
