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Abby is 9 years old and has always been in good health. Until this weekend. Sunday morning she would not eat anything. As the day went on, we noticed she was breathing differently. She was not panting, coughing or gasping, but we could see that her breathing was rapid and shallow. That evening she would not eat dinner until her brother came over to try to take some and then she ate a little and let him have the rest, something that would never happen if she was herself!
So Monday morning we got a urine sample from her (they always want the first morning sample) and my husband dropped it off and made an appointment for 10am. I brought her in to our vet and he examined her and said he could not hear her heart clearly. He did not hear any murmurs but it was muffled. He wanted to run additional tests, blood screening and an xray so he asked that I leave her there until the tech came in at 1. Around 2 he called me with shocking news. He said he saw some small white spots on her lungs which were usually cancer. He also said her heart was twice it's normal size - so trying to comprehend all of this on the phone was not doing it for me. I asked him if I could come in and see the xrays with my husband. He showed us the xrays and explained what he thought was wrong. He said the rest of her body looked good, but the sac around her heart looked like it was full of fluid, a little fluid in her chest around her heart and her lungs had some white markings that he said is usually cancer. He said the lungs could be "old do lung" but being that her heart was like it is, he said it was probably a tumor on her heart. Not good news. He said he could drain the fluid himself, but he did not have an ultrasound machine which would give a better picture of what was wrong and also help guide the needle to aspirate the fluid.
Off to the cardiologist we went the next day - I really wanted to go that day, but there were no appointments. We met with the cardiologist and he explained it all again and we opted for the ultrasound to see what was going on. He came out and said her heart was surround by a lot of fluid. He scanned her spleen, liver, stomach, etc. and did not see any fluid or tumors or swelling. So we asked him to drain the fluid from around her heart. He got 500 ml of fluid - that's a whole water bottle for those who were wondering! He saw tumor on her heart but he said her heart function was not being effected - he said it was a very small tumor. He also saw several lesions on the inside of the heart sac that were probably old tumors that had bled. The lungs, well he cannot be positive but feels that it is probably metastasized cancer cells.
I was wondering if anyone had a dog that had cancer on their heart? He did not know the prognosis - depends on whether the sac around her heart fills up again and how quickly that happens. Or if the cancer spreads and how quickly. He told us to give her an herbal supplement called Yunnan Baiyao twice a day. I guess that is to prevent bleeding in tumors. So we are giving them to her. Is there anything else I can do? Her breathing is somewhat better, still not normal. I keep thinking that sac could be filling up with fluid again - but I can't keep going to the cardiologist for an ultrasound. Good news is that she is eating again, drinking, etc. I know it does not sound good, but I want to keep my baby as long as possible while her quality of life is still good. He said chemotherapy would not help, not that I could ever afford that anyway.
So Monday morning we got a urine sample from her (they always want the first morning sample) and my husband dropped it off and made an appointment for 10am. I brought her in to our vet and he examined her and said he could not hear her heart clearly. He did not hear any murmurs but it was muffled. He wanted to run additional tests, blood screening and an xray so he asked that I leave her there until the tech came in at 1. Around 2 he called me with shocking news. He said he saw some small white spots on her lungs which were usually cancer. He also said her heart was twice it's normal size - so trying to comprehend all of this on the phone was not doing it for me. I asked him if I could come in and see the xrays with my husband. He showed us the xrays and explained what he thought was wrong. He said the rest of her body looked good, but the sac around her heart looked like it was full of fluid, a little fluid in her chest around her heart and her lungs had some white markings that he said is usually cancer. He said the lungs could be "old do lung" but being that her heart was like it is, he said it was probably a tumor on her heart. Not good news. He said he could drain the fluid himself, but he did not have an ultrasound machine which would give a better picture of what was wrong and also help guide the needle to aspirate the fluid.
Off to the cardiologist we went the next day - I really wanted to go that day, but there were no appointments. We met with the cardiologist and he explained it all again and we opted for the ultrasound to see what was going on. He came out and said her heart was surround by a lot of fluid. He scanned her spleen, liver, stomach, etc. and did not see any fluid or tumors or swelling. So we asked him to drain the fluid from around her heart. He got 500 ml of fluid - that's a whole water bottle for those who were wondering! He saw tumor on her heart but he said her heart function was not being effected - he said it was a very small tumor. He also saw several lesions on the inside of the heart sac that were probably old tumors that had bled. The lungs, well he cannot be positive but feels that it is probably metastasized cancer cells.
I was wondering if anyone had a dog that had cancer on their heart? He did not know the prognosis - depends on whether the sac around her heart fills up again and how quickly that happens. Or if the cancer spreads and how quickly. He told us to give her an herbal supplement called Yunnan Baiyao twice a day. I guess that is to prevent bleeding in tumors. So we are giving them to her. Is there anything else I can do? Her breathing is somewhat better, still not normal. I keep thinking that sac could be filling up with fluid again - but I can't keep going to the cardiologist for an ultrasound. Good news is that she is eating again, drinking, etc. I know it does not sound good, but I want to keep my baby as long as possible while her quality of life is still good. He said chemotherapy would not help, not that I could ever afford that anyway.
