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Gastropexy with splenectomy yay or nay?
11 years old female Rottweiler, spayed, on smaller side of the breed. Splenectomy going to be done due to incidental splenic mass finding while diagnosis non-resolving diarrhea and inappetence. I wanted to look for obstruction but instead, this was found. Larger mass, >6cm. Surgery Tuesday.
I have a 13 yo female domestic short hair. She has a very large ventral hernia and is losing weight very fast in Oct she was 6.9lb, in Nov she was 6.4lbs. The surgery is $2300 which I cannot afford. She gets diarrhea after eating and sleeps ALOT. I hate to put her down, I wish she would go naturally but I dont want her to suffer & need advice. Please help.
Hello
Have you asked for a second opinion from another veterinarian? Try to find a local independently owned veterinary practice that comes recommended by people in your area. Reach out to local rescues and shelters and use social media to try to find someone.
I don’t know enough about your cat to offer more specific information.
I hope this helps and I wish you the best.
Our dog Addison is having diarrhea. What can I give her to help this go away. Has been for day and a half.
She weighs 95 lbs
Hello,
The diarrhea has a cause. Until you find out what that is you are simply trying to resolve a clinical sign.
If your dog isn’t on a heartworm prevention that treats for intestinal parasites you should ask your vet to look for these. If your pet is young and unvaccinated I worry about parvovirus. If they are old I worry about disease and deficiency. Your dogs weigh tells me nothing about what the cause might be. Please call a vet and get better help to resolve this. Chronic diarrhea can cause dehydration, emaciation and even death.
My dog got spayed on August 1st, she is a 13 year old poodle mix. She also had a mastectomy along with her spay so she has a very big incision. She is on her 4th week and the lower half of her incision does not look like the top half. The surgeon said it may take a while to heal because of the placement but I noticed a bump at the base of her incision at day 4 that has not gone away. She keeps licking at it and the surgeon suggested we must let her heal and later investigate. Also, at day 10 I noticed a white tiny pimple sized thing trying to come through under her skin. I really checked it out today since it has not gone away and it feels like something sharp poking under her skin, she has two of these that feel the same. I am scared she might have torn her internal stitches but the surgeon did not seem too worried. I notice when she eats she seems to look like she feels uncomfortable. She threw up yesterday but I took it as maybe her pancreatitis acting up. I am freaking out and don’t know if I am making a big fuss over nothing. She did not run during her recovery but she would stand up on her hind legs no matter how much I attempted to keep her calm. She did slip 3 times and land on her tummy, twice at day 8 because I had her on a short leash and she would try to run, the third slip was at day 13 and for the same reason of the short leash and attempting to run. I feel so sad and don’t have peace of mind. I feel guilty she slipped on me those three times but then again don’t know what to make of that lump at day 4. After the two slips at day 8 and after on day 10 she started having severe diarrhea. I contacted the surgeons team and they suggested boiled chicken and boiled rice, but at day 12 the diarrhea was a soft serve ice cream consistency and then she thew up so I took her into emergency immediately. At emergency they checked her vitals and incision and could not figure out what may have caused the stomach upset since from her pancreatitis history did not have the swollen tummy and her incision looked fine. They attributed the upset to possible pain med side effect and prescribed a probiotic and to stop the gabapentin. It’s has been a tough healing process for her. I will attach pictures of of what the incision looked like at day 7, 10, and now. I hope it’s not what I am fearing but it’s better to know if I should advocate for her and have them check again. Thanks guys, sorry for the long story but this is my little girl who is my first owned dog and who has been by my side for 13 years. I love her so much and it pains me to see her uncomfortable. Fyi her appetite is always good no matter what and her bowels are back to normal since the 18th of august and they were fine before the 10th of august as well.
I have a 16 year old Jack Russell named Lucy. She has had diarrhea for a week and a half. She went to the vet and her blood work was good and no problems in the poop. she is still alert, drinking normally, peeing normally and seems herself. Just she poops once a day now and it’s diarrhea. The vet put her on a medication that made things worse so in agreement with the vet we took her off. She has been on a rice and boiled chicken diet during this time. Yesterday I gave her 1 ml of pepto Bismal. Its seems to be helping but her poop is still very soft. Should I consider giving her anything else. This seems to be going on a bit too long. Oh and she has Pica too which is probably why we are going through all this. So is there anything else we need to do or consider?
There are many many things that can cause diarrhea. In some cases we opt for medical therapies to see if there is a response to treatment, or blood profiles, fecal exams , and digestion profiles. Other cases can be stress or disease. Of the first trip to the vet didn’t realize it it’s probably time to go back. It can be a long exhausting proxies to figure it out.
For my patients I take a detailed history, talk about diet /!; start some diagnostics like a fecal and bloodwork. Then talk about history and home environment. I also talk about probiotics and supplements. There is a lot to talk about with your vet. Find someone you trust and can work with. It is a process. And it takes time and dedication.
My year and a half old Great Dane had large lump on belly, took her to emergency vet where she put a needle in it and drained lump. Sent home with heavy duty antibiotics and pain meds. Now dog has diarrhea and trouble with her bowel mvmts. and has started puncture hole bleeding. Don’t really want to take her back to vet. Beginning to not trust any doctors as I read on your blog site that you don’t agree with draining and lumps should eventually absorb on its own. She doesn’t seem in distress or pain. What can I do to take care of her at home with giving her meds that will help her heal?
Hello,
I’m sorry but this needs to be addressed by a vet who can examine your dog. There are too many unanswered medical issues here to guess at. I don’t know what the lumps are or how they might be related to the gi issues. Or if the medications alone caused them. At minimum a thorough exam needs be done. And then an aspirate or biopsy of the masses. This may require more than one visit so it is important to find a general practitioner vet to help with the process. An er is not appropriate for this as they are often to expensive and do not have the ability to make follow up appointments to help with the long term treatment plan. For a local vet you like and trust. They can help you and your dog.
Hi! This is my first time posting here!
We are taking our baby Rusty to the Vet next week. He has been recovering from Parvo this past week after being hospitalized for 6 days. He is doing AMAZING. Eating great, keeping it down. Still has slight runny poop/diarrhea. But we know that was to be expected. No blood, colors great.
We take him to the vet next week for a check up to see how he’s doing.
My husband and I noticed a tiny red spot on his arm where his vitals/catheter was they stuck in him at the hospital. We thought at first he was just picking at a scab, so to prevent it I went to wrap it back up and bought a inflatable cone from Petsmart.
As I was about to wrap it up, I noticed it was a pretty big open area exposed. Looking closer, I see a tiny pinpoint hole in the middle. At first, I thought it was again from the vitals they put in his arm.
Looking on Google being paranoid, I came across the possibility of warbles. My heart sank.
I just wanted to know what you think. He has been doing so so well. All my life my family has had dogs but never have had this issue before.
You can see it is right above where his previous bandage at the hospital was.. so not sure if it is really from all the IVs or warbles.
I really appreciate the feedback. Thank you so much!
Hello! Welcome! I am so happy for you to hear that your pup is doing so well. Parvo is my most dreaded diagnosis as it always hits the very young and often it is either too expensive for people to treat it too severe for dogs to survive.
I would place the ecollar and make sure he can’t lick the area. And I would also keep it cleans and dry. I usually don’t wrap it because it can be too tight and cause really bad problems for rhe leg and cover up a wound I would rather have people observing daily. Covered up leans you can’t see it and I want to to be monitoring it.
If it worsens call your vet and have it looked at asap.
Good luck
Good evening,
My wife and I are struggling trying to help our cat with megacolon and obstipation. He was diagnosed over 4 years ago but he had been put on a Royal Canin GI diet that worked wonders. It suddenly became unavailable and our cat deteriorated rapidly. He had to be hospitalized for a week to remove the blockage and we’ve gone back and forth with the internist on how to move forward. He’s currently on miralax, Lactulose, Cisapride. We recently introduced an anti-nausea medication and appetite stimulant as he stopped eating a few days ago. The suspicion being that he just becomes backed up again. At this point it’s been multiple hospital stays and several thousands of dollars trying to help our guy.
I watched the video on regular palpation – it’s difficult in our cat, both personally and from the vet, due to his large size. He’s a very long cat and also a chunky boy.
Do you have any guidance on palpation in obese cats? Suggestions we can explore with our vet?
I’m worried we’re looking at the colon surgery to remove part of it – but the vet noted many cats are unable to form or control stool following that and have constant diarrhea.
At this point if we can’t get him stimulated at home and eating a little and defecating a little we’re likely headed back to the animal hospital.
I appreciate any guidance or suggestions.
Hello,
Have you directed these questions to your vet? Have you asked them to help you cate for your cat at home? I teach my clients how to palpate and I also have them give lactulose. Miralax and cat lac along with watered down wet food only. I try to avoid dry food. I also think the fat cats need to get healthier with walks exercise and this helps the gut stay active and make constipation less likely. I always believe constipation is secondary to something else. Like obesity or poor diet or lethargy. Cats should be at a good weight with good muscular body condition. I encourage walking on a harness, playing and using food as a way to encourage activity. Try a feeder ball or scattering small amounts of food across the room so they have to “hunt” for it. Also car grass and cat hip might help. These cats are too often too fat and too sedentary and that compounds the problems.
Hello Dr Magnifico
I watched your video on Beerus the cat (Megacolon/ Obstipation) on YouTube! Currently my 8 year old English bulldog was diagnosed with megacolon. My dog is my life. The last week I’ve spent $4000 which included a deobstipation. The deobstipation wasn’t successful as there is a hard piece deep in the colon. They stated they removed a good amount but couldn’t reach the hard piece deeper in the colon and he will need two more procedures. I truly can’t afford to spend any more money and I don’t want anything to happen to my dog. Each procedure is about 2500 in the area and that only includes 24 hour care. Right now he is feeling much better but that piece is still in there. I’ve increased his exercise to 2-3 short walks. I’ve also changed his diet. Chicken, very little rice, raw liver, flaxseed, watermelon, blueberries, coconut oil, green beans, carrots and pumpkin. He’s feeling much better and is having diarrhea which I hope is chipping away from that hard piece. Can you recommend anything? Days ago he was vomiting, shaking, couldn’t walk, didn’t eat or drink and was lethargic. It was so scary! I literally would do anything for this dog. But I can’t keep shoveling out thousands of dollars and not get any results. Anything would help, I can’t have anything happen to my boy. You also mentioned to learn how to palpate the abdomen. Can you explain how that is done. Any help or recommendations would be much appreciated. Thank you!
Hello,
I’m sorry to hear about your pup. I think that diet and exercise are very important. I also think that monitoring daily for fecal output helps. I also think you need to find a vet who will help you manage this outside of the emergencies. Your dog is going to be very hard to palpate so although I don’t want to discourage trying it’s going to be hard to monitor that way. I would also ask about gi motility agents, laxatives and prescription diets. I am not a raw or homemade diet fan. I just see too many people missing hey ingredients. Also finding a bet who will allow X-rays to monitor might help. I think you also need to start a savings account for surgery down the road. JIC. At my clinic a sun total colectomy is about $3000 and we allow payment plans to pre existing clients.
I hope this helps.
Keep us posted.
Thank you so much. I was hoping to try this for the next few days since he is having diarrhea where he couldn’t go to the bathroom at all even after the deobstipation. Do you think it’s chipping away at that piece? What is that surgery? Will that make this constipation issue go away?
15 hrs ago my dog vomittef everythibg she ate 8 hrs before that. I gave her fluids SQ as my vet taught me. I didnt give her anything else to eat, just a little bit water to d4ibk. Now she has this poo and she shivers. What should I do? Does she need vet asap? Usually she has some trouble wuth her digestive tract (diarrhea)
Hello,
I would ask your surgeon for their thoughts. If everything was going well during the splenectomy and if it weee my pet, or I was the surgeon, then my answer is yes. I would pexy for any and all abdominal surgeries in at risk breeds.
Good luck.
Yeah, my thinking. Unfortunately, can’t discuss before hand due to holidays. I hope it can be done. Thank you.