Swollen Belly and Lethargic... PLEASE HELP
 

Please Help!! My 8 year old male yorkie has been very lethargic, swollen hard belly, and not acting himself. We took him to the Emergency Vet last night, they did blood work and xrays. Xray showed enlarged liver, nothing on bloodwork. They gave him fluids under the skin and a shot of pain meds. Today he is still listless and his belly is still swollen and hard. We are feeding him boiled chicken and rice and pepcid. He is also panting alot. I am just terrified something is seriously wrong. I am taking him to his vet tomorrow....hopefully we can get some answers.. Any advice or insight would help!! Thanks!!

I'm so sorry your baby is sick. Did the vet think that he had any fluid in his belly? Maybe you could call the ER vet and tell them he is not doing any better and see if they have any other ideas.Did they give you any pain medicine to take home? Hopefully your vet will find out the cause and treatment so he can feel better. Please keep us posted.

Enlarged liver is cause for concern....the panting is probably due to discomfort....what kind of blood work did they do???? If his liver enlarged, I dont see how liver enzymes could have come back normal....but if they did do liver enzymes and they were normal, maybe it is just an acute inflammatory thing. Did they put him on antibiotics? I am so sorry this is happening to him and doesnt it ALWAYS happen on the weekend, and in the middle of the night?

Thanks for the replies! They did check his liver enzymes and they all came back normal. The place we took him to was an emergency vet and they just gave him hydration under the skin and a shot of pain meds. They wanted to hospitalize him, but we didn't want to leave him :-( They never sent him home on any meds. But we are taking him to his regular vet first thing tomorrow AM. We are soo worried b/c he is just so lethargic..no energy and his belly is pretty swollen which I think is due to the liver being swollen?? i just cannot stop crying. I am so worried that this is serious. My husband is at the store right now getting baby asprin for him so at least we can help his pain. :-(

I'm sure sorry to hear of those x-ray finds. It I would call the vet or take him back in. That sounds very uncomfortable to me and he could be in pain. Hope they can get to the bottom of what is going on and get him some treatment that works ASAP and get him comfortable. Hugs and kisses to that baby and I iwll be praying for him.

Have you gone back to the vet with that baby yet? How is he doing?

My poor Bailey.....
 

HI Everyone,

Took my Bailey to his vet today, did another set of X-rays b/c the Vet Hospital we took him to in the middle of the night on Saturday were less than enthused and not quick on the uptake to send over his records and the Xrays I had already gotten done :rolleyes: So we didnt want to have to wait on them. The X ray that his vet showed was an enlarged liver and the bloodwork showed elevated lypase. She is suspecting Cushings Disease based on his symptoms, pancreatitis-which they did a blood test for OR liver cancer. We are waiting for the bloodwork to come back and go from there. If pancreatitis is NEG, then we will do an ultrasound of the liver to see if it is cancer.

Please pray its not the worse!!

Right now she sent him home with under the skin hydration and pain meds.

I will keep u posted!!!

Thanks everyone!!

I'm sorry that your baby is not feeling well:( I hope that whatever is going on isn't too serious. Sending good thoughts your way:love:

Keeping your baby in my thoughts and prayers....

Sending prayers

DONT GIVE BABY ASPIRIN!! IF HE IS HAVING A LIVER ISSUE, HIS CLOTTING FACTORS WILL BE OFF AND ASPIRIN WILL MAKE IT WORSE!!! Poor little soul....have that vet give.....oh I see they sent you home with something for the pain....good! Praying for your baby.....

I hope he is better soon

I will keep him in my prayers.

Hoping for a quick recovery

Just concerned about your little fella...is he doing any better today?? Keeping him in my prayers.....

YES!! Bailey is doing better!! He has Pancreatitis and was put on a special low fat GI diet. He has an ultrasound tomorrow to rule out the "C" word. Please pray that is NOT the case!! Thank you everyone for all of your thoughts and prayers during this crazy time!! I will keep u updated about the the ultrasound!!

I felt like it was pancreatitis. KB has it all the time. I really have to keep an eye on her diet. She will sneak food from my boys plate and it happens every time. The bloated belly is a sure giveaway and Yorkies are VERY prone to this. Good news.

Pancreatitis is just awful for dogs and I'm sure that irritated, swollen organ hurts like the devil and any associated liver irritation, edema awful but its usually quite treatable. Praying not the "C"-word and waiting for next update.

Heartbroken :-(
 

My heart is breaking as I type this.... ultrasound came back today....they found a mass. Doctors think it's malignant but can't be 100% sure until they do exploratory surgery, which scares me to death!!!

I am soooo heartbroken right now, I dont know what to do. My husband and I have a sit down meeting with his vet tonight at 6:30p to discuss options. I would spend my last penny trying to save my baby, but my husband and I have to think practical and be honest with ourselves on whether we can afford what is about to transpire. We have already spent over $600 dollars since this past Saturday. This wouldn't be such a burden if I didn't have medical bills myself. 3 months ago I received a heart/kidney transplant in Chicago and I am getting bills out the ying yang!

This is terrible!!! Sorry for venting on here..... I am just devastated!! After all my husband and I have gone through this past several years....

1) My husband's 15 year old daughter (my step-daughter) died of cancer of the brain stem. 4-6-11

2) I got sick 5/11 and told I needed a heart/kidney transplant

3) 7/5/2012 my Father in Law passed away from Luekemia (ALL)

4) 7/11/2012 I thankfully received my heart/kidney transplant

5) 10/17/2012 Mass found in my beloved Bailey :-(


I dont want pity...trust me...I am a tough cookie.... but THIS is just way too much for me to handle!! This MASS HAS to me beneign (sp?) !!

We will probably end up doing the exploratory surgery no matter how much it is...we will find a way to pay for it.... b/c I just cant see myself NOT knowing if it IS CANCER. I HAVE to know!! I want to be able to treat him acccordingly.

PLEASE PRAY!!! I will update after we get some more answers from our vet tonight!! Thank you everyone for your kind thoughts and prayers!!

PS.....OH....they told me they think that the Pancreatis test was a false positive. He bounced back from it so fast...they think that it doesnt seem to be pancreatitis. They definitely think that a malignancy is going on in the liver or pancreas.....UGH!

Teresa---- mommy to Bailey

I saw you are from Houston, Texas!! Bailey was born in Houston, Texas in 2004!! We lived there for about 3 1/2 years for my husband's job. We got Bailey while we were living there from a breeder about 25 miles outside of Houston...can't think of the town...:confused:

Teresa
 

How very sorry I am to hear about your poor baby. You must be so stressed and upset by the C possibility.
We pray that the investigation gives good news and that the mass is benign.
I cannot imagine how you have dealt with all the misery and sadnes of recent times and now this?? You sure need all the prayers and support we all here on YT can give you. May God give you strength to go on and get through this awful time.
Love, hugs and prayers.

I just saw your thread now and will be keeping Bailey in my prayers. Will check for your updates as you are able.

I am praying you can make the best decision for you and Bailey. Hopefully the sit down with the vet will give you more information to make the difficult decision. If you do the surgery, have you tried applying for a Care Credit card. Most vets take them and you can get interest free credit for varying periods of time. You have been through so much and I pray Bailey can be restored to good health with minimal expense.

Sending prayers your way. Keep us posted. Thinking of you and Bailey.

Awwwww....was it South of Houston or North....?? Bless his little heart! I know how hard this is on you now....I have you and Bailey in my prayers....He is a Texan, he is inherently strong in character and constitution, so he will handle this with strength and courage!!!

Teresa - what a trying time you and your family have had! I am sending out prayers for YOUR continued health and for Bailey. I pray that it is not malignant!

Prayers for your precious Yorkie. It is heartbreaking to hear what you are going through. Our Yorkies are family and when they are now well, neither are we! You have our love and support!

Sending you and Bailey and your family hugs! You sure have had more than your share of troubles over the last few years. I hope and pray that it's not malignant and that Bailey will be okay:love:

Tears of sadness from me. Lots of prayers. You and your husband have so much to handle. We cannot understand why things happen. We must trust and make the right decision-whatever is best for sweet little Bailey.
I will be thinking of you and praying all will be well for Bailey.

Teresa, I can't imagine how you are holding it together through all of this but it says you have strength and hope that you go on, don't just collapse in a heap. I pray that Bailey's mass is benign and can be removed with no problems. I would imagine with what you and dh have been through, having Bailey is one of the most important things in your life! Dogs can bring a smile to the lips almost anytime! Having a wonderful and loving dog at our side is just the best therapy in the world during awful illness or grief and to think how he's sick, too! Now he needs you to make the right decisions for him. May God grant you peace like a river and unsurpassing strength to handle your day-to-day world with all this on your plate. Having hope and faith and not giving in to despair is something to hang onto all you can. Praying and believing.