All the swelling in Bella's lymph nodes went away adn she seemed to be on the road to recovery. Her appetite was improving and she was beginning to keep landry the lab in his place and bark at the neighbor dogs. We noticed last week that her tummy was drooping. I worried about bloat, but she wasn't exhibiting any other signs. Her tummy got bigger and she began to be off her feed. This morning she began to grunt when exhaling and it was apparent she was having trouble breathing so we loaded her in the car and went to the emergency clinic. They did an electrocardiogram and her heart rate was erratic, her blood pressure was weak. They then did some X-rays and when they came back, her abdomen was full of fluid as well as a lot of her lungs. They wanted to look at her heart but the fluid was so heavy they could barely see it. So now we're on a cocktail of pills, about twenty of them to strengthen the heart and also drain off the fluid.
If she responds to the pills, then we'll do some more X-rays and a complete heart workup to try and determine the extent of the heart damage and go from there. This is the hard part, if she doesn't respond then there is nothing else that can be done and she'll have to be euthanized or die on her own. Basically her heart will give up, or she'll drown on her own fluids. Please say your prayers.
Jack
i'm sorry
wow, after going through some tough stuff last week with lucy, we surely understand what a hard spot you are in. we felt so helpless! i hope bella comes through with flying colors.
Laura, Lucy, and B
Bella
Jack and Angie, I am so sorry to hear about this roller coaster with Bella. I have been around for years and we had several Bella's come thru. What color is she? I am just trying to pull her up in my brain.
Keep us posted!!!
hh
Bella is fawn, but instead
Bella is fawn, but instead of a black muzzle, hers is white. she has white around her neck and white stockings, kind of like a mantle. you might remember her from her funny walk due to shallow hip sockets.
jack
Was Bella's name "Jana"?
If so....she was the white pie-bald we met, along with "Joe" at DU. I'm soooo sorry for all that you are going through right now. Bella will be in my thoughts and prayers, as will you guys during this very scary time. It is so difficult to watch our pups in pain and not knowing what to do to heal them.....my heart goes out to you while you wait to see if the meds work. Please keep us posted.
Stacey
~in memory of Moose~
Poor girl
I hope she recovers fast....
ANYONE.. does this sound like Ike?
JACK you might want to search the message board for a post from luvs2cook about her Ike..... this sounds a little like what they just went thru..... if it sounds similar you can email them by clicking on their blue sign on...
good luck
K
Bella Bo
That is who I thought. I picked her up from the shelter and was her foster. I LOVED that dog. We were out for a late night walk one time and I noticed the hip thing. We changed her food etc and it improved. I LOVE that dog. I have pics of her on my fridge. She was pre kiddos at my house. She had such a long tounge!!! I remember getting all those slobbery kisses from her. When I picked her up she was skinny and about 8 months old. I thought she was the most beautiful Dane I had picked up, so I called her Bella. She was also a pretty big girl for her age. You give her some big slobbery kisses from her old foster mom then!!! :)
hh
If I can get this to work,
If I can get this to work, here are a few pics of Bella and her little brother jJake.
http://pets.webshots.com/album/171660139cdGeFk
Jack
I'm so very sorry about Bella's condition
I hope she is being a cooperative patient and taking her pills. Twenty is A LOT and if Bella is resistive to taking pills I could imagine it could take all day to get twenty in her. Her symptoms are frightening and personally have such a hard time with those 'watch and wait' periods of unknown outcome. This is one of those times when it is out of your hands; you just follow the vets advice, love your baby and pray. I'll be praying too. Hang in there.
yes!!!
That is Bella Boo!!!! Sweet girl!!! I loved her over grown jowels. She was such a slobbery awesome puppy at my house!!!
She's taking 11 pills every
She's taking 11 pills every twelve hours. Sometimes she gobbles them right up (thank god fro pill pockets) and sometimes she's finicky and you can't get her to take a thing. Last night she wanted no part of it and only wanted to lay around. So, I laid down in the floor next to her and just started petting her and lifted her flappy jowel and put a pill pocket under it. she licked at it but didn't eat it. Finally I tapped on her flappy flap and she went ahead and ate it. I guess that motivated her so she went ahead and ate the rest. We can get all 11 pills into 6 pill pockets. Thank goodness most are small pills, but one is huge. I was up all night with her last night taking her out to pee. It appears the pills are doing their job, but she usually stops at the water bowl and drinks as much as she pees. It may be wishful thinking but out in the sun this morning her stomach did appear to be a bit smaller, I hope so. My vet called this morning and we're setting up a time to do an ultra sound so we can get a better idea of what's going on. They couldn't tell anything from the x-rays because the fluid obscured everything.
Jack
I'm impressed you're getting all those pills in.
But I can see it is taking a lot of work and patience on your part. I hope you and your family take some time for yourselves to re-coup through this....the emotional rollar coaster mixed with the interupted sleep for pee breaks can wear you down. I'm really happy to hear sweet Bella's tummy looks smaller. You're giving her excellent care and attention. Hang in there and many prayers for Bella and your family.
10 pills
lucy was taking 10 prednisone every morning - she'd pee twice per night and then drink the same amount of water! couldn't hold water from her though she was so thirsty. i hope you find out something from the ultrasound.
Laura, Lucy, and B
This morning was excellent.
This morning was excellent. I put her pills in the pill pockets and she heard me open the pill pockets bag and came into the kitchen and gobbled them all down without a blink. I slept on the couch next to her so my wife could get some sleep. Luckily, I'm a teacher so I'm off right now and can snatch a nap for a short while. But, my wife is so concerned that every time I was up last night she was up too. I finally waited till she fell asleep and shut the bedroom door so she wouldn't hear me or bella's toe nails clicking on the floor. We weren't blessed with children so our dogs are our kids and we treat them the same. We would do anything to help them no matter what it takes or costs. We're not rich but we'd find a way. The vet yesterday brought us an estimate of the cost for the visit and asked if it was okay and we just said yes without even looking. Bella is actually a bit more animated this morning and has even been barking through the window at the neighbor dogs, but I'm not letting her out because the vet said to keep her calm and inside where it's cool so there is less stress on her. To be honest I'm not sure which is more stressful to her, going out and barking at the neighbor dog or wanting to go out and not being able too. It is nice to see her a bit more animated. She was always such a playful dog but has just been so lethargic since the first episode with her lymph nodes.
Jack
Glad she is doing better
And so impressed that she has a family willing to do whatever it takes. That's how it should always be - they are part of the family! Has the problem with the lymph nodes ever been diagnozed?
whew
I'm glad she is showing improvement. Please keep us posted! I hate seeing them sick, it's nervewracking.
The lymph node problem was
The lymph node problem was finally diagnosed as an autoimmune disease brought on by being sprayed with pepper spray. Basically, her immune system was triggered by her inflamed eyes, then they got better but the immune system became inflamed and began fighting itself. A round of prednisone finally brought it under control, but she hasn't been 100% since.
Jack
Terrible triggers...
...our beloved lab, Jake, as a puppy lost every hair on hos body in a month. His gorgeous coat was replaced by itchy, weepy, bald skin. We did the blood test to determine what his allergy was and the vet precribed an injection based on his allergies to....papaya, mango, pineapple, chicken and certain trees...it was a long list. (by the way, we lived in SW FL and these things on our property which Jake enjoyed to eat). This is useless to Bella's issue because this is what we were able to do for a skin allegery but I understand how an encounter with something can set off a catasphoric response. sigh.....Thank goodness for pill pockets...and for your families love and dedication.
Bella's update
Bella had her sonogram today. Results are not good. She has congestive heart failure due to dialateed cardiio myopathy. She also has a cystic mass in her liver that may be cancerous. They do not recommend a biopsy of it because leakage would spread the cancer to the liver which would spread it to the whole body. The only way to check it out safely would be exploratory surgery to remove it. However, the prognosis on the heart is that she will only be with us around 6 more months due to the advancement of it. So, I'm not going to subject her to surgery in the short time she has with us. We're just going to enjoy what time we have left with her and try and make her as happy and comfortable as we can until she seems to be in pain. We're devastated. Imagine someone telling you your daughter has only 6 months to live, that's how we feel. I feel the weight of the whole world has come crashing down on me.
Jack
Sad to hear that
I am so sorry. On the other hand, there were dogs with congestive heart failure that were given 6 months, and they lived 2+ years walking a mile every day. Keep us posted on her status.
Sorry for your pain
Enjoy every minute with her you can. Take pictures daily. We lost our darling Sam to cancer a year ago. When we first discovered he was sick we took a ton of pictures. Three weeks later, the day before we had him pts we took tons more. Living with him every day we did not see the progression of his illness. Days later, after seeing the last pictures, I was at peace that we had done the right thing in letting him go. Our hearts go out to you. It is not an easy thing to do, but sometimes it is the cost of loving.
I'm so sorry...
Jack, I'm so sorry to hear this. I do know how hard this is. How you feel about your darling Bella is how we feel about Ike.
I applaud your courage in doing what is best for her. Perhpas it's not so much courage as it is pure love.
Hugs and kisses for your sweet girl. My wishes that she is happy and painfree for many months to come.
Michelle
My heart goes out to you and Bella
Jack, I am so sorry to hear about Bella.
I have my own Belle with cancer (a Cocker). Its been 3 years since the first node was discovered. She is retired to the house, and bosses the big dogs around still. I know from looking at her that she probably won't be with me another year, but for now she is happy, grouchy with the other dogs, and pain free.
Good luck with your Bella. We will be thinking of you.
Heather, Koda (cattle dog mix), Tonks (Dane mix) and Dozer (Dane rescue)
and the rambling ferret face
our hearts go out to you and
our hearts go out to you and your family. I know it is difficult, we lost both our danes towards the end of last year. It is rough, but you have given bella a great life. Please enjoy Bella, give lots of treats and hugs and we'll be thinking of you.
My best to Bella
My heart hurts for you. I went through the same with my beloved Kong. I opted not to put him down because he was not in pain. I was with him when he drew his last breath, I was glad to be with him. You'll have some rough days ahead, just know I'm praying for all of you.
Maria, Apache & Tyson