Gracie's not doing well suddenly...bloat

[Gracie's Dad]

Sweetpea and I had a heck of a scare, Gracie's been acting strangely yesterday, some fur mats were bothering her and she was getting totally agitated, circling and pacing. Today, we finally calmed her enough to clip them out and she was back to her usual self, sort of...She was still clearly stessed, though her tail went up, and she was on the way back to happy chow land.

She hadn't much to drink or eat yesterday, and made up for it this morning. ten minutes after drinking a large amount of water, she started pacing and was agitated. Within 15 minutes she was howling with pain, and we called the vet. Xray confirmed it as bloat and as I type this she's under anesthetic being operated on.

Every chow owner needs to learn and know the signs of bloat, hopefully we caught it in time and there's no tissue necrosis.

Of the two, we figured Princess would be the first to have serious medical issues, but we're sitting here hoping that Gracie makes it.

[Rio]

Oh gosh, I hope Gracie is ok, hugs and best wishes,best of luck to you all. Rio sends his love too.

[Gracie's Dad]

Rio,
Gracie came out of it well, all things considered. The vet found some spleen tumors as well, and had to perform a splenectomy, her stomach hadn't totally torsioned, and there was no compression of the vena cave and zero necrosis. Had she not bloated, we never would have discovered the tumors at an early enough stage to (hopefully) stave off any future issues. We elected not to have a biopsy done, as there is no chance of subjecting her to chemo or radiation therapy. All in all, the best possible outcome of a horrible situation.

[Rio]

Thank heavens for small blessings,so relieved she was ok, I had been checking forum every 10 minutes for updates before we took Rio out for night walk. Get well soon little girl, thanks for posting the update. Fingers crossed that tumours were found early enough not to cause serious problems long term.

[Tippsy'smom]

I'm so sorry to hear Gracie bloated! I'm glad y'all caught it in time (along with the tumors) and she's recovering now!

[Hugo]

How is Gracie doing now?
Please update, I keep checking to see how she is too.
Hugs xxx

[Gracie's Dad]

After two sleepless nights of pacing and carrying on, Gracie is slowly getting back to her usual self. We had to get a low dosage anti-anxiety pill from the vet which seemed to help a great deal, though she appears pretty "stoned", she's not as frantic as she was and we're not as worried about her hurting herself. We've slowly lowered the dose, and it seems to be helping.

These things take time, and for the time being she spends a lot of time in her "cave" but slowly returning to her chow personality.

[Rio]

Awww bless her, I have been checking everyday for updates. Great news that she is on the mend and fingers and paws crossed for a speedy recovery. Hugs to you Gracie and big sloppy kisses from Rio.

[Sarahloo]

I'm so glad she made it!!!

[Chowmomma]

So glad to hear she is doing better. ..

Sent from my PC36100 using Xparent Pink Tapatalk 2

[Hugo]

Thanks for the update am pleased to hear she is on the mend.
X

[sara]

Rio,
. We elected not to have a biopsy done, as there is no chance of subjecting her to chemo or radiation therapy.

So pleased your Gracie is recovering well and I'm sure she's back to her old self by now. What a gorgeous name to, I love it, perfect for a chow chow.

I wanted to add that I totally agree with your statement above from your post. A horrendous topic to talk about, i know someone who subjected her poor little westie to chemo, it had little effect and she just suffered from the side effects. This person now regrets putting her baby through this treatment and although it was four years ago she still cries over how she let her little one suffer those side effects (we all know what these are) the chemo prolonged her life a little, but that life had no quality. Bless her.