I'm really in need of some advice , I'm very light headed with all the worry so excuse me if I sound confused or if it doesn't make sense.

Pearl my dogue de bordeaux she is 2 years past June I love her to bits , especially as I hand reared her . For about 3 days she has been drinking quite a lot , and late last night Her stomach appeared to look a little swollen , I checked on her a couple of times through the night but she just wanted to drink water and lie outside , I let her for a few minutes but brought her back in and she settled again.
This morning she looked more swollen , I first thought could this be pyo , or bloat but then thought she wouldn't of been so bright in herself. She had not eaten her tea last night but had eaten her breakfast.

Have you made an appointment to see your vet?   Bloat - or even suspected bloat I would be treating as an emergency!

Sorry the post button got pressed half way through writing , its not bloat as she was x ray today . I'll have to finish the post in a bit as i'm going to havce to go and check her again .

Sounds very similar to my first Goldie. It turned out to be pericardial effusion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pericardial_effusion). Hope your girl is OK. Let us know how she is when you can (((((hugs)))))

Shes okay at the minute shes had another bowl of water and is settled .

Took her to the vets earlier and she had x rays which showed a lot of fluid in the stomach , the vet couldn't see her liver at all there was so much.
So she x rayed her higher and discovered her heart is a strange shape , the right atrium is not right at all and said there could be a possible tumour. It was a little blurry as she was not sedated but it was still quite clear to see when she was showing me.

I brought Pearl home after she was given a dimazon 5 % injection to help drain the fluid from her abdomen , as of yet I'm not seeing much difference she is weeing but not all the time like the vet said she would.
We are back in the morning when we have to decide on full bloods , or another x ray under sedation. The vet says if its the heart she thinks she will have to be pts , that is if she doesn't get any worse overnight.

I'm past myself with worry , she is so young , and I love her but I don't want her to be suffering.
Please if anyone has any advice I will listen , I don't know what to do .

Also she is very dehydrated , her gums are dark pink and very dry to touch , the vet was concerned about this also.

Oh dear so sorry to hear about this. I hope that you get some positive news today.

I would ask if it is worth sending her as an emergency case to see a specialist to see if anything can be done

Will be thinking of you today and hope you get some good news x

What a worrying time for you, I'm so sorry. Veterinary medicine has advanced so much in recent years, so don't give up hope, and I agree it may be worth getting a referral to a specialist if you can.

Keeping all fingers and paws crossed here x

So sorry to hear this, a very worrying time for you, so difficult to make decisions .
Personally, I would ask for a second opinion/referral, we have a heart specialist advisor for my breed ( although that is not what she advises us for!) I know she does a lot of work with Dobermanns.
I don't know where you are in the country but she is at Liverpool, her details are Dr Joanna Dukes-McEwan Tel 01517956100, Fax 01517956101 or e mail J.Dukes-McEwan@liv.ac.uk

Keeping 16 paws aand fingers crossed that there is something to be done for you & Pearl x

 

Thank you , I'm in Northumberland , just come off the phone trying to get to see another vet one who I trust 100% but she is on holiday this week , can't believe it , my appointment is at 10.25 and I am worried sick. When I'm there I'll see if there is also another vet who can give their opinion .

Good luck to you both. fingers and paws crossed.

I had something similar with my 7 year old Flattie who has been diagnosed with DCM. We were referred to the Dick Vet in Edinburgh and he is under the care of their excellent cardiology department. He to has a very mishapen heart, as big as they have seen, but he is on various meds and is keeping remakably well considering. We were up again yesterday and they cannot believe him as instead of his heart contracting the normal 30% it is only contacting 2%. They haven't given up on him even at this stage so see if you can get a referral to here or somewhere closer if there is one in the North East.
Don't give up on her just yet, I hope she gets to see a specialist soon.

Hi , flattiemum , did your dogs tummy fill with fluid also?

We are back from the vets and we saw a different vet today , she has given us antibiotics incase of an infection and tablets to help drain the fliud. We are back on Friday afternoon to talk about where to go from there , her heart beat was extremely irregular today and this vet was concerned about it , she said " Often this breed of dog have problems with their hearts , it's one of those things ! , and to be honest if it is the heart causing this fluid then there won't be a lot we can do "
I did mention a specialist but didn't seem to get anywhere with that , probably because I was upset and not talking proper sense. They must hate me at the vets because I'm always in tears , they booked me an extra long appointment on Friday as they must know I'll be in a while again .

His tummy filled and also around his lungs, my own Vets took off 2.5 litres of fluid. As for there not being a lot that can be done it is true that this, if it is DCM, cannot be cured but, with proper meds it can be controlled to give months or in some cases years of a fairly normal life. You just need to look at my boy playing tug then running off to roll in the stream this lunchtime to see they can continue for so long and be happy. We know some day this will end but just make the most of the time we have left with him and let him do as he pleases.
Hope you get somewhere on Friday although if you aren't happy with her before then go back and ask to at least have the fluid drained and I'm sure she will feel better for this alone, I know mines did.
Good Luck

This is so sad in such a young dog. You say you hand reared her, was this because she was poorly as a pup?

If the fluids don't decrease with the injections then she will need to have the fluid drained off as it will be pushing her diaphragm up, pressing on her lungs and heart putting them under pressure to function properly.

How is her appetite, very tasty morsels umpteen times per day and free access to water should encourage her to take some nourishment as room for a full stomach won't be there.

I hope things improve by Friday but as has already been said go back earlier if she becomes stressed etc.

I'm keeping a close eye on her and if she gets worse I'll rush her straight to the vets , at the minute she is fine in herself . She has had her meds and about half of her dry food which I was pleased she ate .I'm leaving water available to her all the time. When I just gave her meds her gums were wet which is good as they have been so dry.
I hand reared the litter as mum had an emergency csection and just wouldn't take the pups. At her puppy checks she had her heart sounded and all was fine .
Her mother is Fern who has had mammary cancer twice the last episode being March although she is okay at the moment I don't think she will around to see an old age either as I can feel another lump inside her , the vets said they couldn't do anymore for Fern if the cancer returned for a third time. I just wish I had a crystal ball and I'd never of bred Fern at all , she passed all her health tests and was succesfully shown before producing this litter . The sire a top show dog died age 5 1/2 and the owner said he doesn't know what the cause was , it has been kept quiet , not may people know he died and is still advertised on his website , so I'm thinking maybe these problems are inherited. I love these dogs but never again will I have another , they are breaking my heart :(

The BSAVA and Kennel club did a survey of pedigree dogs health in 2004, your breed results are here: http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/download/1545/hsdoguedebordeaux.pdf

Mortality data
A total of 5 deaths were reported and this represents 0.03% of all deaths reported in the
survey (5/15,881). The median age at death for the Dogue de Bordeaux breed was 3 years
and 10 months (min = 8 months, max = 16 years) and this was lower than the overall median
of 11 years and 3 months (Figure 1). Table 1 shows the causes of death for the Dogue de
Bordeaux breed. Age at death is presented for the most common causes of death (Figure
2).

Sadly this is a breed with a generally short lifespan.

> A total of 5 deaths were reported

I'm not sure that can possibly be taken as significant data.
It may of course be representative but you really cannot be sure with such a tiny figure.  It may have just been 5 people whose unusually early losses incentified them to complete the survey where no one else was bothered. 
The responses to that particularly survey seemed to have been very much dictated by stronger or weaker encouragement by breed clubs and I am not sure that this breed had much of a club going on at that time.

Reading up on the breed more generally ti does seem they do not make 'old bones' though, but that is par for the course for Giant breeds generally.

The results in my own breed though response could have been better does seem to be representative, though i suspect as you say those whose dogs die young or have ill health are more likely to reply to such surveys.

> Reading up on the breed more generally ti does seem they do not make 'old bones' though

Yes, that is my general impression.

That is very sad as I do like the breed out of all the larger breed dogs although Danes are my favourite. Is this something that has developed through the years or have they always been a breed that has a shorter than average live span ?

Are they sure that it is not the fluid which is mis-shaping the heart ? and I am sure that some cancers give off a fluid so it might be worth having some fluid removed and sent off to be tested.

I hope that it is neither of these and you get a good outcome. X

Vets can tell what the problem is by the colour of the fluid,this was explained to me a couple of weeks ago,vet asparated Fluid from my girls abdomen,so sad as it was blood which possibly came from a tumour,but of course fluid does collect in the abdomen with heart disease and the fluid is lighter,and can be treated with frumiside tablets,fingers crossed things gets sorted.

Sheila xx

I remember reading your about your girl recently , I'm so sorry :(
We have her on frumiside at the moment , thank you for your advice I will ask my vet on Friday to see if they will take some fluid . I appreciate all the views and opinions I can get as I feel the better informed I am the less the vets will lead me on , my vet is on holiday and I struggle to trust the others that are in the surgery .
Pearl is quite good today , she hasn't eaten her dry food but has stolen the ham off the kitchen bench when my back was turned , so she really is her cheeky old self today :)

I know exactly how you feel,its one of the worst things that has happend in my life,lets hope she improves.
Thinking of you and Pearl xx

Bit late at night to post this but if you want to see a cardiologist you simply ask the vet for a referral to one.They can't refuse you and insist if they try. She's your dog and you want only what's best for her.

I was a vet nurse as are others on here and we never thought someone a nuisance for caring about their animal and being worried or crying. I'm pathetic when it's my own animals and cry at the drop of a hat,I'm much better with other people's!!

Does sound like a form of heart trouble but that could be anything from infection to congenital. Does sound from your last post like hopefully she's getting back on top of things. But don't be shy about asking for a referralifit makes YOU feel better,it's not insulting the vet it's wanting the best for her, lord knows I would want to see a heart specialist if it was me that was poorly rather than my GP any day. Not that your vets rubbish etc but if it makes you feel better.....

Took Pearl to the vets yesterday , yet again saw another vet one I'd never seen in the practise.

She was amazed at how well Pearl was and couldn't understand how poorly she had been after reading the notes . I couldn't believe it when she sounded her heart and said it sounded fine , so after a bit more talking and examining she re sounded and said it was normal .
She said it could be the that there has been an infection which is responding to the antibiotics , or that the water meds are keeping things under control. So we are giving her 7 days further anibiotics and 10 days water tablets .
I am so pleased , she is back to her normal self , running and jumping all over the place , she isn't your typical dogue de bordeaux who are happy to laze around she has to be on the go and is into everything.
I do know the meds could just be masking an under lying problem but at least for the next ten days we will see how she goes and any changes she will be back at the vets.
I'm about as happy as I can be :)

Thanks for the update, I was wondering when you didn't come here yesterday if she had taken a turn for the worse,so glad that wasn't the case.

Has her abdominal swelling gone down?

Here's to continued improvement

Glad there seems to be an improvement,they are a bit like kids they can be very poorly very quickly and then bounce back, but I would still be wanting more investigations.

I think it was you that said you get upset and can't ask the right questions well that's just like me, hard exterior but pure mush when it comes to the dogs so I would suggest writing down any questions or thoughts and then if you do understandably get upset you can give them the list.

Fingers crossed for continued improvement, keep us posted.

> I'm about as happy as I can be

Good for you I'm so pleased, have been wondering how you both are.

So glad she has improved.

Sheila

Hi Rhoodach yes her abdominal swelling has completely gone , she is looking toned as normal cannot see or feel any fluid now .

Sawheaties thanks for that advice you you have me summed up hard exterior but soft inside , where kids and animals are concerned , I'll definitely write my questions before next visit , why didn't I think of that ?
I'll update with any changes or after next appointment.
:) :)