My senior dog with CHF has new breathing issues. Is it lung cancer?

It can be very difficult to evaluate x-rays without being on the computer that took them - I can't manipulate the lightness and darkness or zoom in all the way. That being said, I am concerned that there is something very serious going on in Jasmine's liver. It is much, much larger than in a normal dog. I can't see the entire spleen, but the parts that I see appear normal. I can also see that there is some free fluid in her chest cavity - this would be fluid between the lungs and chest wall that can cause trouble breathing. I would recommend re-evaluation immediately with an emergency vet. There could be many things going on, but the heavy breathing you described combined with the abnormalities in the chest have me worried that she may be having severe issues with breathing. This can cause severe anxiety and stress in a dog. The vet will probably want to repeat the x-rays and bloodwork, and may be able to draw off fluid if it is still there to ease her breathing.

I know it can be scary when thinking about possible cancerous masses in your pet. But really the only way to know for sure is to have these masses tested through your vet. They can be cancerous masses, inflammatory reactions or benign tumors (non-cancerous). The heavy breathing that Allie is doing does concern me a bit. This can either be a sign of pain or an underlying lung or heart disease. So a vet visit although no desired, is probably the bext best thing to do for Allie in figuring out what's going on with both concerns. Best of luck getting some answers and take care.

Poor Cherry! I'm sorry to hear that she's having this problem. There are many things that could cause coughing and difficulty breathing along with congestion in the lungs - some common possibilities would include heart disease, pneumonia, or even cancer. It would help to have more information about what your vet found during her physical exam (such as whether she has a heart murmur or not), as well as some additional diagnostic tests such as blood work, an echocardiogram, etc. to help diagnose the problem. Treatment and prognosis will depend on what the underlying problem is, so without this information, it isn't really possible to tell you whether she will be okay or not, or what you can do to help her. I would recommend calling your veterinarian to ask for some additional clarification on what they believe is wrong with her. If they aren't sure, or if they don't have any additional suggestions for how to proceed from here, you can get a second opinion from another local vet or request referral to an internal medicine specialist for further work-up.

Poor Xica! I'm so sorry that she's sick, and that you're in the position of having to consider what is best for her right now. This is always a difficult situation. Her x-rays do appear to show very severe pleural effusion. As I'm sure your veterinarian has probably discussed with you, pleural effusion of the type that you have described (bloody fluid) is almost always caused by one of two things: congestive heart failure, or cancer. The amount of fluid in her chest makes it hard to get a good look at the size and shape of her heart, or to determine if there are any obvious tumors in her chest, so it's hard to say which of these possibilities is more likely without additional testing. But unfortunately, even with aggressive treatment, neither of them have a good long-term prognosis. Knowing this, if I were in your position, I believe I would probably decide to let her go rather than pursuing hospitalization, chest tube placement, etc. - these are invasive, uncomfortable procedures that are unlikely to make a significant difference in the outcome for her, because of the severity of her underlying disease. That being said, the decision of when to consider euthanasia is a very personal choice, and one that is different for every pet owner. If you feel that you need to do everything possible, and want to pursue advanced diagnostics to try and get a more specific answer as to what's wrong, there is nothing wrong with this at all - but if you were my client, I would try to gently caution you that her underlying condition will almost certainly be fatal regardless of what you do. I hope you're able to find peace in your decision, whatever it might be.

The elevated respiration and fainting may indicate that the meds are not controlling the heart failure well at this time. The movement you are seeing with the heartbeat may be related to the murmur getting more intense, or possibly due to an arrhythmia. Without evaluating the medical history and examining Heidi it's difficult to tell. I recommend having her evaluated by your vet sometime soon. Your vet should be able to help explain what's going on and may want to prescribe additional treatment. Heart failure is often a progressive disease, so it's expected that medications will change as the disease progresses. If Heidi is otherwise seeming happy, then I don't think you are being selfish by continuing treatment. I think it's worth consulting with your vet and seeing if anymore can be done to keep her from breathing hard and fainting. I hope that helps and Heidi gets better soon.

These are all great questions. I’m sorry you are having to navigate through this with Memi but he is lucky to have an owner as dedicated as you are! An increased respiratory rate and/or effort can be indicative of fluid build up in the lungs from heart failure. Sometimes this fluid can be heard on exam with a stethoscope and sometimes it can only be seen on X-rays. In my experience, the severity of the fluid build up correlates with the physical exam findings. Occasionally I may see fluid in an X-ray that I cannot hear on exam so I always recommend doing X-rays if I am suspicious of heart failure. The rate at which fluid builds up in th lungs can vary from dog to dog and case to case. There is no way to anticipate how quickly fluid will accumulate in Memi until it begins to happen. A diuretic like lasix can very effectively remove this fluid but, like with all drugs, has to be used with caution and the patient has to be monitored closely while on it. If Memi is still having difficulty breathing I would recommend requesting a recheck appointment with either your regular veterinarian or your cardiologist. I hope this helps! Please let us know if you have any other questions.

Poor girl! Typically the fluid that was drained can be sent off for analysis to try and identify any cancerous cells. Also if it is hemangiosarcoma then an ultrasound of the spleen should reveal cancer there too, as this is typically where it would originate before spreading to the heart. You could also ask your vet for a referral to an internal specislist to do more advanced imaging to come up with an accurate diagnosis. Also until the cause is found, Gracee is likely going to need additional drainages of the excess fluid build up around her heart, and you want that to be done by a specialist anyway because of the high risk associated with such a procedure. I think it's reasonable to say that you should prepare yourself for the worse because the odds of this being cancer is greater than it not being cancer unfortunately. I send my deepest sympathies for you and your pet during this troubling time and I hope that you are able to make a decision regarding her care soon that you are comfortable with and keeps her best interest at heart.