My unspayed dog has heart/stomach issues. How to get diagnosis?

Hello and thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. It is difficult to make the diagnosis from the picture you posted but the rounded, egg-shaped area in the central part of the abdomen looks abnormal. Also, a part of the kidney is surprisingly dense, which could be a sign of a disease. I would not be able to make a diagnosis without having Coco fully examined and receiving full clinical history. However, I am concerned about the large shadow in the abdomen and the dense part of the kidney. The chest looks normal for a cat of her age. If you have more x-rays of Coco (ideally a view called dorso-ventral) that would be very helpful if post them on Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

I don’t think the heart looks terribly enlarged, maybe on the big side of normal. Ask the vet who took the rads if they are able to submit them to a radiologist for review. (A radiologist is a vet who spent at least 3 additional years to do a residency to specialize and study only imaging. Their expertise is really valuable in cases that are not clear cut and obvious.) If his lab work is all normal, and a radiologist is concerned about the appearance of the heart, then it’s logical to seek out an echocardiogram (ultrasound of the heart) by a veterinary cardiologist. If a radiologist does NOT think the heart looks questionable, and Boo’s lab work is all normal, it might be worth considering an abdominal ultrasound (sonogram of the belly) to see if there are any abnormalities there (enlarged lymph nodes, abnormal spleen, any abnormality in GI or urinary tract, etc). I hope that’s helpful, sorry there is no easy clear cut answer. Interpreting X-rays is like looking at 1 piece of a puzzle. History and clinical signs, physical exam, lab work, and other imaging all tie in to the bigger picture. If you would like to have a consult, I may be able to help you further with more information, and would do my best to help point you in the right direction. Thanks for asking Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Hi and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. It is hard to see exactly what Pomi's abdomen looks like in those photos. To be safe, I would recommend you take her into your vet to make sure that her abdomen palpated (feels) normal, she does not have a temperature and that she is otherwise normal. Sometimes non-spayed females can get something called a pyometra (pus in the uterus) that can cause a tense stomach, vaginal swelling and discharge, lethargy, vomiting, diarrhea etc. This can become a surgical emergency therefore, if Pomi is showing any of these signs, I would take her in sooner rather than later.

Symptoms may include lethargy, loss of appetite, vomiting, frequent urination, distended abdomen or vaginal discharge (this is not always present however). You should have Dahlia examined by your veterinarian. An abdominal xray or ultrasound should be able to provide a definitive diagnosis. If she needs surgery, an echocardiogram (ultrasound of the heart) can be done prior to assess cardiac architecture and function. A murmur itself is not an indication of cardiac disease.

As she is unspayed i strongly suspect a uterine infection, it can often be missed on blood test and xray. i strongly recommend taking her urgently to the vet for a recheck, an ultrasound needs to be done and bloods needs to be repeated, if this is what i suspect, she will need an emergency surgery to have her uterus removed.

That sounds like a tough situation. Intact female dogs are always at risk of a pyometra, and they aren’t always easy to diagnose. Ultrasound is better for diagnosis than x-rays. Mammary masses can be benign or malignant, but even benign masses can get bigger and cause problems. You could try calling around for a price that is less expensive, but having both surgeries done at the same time will cost a lot. An enlarged liver could also be concerning.

Hello and thank you for reaching out to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. It sounds like your veterinarian is suspecting that Delilah has a liver mass, or tumor, and that the liver overall is larger than normal. This causes the stomach to be displaced, or pushed backward farther than normal. The GB is the gallbladder (an organ near the liver that stores bile), and a cholelith is a stone in the gallbladder, or a gallstone. A round heart can be seen on chest x-rays when there is underlying heart disease. Older small breed dogs such as Chihuahuas are at increased risk of mitral valve disease, which is a degenerative disease of one of the heart valves. This can result in blood leaking backwards in the heart, causing dilation of some of the heart chambers. Often a heart murmur is heard with this disease. An echocardiogram (ultrasound of the heart) is needed to definitively diagnose this. I hope this interpretation is helpful!