Blood Clot On Spleen?

[Guest jhev1]

Hey all,

 

My boy Spartacus is not doing well. If he makes it to next Wednesday he'll be 10 years old. He was at my sisters house for the week of 10/11 to 10/18 with access to a fenced in yard where she let them out supervised with muzzles for about an hour a day. I picked him up Sunday, 10/19 and all seemed ok.

 

His problems all started last Thursday 10/23. His 5pm poop was a little soft. Just a little. I mentioned to my wife that if he wakes up whining to let me know and I would take him out. Sure enough at 3am he has the big D. I'm a little concerned at this point, but it's just D. Skip breakfast for him and give him some rice and hamburger for dinner. He still has D but it's a little better. At this point I am thinking some sort of worm, and will bring him in Monday morning.

 

By Sunday night he doesn't want to eat the rice & hamburger so now I am really concerned. Still has the D and is lethargic and showing a little swelling in the abdomen. All signs point to worms, so I bring him to the vet today along with a fresh stool sample.

 

First vet takes xrays, side view looks ok, top view she can't see too much so she checks for fluid in the abdomen. She finds lots of it. His heart rate is good, his temperature is normal. She says it is more than likely cancer but wants me to have an ultrasound to double check.

 

Second vet doesn't find any cancer but finds a "massive" blood clot on his spleen. At this point my head is ready to explode because I was prepared for at worst giardia, hookworms, etc. They don't know why he has the clot so I suggest PLN. They agree that that is the likely culprit and explains all his symptoms. A urine test is being run overnight, I'll have the results in the morning. Either way, they say there isn't anything they can do about the clot. Surgery would cost between $4-6K. I'd be willing to pay if it would fix him, but they say every dog that has had this that they operated on has just clotted somewhere else after surgery and that none have survived.

 

I'm grasping at straws here, I'm at my wits end. I knew when I got him 7 1/2 years ago that this time would eventually come, but not now. Not like this. I can't accept that my boy was perfectly healthy a week ago and is now on the verge of death today. If it was a traumatic injury or accident, fine. Maybe it is just grief, but I can't accept it.

 

Has anyone experienced something similar? What did you do?

[Feisty49]

Oh dear. I am so sorry to hear about your boy. I've had no experience with this. I just want to express my sorrow for you and your family.

[macoduck]

In this Health and Medical forum, do a search for both spleen and splenectomy. You'll find several threads on spleen issues.

 

My concern with the mention of so much fluid is that your boy may bleed out at any time.

 

[tbhounds]

How did his blood work look? How was his total protein, albumin??? Did they aspirate the fluid? He could have acities secondary from PLN or PLE and is starting to develop clots from antithrombin loss. If that's the case surgery is not warranted but, hospitalization is. He may need IV hetastarch with supportive care.

[Houndtime]

I lost two dogs to spleen or liver internal bleeds. They were fine in the morning, but, gone by the end of the day. We have never done a necropsy, but, our vets considered hemangiosarcoma. If this is what your dog has, it is very painful. I lost one dog at 11-1/2 and one at 7 years old. You asked for experience, and sadly this is mine. I hope your dog can recover and give you many more good days with him.

[silverfish]

We so very nearly lost Sid to a ruptured spleen earlier this year. He had a tumour - well, I say 'tumour' but it was probably multiple tumours - his spleen weighed 5 pounds!

 

As soon as they found it, they scheduled him for surgery the next day, and they said it was full of blood-filled chambers. Recovery was a little difficult (he's a tripod) but uneventful and he's now fine. Histology came back negative for malignancy and they simply don't know why it happened.

[MP_the4pack]

I've lost more to cancer of the spleen than osteo. I hope it really is a clot and not cancer.

[Remolacha]

My Molly had a tumor on her spleen. Ultrasound did not show that it had spread, so we had the spleen removed. Unfortunately, the biopsies of the spleen, liver, and lymph node closest to the spleen (all taken during the surgery) came back as cancer, and that it had spread. It was about 6 weeks from the time I first noticed something wrong until I lost her. I hope you have better luck, but fluid in the abdomen is not a good sign

 

[Guest alannamac]

This scenario is frighteningly similar to what happened to my boy Red. He was only 5. I went away on vacation and apparently the stress of being in a new home triggered an acute attack of IBD that he had probably had low grade all along. Not saying this is what is going on with your pup (and I really hope it's not, but will describe briefly what occured.

The big D, ascites, did not begin until a day after I picked him up from my sitter (had been away 8 days). I wasn't sure what was going on and tried Immodium but he just seemed so tired and not himself, D wouldn't stop, so next I tried metronidazole and the diarrhea stopped. One day later, Vomiting ensued which was really unusual for him (so was diarrhea) and off to the vet we went. Long story short after nearly two weeks of treatment and hospitalization, plasma and hetastarch transfusions and 9 different kinds of meds trying to stop inflammation, reduce nausea, heal the intestine and bring up his blood albumin levels I had to let him go. He would not eat voluntarily and I was syringe feeding him through most of the treatment. The condition was unresponsive to treatment and he was suffering in pain at the end.

They did an autopsy and found his spleen had hemmoraged and was necrotic. My vet said this was probably due to the PLN...clotting is really common when blood proteins drop very low. It was also found that he had lymphangiectasia, lesions of the small intestine, and mild inflammation. I can't remember all of the rest of the description but the pathologist did say that when all of these conditions were seen, there was no chance of rescue and I had made the appropriate decision.

Anyway this was so sudden and acute and there were very few symptoms of IBD before this that I just wanted to mention it in case it parallels your

pup's story.

Healing thoughts for you and your pup.

[macoduck]

I'm getting worried about Spartacus since we haven't had an update.

[Neighsayer]

Hoping for positive news!

[greyhead]

Holding you and Spartacus gently but firmly in our thoughts and prayers.

[BauersMom]

I don't have any advice, but sending some good thoughts over for Spartacus.

[Guest MtnBikerChk]

Hang in there John

[Guest jhev1]

Hey guys, thanks for all the positive energy, it's only going to help him. Sorry for not updating sooner, but it's been a hectic couple of days. After refusing to accept what I was told, a friend suggested I try to consult with the awesome Dr Couto. Great idea, why didn't I think of that. I wrote up an email Monday around 10pm and sent it off to Meztger Animal Hopsital. I also called the office (they are 24/7) to explain the urgency of the situation and to see if they could make sure Dr Couto saw the email in the AM. They said they would and ten minutes later my phone rings. Not Dr C, but Dr Jennett. I explained everything to him, he said there was an opening for Dr C tomorrow morning at 11. He's only actually in the office one day month, and it just happens to be when my boy need him most?? Seriously? What are the odds of that. I drive the 330 miles there, Dr C looks him over, they do another ultrasound and see that there is indeed a large clot on his splenic artery. Their ultrasound is some super ultrasound than can show blood flow in real time and luckily there was still a trickle of blood going to the spleen. Biopsy on the spleen showed nothing but healthy tissue. They also took a look at his kidneys and those looked really good too. So far so good.

 

Surgery to remove the spleen is unnecessary since it's perfectly healthy. Dr C thinks that the clot can be treated medically and hopefully be reabsorbed into the blood stream. He thinks the fluid build up is from micro clots on other organs that they were unable to see with the ultra sound. A cat scan would should those better, but ultimately would not change our course of action so the added expense really isn't worth it at this time. Hopefully the micro clots will respond to the meds as well.

 

After talking over all the options on the table, our best course of action was to give him fluids and meds for a few days to try to reboot the kidneys and recheck. They said I could do it here at my vet in CT. Since one vet said most likely cancer (Dr C said if he has cancer he'd be shocked) and the other said very poor prognosis, I decided to leave him there. While at times I have questioned that decision, it's only been for selfish reasons, mostly so I could spend time with him. Although he is so far away from me, he is where he needs to be right now, I have no doubts. If Dr C and his team can't fix him up, what more could I have done? He is the best in the business. If I could have stayed there I would have, but unfortunately someone has to pay for all the bills he is racking up so I had to get home and get to work.

 

I called for an update a short time ago and it was encouraging. He happily ate a biscuit, first food he's kept down since Sunday. He was also excited to go outside to do business. He still has a bit of bloody D, but he's headed in the right direction. They ran some more blood around 4 and the numbers there were encouraging also. If all goes well I will be picking Spartacus up on Saturday.

 

Win, lose, or draw I can't say enough good things about Dr C and the entire staff at Metzger Animal Hospital. They are all so nice. I think I've talked to all of them I've been calling for so many updates and every time they are pleasant and more than happy to talk about Spartacus. Dr Koshko performed the ultrasound with Dr C and I watching and he has been great. Dr K has been overseeing most of the care and he is another gem. Everyone is very patient explaining things to me since this is my first real crisis. They have all the equipment need right there on site to do any lab work that is needed. Really top notch all around and well worth the 1,300 or so miles I'll be driving. If they were a bit closer I'd go there all the time.

 

Long term prognosis is he does indeed have pln, so we'll have to take him for regular blood and urine tests from here on out.

 

Keep that positive energy coming, he's not out of the woods just yet.

[TINMANPDX]

Wow, glad to hear this positive news. Sending continued well wishes for your Spartacus.

[Guest alannamac]

My goodness you couldn't do much better than that. Knowing he is in the best hands possible must be such a relief. Sending continued healing thoughts for Spartacus.

[Batmom]

Best thoughts!

[Remolacha]

encouraging update!

[silverfish]

I'm so pleased to hear the encouraging news!! He is indeed in the best possible place, and to be frank, I wouldn't trust my vets with him either, after the misdiagnosis and poor prognoses.

Sending all good thoughts for his continued improvement!

[tbhounds]

Sooooooo glad you were able to get to Metzgers and even more happy your hound is being treated by Dr C--isn't he the best ever??!!

I have logged a ton of miles to Columbus (when he was at OSU) to have my hounds under his care. He's worth ever mile ;-)

Please keep us posted!!!

[Charlies_Dad]

That is very good news! As you have found out, Dr. C is incredible. I don't know how he does it but am so glad he is around to help us. Continued good thoughts for your boy!

[MP_the4pack]

Wonderful news!!!

 

I too drove from NJ to Columbus OH - Twice for my girls. One had OS the other splenic cancer. I think Dr Couto is a godsend.

[carronstar]

Wonderful news. I have been lurking and watching this. I went through splenic removal with my Aquitaine almost 3 years ago. Totally successful removal of tumor and spleen. She, too, had PLN after. I am ever thankful for the overnight e-vet who wanted to learn more about using the ultrasound because he discovered the tumor at 6 am so that at 8 am he could tell the internist that the problem had been found. They walked me through the possibilities of what the tumor could be -- fatty/cancer/blood clot -- and informed me that what I really wanted it to be was a blood clot. It was. All was benign.

 

Keeping Spartacus in my prayers.

[sweetdogs]

I'm so happy things are looking up for your boy & that you could get in to see Dr. C. himself. From what I've seen/heard of Metzger's, I wouldn't hesitate to bring my hound there & would feel comfortable leaving him there as well. Continued best wishes for Spartacus!!