post surgery complications

    • Bronze

    post surgery complications

        hi im les and my dog is called bonnie shes a 8/9 year old staffordshire bull terrior and were from the uk.

    bonnie has suffered with tumors for the last few years and has had 5 surgerys so far to remove them including both mammary strips removed.

    her latest procedure which she underwent was mass removal on thursday evening, the mass as yet is unknown as a needle aspirate didnt yield clear results and with it being the easter weekend we wont find out from the lab who are performing the biopsey (sp?) but it is a suspected mass cell tumor which was located just to the side of her vulva under the skin it was around the size of a golf ball and had appeared overnight in the course of the week after discovery it did grow very slightly.

    anyway we picked bonnie up from the vets friday morning and she was fine even running around the garden etc but when she sat still she would cry although that is not unusual for her straight after an op. the next day however the was not herself the had been sick during the night and was continuing to do so she also had diarrhea which contained what looked like small blood clots (the diarrhea was also very violent) aswell as this she wouldnt settle despite seeming to be exhausted (falling asleep sat up etc) and when lieing her breathing was very heavy.

    with all this we thought it best to take her back to the vets to be sure, once there the vet had a look at her and decided as she couldnt hold down fluid or food it would be wise to keep her in on a drip, so we agreed as we know shes in the best hands there for recovery. i called them this morning hoping she would be better and able to come home but unfortunatly not she is still the same, the vet says she is stable but has stomach ulcers causing the blood in her stools but he is hopeful of a recovery but we wont find out more till tomorrow, although he did say if the mass turns out to be a mass cell tumor her long term outlook isnt very good.

    from my research on the net it would seem that removing the mass has coused histamines to be released into her system causing the stomach ulcers etc, my question is what else are these histamines likely to have caused and has anyone been through anything similar, we really are at our wits end with it and to think that she may not return from the vets really kills me.

    thanks for reading my essay and i apologise for my spelling :)

    cheers les.


    • Gold Top Dog
    When mast cell tumors release their products, the most serious complications seem to be anaphylaxis and gastric ulcers. Since anaphylaxis would have occured already, I'm sure your dog will be fine as long as the tumor was completely removed and the ulcers heal without complications.

    It sounds like she has some pretty serious ulcers, so it may take her a while to heal. Keep us updated on her progress, she's a lucky pup!
    • Bronze
    thanks for your reply, thats eased our minds somewhat, ill post up further tomorrow once i hear more from the vet.

    cheers les.
    • Gold Top Dog
      Welcome to the forum; Many vets will give the dog a shot of Benedryl the day of surgery or have the owner give the dog Benedryl for a week before the surgery to prevent the histamine release. I'll say some prayers for Bonnie; let us know how she does.
    • Bronze
    well we just heard from the vet bonnie is starting to look a lot better, there is no more blood in her stools and the vet is pleased with her progress, he wants to keep her in again tonight though just to be sure but hopefully she can come home with us tomorrow [:D]

    feels like a weight lifted from our shoulders now.
    • Gold Top Dog
    Well, this is good to hear.  maybe things will work out and she will be just fine.
    • Gold Top Dog
     That's great news; I hope she continues to improve.[:)]
    • Bronze
    fingers and paws crossed for a full recovery.

    My cat and dog are praying for bonnie as I type this.
    Good luck
    Pam, Quin and Lexie
    • Bronze
    hi guys, good news bonnie is home with us now and she seems fine back to her old self.

    thanks for all your kind words of support,

    les, michelle and bonnie :)