IMHA in 10-year-old Wheaten Terrier—Diarrhea?

Andrea

Guest

An update:

Sadly on Friday, we had to put Zoey to sleep. In a turn of events no one seems to understand yet—including the vets—suddenly on Friday morning, she no longer wanted to eat or drink. Otherwise, she was acting fine. We called the vet and she told us to let her be a bit—maybe it was stomach upset or some other variable.

However, by afternoon, she was having trouble breathing, and was hiding in the bathroom, her refuge when she feels scared. She was also laying with front paws rigid in front of her, and holding he head at an odd angle. When we attempted to get her to move, we found she was unable to walk, or even support her own weight when being carried. She was also spontaneously leaking urine and feces while laying there. We immadeteley took her to the vet.

Upon examination, the vet discovered she had air underneath her skin by one of her front legs, and it was extremely swollen and hot. She also had a fever. Combined with her immobility and extremely labored breathing (at this point, I’m not even sure she knew what was going on, which was probably a blessing), we decided to put her to sleep. It was a difficult decision, but her quality of life was so poor, with bad prognosis. To let her continue suffering would have been cruel. She was a sweet, sassy girl, and fought so hard, but it was time to let her go.

Upon speaking to our specialist today, she says the theory is that Zoey ruptured her trachea or esophagus, and that’s what caused the air under her skin, as well as breathing issues. They aren’t sure what could have causes that rupture. She was relatively fine that morning—she didn’t want to eat, but was mobile—and we can’t think of anything that would have caused blunt injury enough to cause a neck issue that morning. The belief is perhaps she had lymphoma that had spread to multiple sites in her body, and perhaps there was a mass/legion somewhere near her trachea/esophagus that burst that day. Hence , the IMHA was secondary to the cancer, which was always a theory. However, none of her tests/scans ever indicated definitive lymphoma, so we’re just not sure. Widespread cancer would sort of explain her persistent diarrhea, but there was never enough other evidence to support that diagnosis outright. So we treated the IMHA, in hopes that was right course. And for almost a month, she was better. But perhaps there was something else lurking there that we must never knew about.

(Or, being immune-compromised, she developed an odd infection of some sort?)

The vet and specialist are going to talk Monday and go over their notes. I’m not sure if we’ll ever get any answers—a ruptured trachea certainly wasn’t the way anyone thought this would go. She was going so well this past week—how quickly things went bad shocks me. However, in the grand scheme of things, it went quickly, and I hope, hope, hope she didn’t suffer too much.

Thank you all for your kind words and suggestions. If you have any thoughts in this chain of events, let me know.

And for all those still wrestling with this disorder with your own pets, I send you light
and love. You have gained a guardian angel above to look over you.

This is so tough. Miss her oodles.

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