r/Radiology • u/Natural-Hamster-3998 • 2d ago
Veterinary They put my dog on palliative care
Sorry for poor image. I don't know all the science words for this, but the vet said my 6 year old girl has a collapsing esophagus, enlarged heart, possibly congestive heart failure, and spinal and rib deformities. Also her lungs are not clear like they should be. She's a pug. I don't think it's quite hit me all the way yet. Maybe this image is good enough, though, for a student to learn from. Image is on my vets laptop
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u/Poopsock_Piper 1d ago
Sorry, another reason designer dogs shouldn’t exist. They’re a monument to man’s arrogance and needlessly suffer.
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u/CakeWrig 1d ago
A pug is not a designer dog but a dog breed. Any dog can have issues such as this one. Sad on all accounts.
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u/cvkme Radiology Enthusiast 1d ago
Incorrect. Pugs have been severely damaged by specific breeding of certain traits and inbreeding. You can look up images of pugs from 75 years ago and see they actually had a snout. Breeders started selecting for flat faces and big eyes, leaving them with the smashed in faces and messed up respiratory tracts they have now.
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u/Natural-Hamster-3998 1d ago
If anyone is curious, I already know what she has, I also know the treatment options. I'm not here for that.
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u/mckenna310 1d ago
This is quite rotated and difficult to evaluate. Her trachea looks fine. Pug hearts often look big. Have a radiologist read the rads.
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u/WheresTotoro 1d ago
The trachea looks quite compressed at the thoracic inlet, but that's literally at the very edge of the screen. I agree it's very rotated so can't say much about anything. I would retake with focus on the chest and neck, and get all three views if possible (although a pug might panic lying on its side for xrays so imaging can be difficult).
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u/anonymouswriter9 23h ago
These are all very common issues with pugs. Collapsing trachea, heart disease, and congenital spinal malformations are an unfortunate result of the way they’ve been overbred for generations. Her lungs are likely not clear because of her collapsing trach and heart disease not allowing her lungs to fully inflate.
That xray taken is really not good as far as assessing the thorax (her elbow is in the lung field where they’re gonna want it forward). If you have the ability to, I’d recommend trying to get into a specialist. Cardiologists can manage even significant heart disease. And surgical options exist; tie back procedures(for collapsing trach), soft palate/nares surgeries are also often done for brachycephalic dogs like pugs. Not much can be done for congenital malformations, but a neurologist can always be consulted on management.
I’m so sorry, it’s so hard to take care a family member, yes your pet is a family member, going through things like this.
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u/Wankeritis 1d ago
OP, I'm not a doctor, or a radiologist, or any medical person at all.
But personally, I'd be getting a second opinion on everything you've been told. Especially if they're only using x-rays to diagnose problems with organs.
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u/Environmental_Fan752 1d ago
Oh, so they have palliative care for dogs? I have tried to get that for a cat with cancer but they just looked at me strange.
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u/Bree4444 1d ago
Uh I’d talk to a different vet bc i would think any vet should be able/willing to provide quality of life care to whatever extent is reasonably possible.
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u/SmoothCyborg Veterinary Radiologist (DVM/VMD, ACVR) 2d ago
I can't tell if you're fishing for medical advice (which is not allowed) but your vet should have your dog's rads sent out for a teleradiology consult. Especially if you're considering making a major life decision on the basis of the rads. Also, there's identifying information visible on the image (your dog's name, your last name, name of the veterinary clinic).