# Elderly Chihuahua with prolonged bloat



## jimikat

I have a 12 year old chihuahua who is badly bloated. The bloat is in her lower abdomen- between the ribs and her backside. She has had this since before October 2009, with varying severity. We have mentioned it to our vet many times, but he has never answered the question and focusing rather on her other health problems.

Here are all the symptoms she has been experiencing:

-Bloating, moreso after drinking water
-Sometimes gets overheated
-Warm, dry nose
-A few times, she had a sore back
-Bad gas
-Dirty teeth
-Waddle when walking, but normal run

Bowels seem to be normal, doesn't have any trouble going poo or pee.

Other health problems:
-Growths on body
-hair loosing sheen
-Hair doesn't grow back where shaved (for removal of growths)

We have tried switching to wet dog food, a little twice a day. This seemed to help a bit. (Unfortunately, my brother who was watching her for a week did not understand how much to feed her, gave her way too much and she has rapidly gained a lot of weight during that time, bloating has increased).

Here is a quick sketch of where her bloating is. I can provide a pic, too, if that would be helpful.









Anyone have any thoughts about what might be causing this? Thank you so much for your help! We are very worried about her.


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## nicholeb5

The first thing I would do is find a new vet that will listen and respond to your questions and concerns, very soon! What kind of food is she eating? What other heath problems does she have? What tests have been run? 

Post pics, would love to see her!! Welcome to the site!


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## 18453

I was gonna suggest changing vets also. 

The gas and teeth could be due to her diet along with her coat problems. What are you feeding her??


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## LiMarChis

I'm so sorry your baby is having these problems. Please find a new vet who will listen to you and give you some guidance on these issues. When making your appointment, tell them her abdoment is distended or swollen. She does not have bloat, which is an altogether different illness in dogs. Maybe part of the problem is semantics. The vet may think you belive the dog is bloated, which she is not. However, he should have been explaining this to you and diagnosed the cause for the distended abdomen. You should also monitor her amount of water intake and urinary output. Not just that she's going, but the number of times and the volume she's producing. She needs a full blood panel w/CBC and thyroid tests done and probably x-rays of the chest and abdomen. Have these been done? There's several illness that can present with these symptoms and the earlier they are diagnosed, the better the prognosis.

Welcome to the forum. Please keep us posted on your girl.


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## sugarbaby

a lot of what you have said is what happened with my old girl sugar ,she had a server heart murmur ,over heating and Bloating was a huge part of having a bad murmur .
i also noticed a few other things on your list .
i would defiantly go else where .


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## MarieUkxx

Goodness. I have a 14 year old Chi s I'll try and help with comparison.

Cookie put on weight as he got older after always being the perfect weight. So now I do have to watch the treeats he gets. He has slimmed down a lot recently.

Cookie has a dry nose at times. Sometimes very dry. But other times it's wet as he has allergies.

Cookie waddles as he walks. It was worse when he was bigger but it's not so bad now. Are your chi's nails cut down? Long nails can make them walk funny.

It's not bloat your chi has from what I know of bloat. I'd seek out a different vet and explain her problem after drinking.

Hair loosing sheen - well my old boy Cookie doesn't have the glossy coat he once had. It's old age I'm afarid. Mind you I did give him the full works (bath, brush, cut) the other day and I must admt he's looking quite good for his age.

Dirty teeth, well they will have that and Cookie has had most of his out. His last dental was at the age of 12. Cookie is a long haired Chi and gets quite hot and pants now.

A lot of your problems sound like normal ageing to me. But the distended abdomen needs to be checked out, that's not normal. Switch vets and get her checked thoroughly.

I'd love to see a pic of her.


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## LDMomma

I would definitely find a new vet.

You could try feeding a bland diet. Boiled Chicken and such. Also, are you feeding a quality food for older dogs?


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## jimikat

Thank you so much everyone for your suggestions! We finally asked the vet just about the distended abdomen (rather than putting it in a laundry list of her other problems), so he finally focused on that. 

Sugar baby, when my mom was reading these comments, she keyed in on yours, and I found out our SiSi does, indeed, have a heart murmur problem. 

We found out today at the vet that SiSi has some liver problems, but she also has a growth in her abdomen, which is causing the problem. It doesn't look good, but we are hoping to at least keep her comfortable. 

Thank you for all your suggestions and support! This really is a wonderful community I stumbled upon.


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## MarieUkxx

jimikat said:


> Thank you so much everyone for your suggestions! We finally asked the vet just about the distended abdomen (rather than putting it in a laundry list of her other problems), so he finally focused on that.
> 
> Sugar baby, when my mom was reading these comments, she keyed in on yours, and I found out our SiSi does, indeed, have a heart murmur problem.
> 
> We found out today at the vet that SiSi has some liver problems, but she also has a growth in her abdomen, which is causing the problem. It doesn't look good, but we are hoping to at least keep her comfortable.
> 
> Thank you for all your suggestions and support! This really is a wonderful community I stumbled upon.



awww I'm so sorry to hear this but at least you finally got to the bottom of it. I know you must be uspet. We here if you need us. And by the way she's so beautiful, I love older Chi's.


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## QUIGLEY'S MOM

Sweet girl. So sorry about the growth.


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## sugarbaby

jimikat said:


> Thank you so much everyone for your suggestions! We finally asked the vet just about the distended abdomen (rather than putting it in a laundry list of her other problems), so he finally focused on that.
> 
> Sugar baby, when my mom was reading these comments, she keyed in on yours, and I found out our SiSi does, indeed, have a heart murmur problem.
> 
> We found out today at the vet that SiSi has some liver problems, but she also has a growth in her abdomen, which is causing the problem. It doesn't look good, but we are hoping to at least keep her comfortable.
> 
> Thank you for all your suggestions and support! This really is a wonderful community I stumbled upon.


im sorry to hear she is so unwell , i really feel for you , the day i decided to give sugar her wings was the hardest thing i have ever had to do .


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## jimikat

Thank you for all your support. Between the growth, enlargened spleen, liver issues and a failing heart, Sisi made it clear to us today that it was time to let her go. She will be sorely missed. We are very thankful to have our two other sweeties to comfort us, and that she didn't start to suffer until the very very end.


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## KayC

I am so sorry (((((HUGS))))) to you, she will run free at the bridge now free of any discomfort..


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## LDMomma

I am so sorry for your loss.


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## Terri

Oh i am so sorry.
R.I.P little sweetie. xx


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## sugarbaby

so hard to make the decision to give them their wings  , my heart goes out to you and your family .
 rip little sisi


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## QUIGLEY'S MOM

Our thoughts and prayers are with you! Quigley send his puppy pats (((hugs)))


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## Cissy1212

jimikat said:


> Thank you so much everyone for your suggestions! We finally asked the vet just about the distended abdomen (rather than putting it in a laundry list of her other problems), so he finally focused on that.
> 
> Sugar baby, when my mom was reading these comments, she keyed in on yours, and I found out our SiSi does, indeed, have a heart murmur problem.
> 
> We found out today at the vet that SiSi has some liver problems, but she also has a growth in her abdomen, which is causing the problem. It doesn't look good, but we are hoping to at least keep her comfortable.
> 
> Thank you for all your suggestions and support! This really is a wonderful community I stumbled upon.





jimikat said:


> Thank you so much everyone for your suggestions! We finally asked the vet just about the distended abdomen (rather than putting it in a laundry list of her other problems), so he finally focused on that.
> 
> Sugar baby, when my mom was reading these comments, she keyed in on yours, and I found out our SiSi does, indeed, have a heart murmur problem.
> 
> We found out today at the vet that SiSi has some liver problems, but she also has a growth in her abdomen, which is causing the problem. It doesn't look good, but we are hoping to at least keep her comfortable.
> 
> Thank you for all your suggestions and support! This really is a wonderful community I stumbled upon.


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