Right Vet - Serious Condition?

[Tofugrammie]

I am getting old and set in my ways I guess.  I have alot of pets who by my definition are well taken care of.  My proverbial question is, "How much care is enough and where do we draw the line"?  Anyhow; I ended up with a puppy, unplanned, that we love dearly.  I knew that she had what I thought was a cyst. She saw the vet at about seven weeks old give or take a day.  The vet, who I dearly love and trust with my cats in spite of her natural tendency to be a "panic queen" really finally kind of turned me off.  Anyhow; she literally all but "freaked out" when she realized the puppy had a diaphragmatic hernia and painted a worst case scenario of doom and gloom.  To date, now four months later, the puppy still has no symptoms at all. If anything, things are tightened up.  She is totally active and doing fine.  Never any issues at all except being spoiled.  Per this vet, the puppy is destined to die at any time because of the condition and there is no vet in our town who can fix this. She would have to go to a big university hospital where I would have to pay thousands of dollars to get her repaired. Said vet was unwilling even to give her routine vaccinations.  So; here we sit.  She is a housedog of course.  I am in the process of deciding how much will be involved in getting this repaired and how much it might cost and where I should get this fixed.  This has been on my mind every day of every week since hearing t his. Mind you she still has no symptoms.  At any rate, she needs routine care if this is not a fatal condition.  If it is fixable, how fixable is a diaphragmatic hernia and how costly and where?  Hoping I make some sense....

Again, there are so many animals in this world with no home...how far do we go to repair one?  This "petting zoo" is basically full...no room at the inn.  Doing the best I can for all of my babies...several rescues included.  But; how far do we go and what do I do for my granddaughter's "Twinkle Little Star" (or the puppy with problems).

Mel

[peekawho]

I'd be sure first that's what she has, for sure.  Many of these things wind up to not be what a local vet thinks they are.  

[April2]

If I were you, I'd find another vet. I don't think I'd want one that was going to "freak out" over things they find.
It looks like Ghilly's given you some hope, too. If this can be fixed while they have her under for spaying anyway, it shouldn't be a huge cost. She is at an age where she can safely be spayed now too.
Good luck!

[Ghilly]

The risks of a diaphragmatic hernia depend on the size of the hernia.  If it's large, chances are internal organs will eventually find their way through the hole and become strangulated, leading to emergency surgery to save the pet's life.  If it's small, the pet can go its entire life and live a normal number of years and never have a problem with it.

I don't know why it would cost thousands of dollars to repair, however.  Umbilical hernias are extremely common and are easily repaired, usually when the pet is anesthetized for neutering or spaying.  While diaphragmatic hernias are in a different location, and it's a bit more difficult to reach because the stomach and liver block easy access to the diaphragm, it still should not cost "thousands".  Find a veterinary college and see what they would charge to repair it.  It should be considerably less than a normal veterinary hospital.   Also, if you can prove that repairing this hernia would be financially difficult for you, some hospitals have a fund that the vet is allowed to use as he or she sees fit for pro bono treatments and surgeries, and it may be possible for them to do it for free.  

As far as how far do you go to treat it, you took this puppy in even though you were basically "full", so it's up to you to either have the hernia repaired or pass the puppy along to a rescue group who will have it repaired and then find her a good home.  I know you said that the puppy was unplanned, but the fact is you did agree to take her in, so now she deserves no less than what she needs.  Please keep us posted as to her progress AND yours as you look for someone to perform her surgery.

Ghilly