Pug Suffers from Lung Lobe Torsion

Background

When Tina, a 1 year old Pug, was lethargic with shallow breathing one morning, her pet parent, Heather S. of Wilmington, DE, knew something was wrong and rushed her to the vet. Tina would be diagnosed with lung lobe torsion - a condition where the lobe of the lung twists restricting blood flow.

Heather shares the full story here:

"It all started on a Monday morning (of course) when I went to open Tina's crate to wake her up. She was extremely lethargic and she is never that way in the morning!! I noticed her breathing was pretty shallow too, so I got her to the vet ASAP. They did an x-ray and could tell something was wrong with the upper left lobe of her lung but they weren't sure what was wrong or why. They put her on antibiotics with a nebulizer treatment. That helped and she stabilized, however, the vets were still concerned about that left upper lobe because it wasn't getting better. They weren't sure if she had pneumonia or had aspirated something while eating. It was SO hard to still not have a definitive answer as to what was wrong with her. I told myself to be patient because it had only been a day and half since it all began. I knew the vets were working hard to determine what was wrong.

They wanted me to have a sonogram done by a specialist to see what they could tell from that. The vet was afraid Tina had lung lobe torsion but they weren't 100% sure. By now it was Wednesday morning and by Wednesday afternoon the specialist had confirmed that yes, she did have lung lobe torsion.

They wanted to operate quickly. Tina went into surgery around 2:30 that day. She did well in surgery and also in recovery. Lung lobe torsion is a completely random occurrence. The procedure requires the vet to make an (approximate) 6 inch vertical incision on the left side. The vet then must staple off the bad lobe so that the toxins that may have accumulated in that affected lobe do not leak into the body. Once stapled off, the lobe is removed.

She stayed at the specialty hospital in ICU recovery until Friday afternoon. The good news is that the lobe is gone and she will function fine without it. That was probably the longest week of my life. Her scar can still be seen under her armpit and serves as a daily reminder that we should never take anything or anyone for granted. Every time I see her scar, I give her so many extra hugs and kisses.

I am truly grateful that I had pet insurance for her and more importantly that it was through Embrace. I never imagined needing to use it so soon. I purchased it on December 26, 2012 and this all began on January 21, 2013. The employees at Embrace Pet Insurance have been amazing and have exceeded even my best expectations. This one single week of illness cost almost $7,000.

Tina has made a full recovery and is back to her wild and crazy self. Please don't wait or hesitate to buy insurance for your pet. You seriously NEVER know what will happen from one day to the next. Thanks to Embrace, I have peace of mind and Tina will continue to bask herself in toys and treats since I am not bogged down with medical bills."