Weird mass in my Dogs Belly?
(I circled on the photo where I feel the mass).
Our dog Dinah is a 10-11yr old chihuahua mix. She was on the streets before my partner adopted her 7 years ago, and estimated to have had 3 litters. She has a big flap of skin under her belly because of that.
We noticed she wasn’t pooping a lot the past few days, and then noticed that where that flap of skin is under her belly turned red/purple and had a weird mass in it.
Because she wasn’t pooping I figured it was just backup and caused a bunch of bloating.
When Dinah woke up that morning when we noticed the mass, she was very lethargic and wasn’t enthusiastic about eating. So we ended up getting her some stool softeners to see if that is what was causing the issue. She ate normal, hasn’t vomited, but still wasn’t pooping.
The next morning we took her to the MedVet near us because she hadn’t pooped and her belly still looked red and swollen. They ended up doing some quick tests on her. One of her liver levels is high (that’s been that way before) and she does have a heart murmur (which she has had basically her whole life).
They then told me that she ended up yelping in pain when she pooped in her dog carrier while she was with the doctor still. They said she could have a herniated disc in her back that is causing her pain when she tries to poop.
They ended up sending us off with anti inflammatory and pain meds.
It’s been 24 hours since we first started her meds. Her stomach is still bloated but with the help of the meds and her stool softener, she is pooping again. However, she still has a mass in that part of her belly (which there has never been any mass in that stretched skin part of her belly). And she looks bloated, which we have seen before.
She’s eating normally, a little bit slower than usual.
She did end up peeing in the bed this morning, before we usually take her out. And she usually has control over her bladder.
My question is why didn’t the doctors look into the mass in her belly? What could it be? They said they didn’t see any fluid build up which would mean heart failure, and they didn’t see any signs of blockage in her intestines.
The mass feels firm. So I don’t know if it’s just more backed up poop? Anyone know what this could be?