Affaire's Hot Tamale, "Malee"

Malee was only 3 when I lost her to a pneumothorax. I was working from home and went to make some thing to eat. She came inside and was standing against the panel on the side of the fridge. I thought that was odd. I took her temp, checked her color, palpated her abdomen and all seemed normal. I resumed making breakfast and she came and stood between me and the counter. Something was up. She was concerned, but I could not find anyhting wrong. I had a meeting coming up, so I put her in her crate and went to run the meeting. A half hour later, when I came back to check on her, she was in the crate drooling. I called the vet and told them she needed to be seen immediately and to let me know if I could come there or take her to the ER. They told me to come in. The vet is only 4 blocks from here so we got there very fast. By the time I got her out of the van, she was acting like she was trying to throw up. I told them she was probably in torsion and they took her into the clinic and said they would call. By the time I got home, just 4 blocks, they called and told me to get back there, she was dying. I got to the clinic just as she gasped her last breath. They had put her on the xray table and that was it. We took the films after she died and found that her chest was full of air. She had a pneumothorax and due to the extra space in her chest, her stomach did torsion, but she was not in bloat.

A cardiologist that was in the clinic later that day, reviewed the films and agreed it was a pnumothorax and they are often caused by lung bullae that burst. When they burst, they release air into the chest reducing the space for the lungs to expand. There are various causes for lung bullae, but I did not do a necropsy, so I don't know if this was what caused the problem or not.

I can't help but wonder if I had gone to the ER, if they would have recognized the condition and been able to triage her and save her. But the distance is further and she may not have even made it that far. I'll never know. My sweet silly girl only got to be here for 3 years, but she excelled at having fun and being happy.