This past week has been a very scary and difficult one. Last Saturday afternoon we went away overnight. As usual, our good friend Michelle came over to stay with the dogs. Venom was fine on Saturday and ate dinner as usual.
When we got home on Sunday we saw that Venom had refused his breakfast. Later that day, Rick discovered some vomit in his crate which had a plastic squeaker from a dog toy mixed into it. In hindsight, we realized that he had been more quiet than usual when we got home. We decided he probably had an upset tummy and decided just to watch him.
He refused dinner that evening and again on Monday morning. He also seemed lethargic. I began to worry as I had hoped that the toy upset his gut and he would feel better the next day. I called the vet and made an appointment for that afternoon in case he still wouldn't eat around lunchtime. About an hour later he was sitting on the couch and stood up and vomited a huge amount of liquid. I called the vet back and said I was very worried and he needed to come in. They were fully booked so we decided I would drop him off and they would work with him in between appointments.
When he got there he was dehydrated and they got him started on IV fluids. They took x-rays and did blood work. Everything appeared normal other than the dehydration. He still wasn't interested in food. We took him home that night with the IV catheter still in with the plan that we would bring him back in the morning.
The next morning he greeted me and seemed a little bit better, but he still didn't want to eat. I took him back to the vet and again they gave him fluids and took more x-rays and did more blood work. Everything still appeared to be normal. They could not see an obstruction on the films and his blood work looked okay, but still he wasn't interested in food and was acting lethargic. At that point we were thinking maybe it was a bug. He had diarrhea when I put him in the car at the vets. I took him home that night with instructions from the vet not too offer food and to bring him back in the morning.
The next morning he did not greet me and seemed very lethargic. He also had liquid diarrhea two times. I brought him back in to the vet. I phoned the vet to find out what he thought and he told me he had a radiologist there looking at the films and that the radiologist things there may be an obstruction. He asked if they could do an ultrasound and of course, I said yes. The ultrasound confirmed a foreign body and I was told he needed surgery.
My regular vet had a full schedule and they could do the surgery but not until later in the day. He thought Venom should go to a surgeon for the surgery. My vet hospital attempted to get an emergency surgeon to come to their hospital for the surgery, but they weren't available for that so we had to take him to the emergency hospital and specialty hospital in Dublin, about 1/2 hour away. It is interesting that this is the same hospital where Venom was born via c-section just 10 months before. I went and took Venom from our vet to the other hospital for the surgery. The surgeons there were VERY confident that this was an obstruction and that they could get it out. They felt he would be fine after the surgery and with proper recovery support but did warn us of the risks. Arrangements were made for Venom to have surgery there within the next 30 minutes of so. Then I went home and waited...
A couple of hours later I received a call from the surgeon that the surgery went great. They did not have to remove any of his intestines or bowels. They removed a piece of sponge/foam type fabric that had some string or threads on it. Clearly, it was piece of a toy. I was told I could pick him up as early as the next day if he was eating and doing okay. I was told I could call to check on him before bed. I called before going to bed and was told he was doing well and resting.
The next morning at 9am I called to see how he was doing. They said he was doing well, but wouldn't eat for them and that he couldn't come home until he was eating. They said I could come and see him and see if he would eat for me. At 11am I went to the hospital to see if I could get Venom to eat. He immediately started to eat for me. I was told I could come back in an hour and a half and he could be discharged.
I went and picked him up an hour and half later. He was very chipper and happy. The staff said he was very good with them and they seemed to really like him. I took him home with very specific instructions on how to care for him post surgery. He needs to eat a homemade bland diet (chicken, rice and cottage cheese) for two weeks. He must wear a soft cone so he can't lick his incision for two weeks. He may not jump, run, play or be active for two weeks, so he has to be confined to an exercise pen and is only allowed outside of the pen on leash. He is allowed to walk outside on leash to go potty. He has to have ice packs (we use bags of frozen peas) on his incision 3 to 4 times a day for two days. He has to have warm compresses on his incision 3 to 4 times a day for ten days. He has a time released Fentanyl patch on his food for pain which can come off 4 days later. He has sedatives to keep him calm and pain meds to use as needed for pain. I am to call them with any concerns at all.
The cost of the surgery was $3310. This does not include the charges for all of the hospitalization, fluids, x-rays, blood work, ultrasound or care at our own vet.
We are four days post surgery today and Venom is doing great! He is eating and wanting to be active. He feels a million times better and we are so happy with his progress. We will no longer offer our dogs stuff toys. We will use nylabones and super sturdy toys with supervision from now on. This was caused by Venom eating a toy, or parts of a toy. It was traumatic for us and very painful and scary for him. It was expensive and challenging to diagnose. We are grateful he is okay.
