An important post about our 4 year old Pug Bear. Beginning about last Wednesday and each morning afterwards Bear would throw up a small amount of foamy white vomit with no food. Afterwards he was fine and went thru the day uneventfully eating and drinking normally and holding everything down. Regardless, we were concerned so Saturday night we fed Bear a small amount of food to see if he was vomiting each morning because his tummy was empty. This is a common problem in dogs. Sunday he woke up and vomited a larger quantity of vomit, but still white and foamy. This time he continued to vomit. We decided to take him to the vet the next day, Monday. Later that Sunday he became obviously uncomfortable so we elected to take him to an emergency care vet. Hope Advanced Veterinary Center, It’s a top rated emergency vet with modern facilities. We were concerned about the possibility of a bowel obstruction. If so no time should be wasted. We arrived and were seen shortly thereafter. The asked to do an x-ray and we agreed. They wanted to do bloodwork and we did not agree as that wouldn’t prove an emergency situation, but an x-ray would. Soon we got the results of the x-ray. Negative. No evidence of an obstruction or any other emergent condition. It was decided we would take Bear home and take him to his regular vet the next day (Monday). Monday morning Bear was feeling marginally better and we were seen by Bear’s regular Vet, Germantown Veterinary Clinic. Another top rated Veterinary facility with modern equipment and people who are knowledgeable and care. After an exam and a review of Sunday’s records from the visit to the emergency vet it was decided Bear may just have an upset tummy. Sunday’s x-rays indicated no problem, Monday Bear was not in obvious distress, and was drinking water but not eating. The plan was to reintroduce food Monday evening or no later than Tuesday morning. Monday evening Bear had no desire to eat and Tuesday morning was much the same. It was decided we would return to Germantown Veterinary Clinic for reevaluation. The bloodwork was drawn. Checking for most everything including pancreatitis. All results were within normal limits. Despite Bear not eating since Sunday and really not drinking either he didn’t show it in his bloodwork. A sonogram was approved and once again results inconclusive to a diagnosis. The x-ray was redone. The x-ray indicated an obvious blockage in his small intestine. The x-ray Sunday at Hope did not show this blockage and it was thru no fault of anyone. Now we had a direction, and surgery was performed Tuesday mid-day to remove the blockage. It was some sort of animal toy. Unidentifiable to us Bear is an otherwise healthy 4 year old Pug and there were no surgical or recovery issues. During the operation it was discovered the object was lodged in Bears small intestine just past the Spleen and Pancreas. It had left the stomach and passed by the spleen and pancreas (fortunately because artifacts lodged here are generally fatal) and lodged a few inches beyond in the beginning of the descending portion of the small intestine (the least important section of small intestine). It created a tiny abrasion here sealed with mucus from the outside of the intestine and then was somehow dislodged and travelled a few more inches and lodged in its final location. Unfortunately as a result, about 6” of Bears intestine had to be resected due to the damage and death of some tissue. The Veterinarian feels she did a good resection of tissue that seemed viable. But we won’t know for sure for a few days. The threat of infection is real and we won’t know the course that will take either for about 5-7 days. The Veterinarian feels optimistic but cautious. It wouldn’t take much for this to turn fatal for Bear. So, Bear has had his surgery, we visited with Bear this morning, he recognized us and was happy we were there and for that we are pleased. We will go back later today to try to get Bear to eat. He did take a small bite of food today but not much at all. If things go well its possible but unlikely he would go home tomorrow, more likely if things continue a positive path he would go home on Friday. We expect the bill for the surgery and associated tests and visits to total at least $ 3,000.00. We do not know if Bear will recover or if this will prove fatal. The bill must be paid either way. The outcome is an unknown and will be continue to be an unknown until Bear is out of the woods in about 5-7 days. We do have a piece of mind in that when Bear was born we bought pet insurance. We have a $1,000.00 deductible and the insurance pays 90% of approved costs. We understand approved costs are all but exam fees. So in the end, if this holds true the $3000.00 expense will costs us about $ 1,300.00. Not bad, but let’s hope that gives us Bear in a healthy state. We urge everybody not to take vomiting in a dog lightly. While it’s not uncommon, intestinal blockages are common and fatal if not surgically repaired in time. Bear is a tough case. The first x-ray clearly didn’t show the blockage and the second one clearly did. Had this been discovered earlier it might have been discovered in an inoperable location, which it was at one point. At that point it would have been considered fatal. We were apparently barely timely even though we pushed this along to a solution and no Vet made bad decisions. We recommend these Veterinarians as top notch skilled professionals and will continue to visit them as needed for our other family members, Pug, cats, Terriers, Pom etc. Regardless of the outcome with Bear. The risks (either one of these can easily become fatal) for the next 5-7 days are: 1) The intestinal resection doesn’t hold due to poor circulation of the damaged portion. 2) Infection as a result of intestinal contents leaking into the peritoneal cavity. Proactive parents, excellent Veterinary Physicians and modern facilities, and good pet insurance are a great combination. I just hope it’s enough for Bear. Please see the photos, you may find them interesting. We did.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Nov 2014 19:01:58 +0000
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