She Bloated Last Night

[seeh2o]

I'm out of town with both my dogs at my s/o's. He's out of town, will be in on Mon. Yesterday morning, while I was trying to sleep in, Carl pulled some bags hanging from the door of the shed, Carl knows that's where Ed keeps his dog's food. He pulled the door open (it is blocked by a cement brick just for Carl - he's broken in before). The food is usually kept in a plastic dog food container which snaps shut, but as luck would have it there was a brand new bag of dog food sitting on top to be put into it. Carl tore open a corner. I discovered this when I came downstairs. The tear looked small and there was only a tiny amount of kibble around the opening, so I didn't think too much damage had been done. I didn't think that Sheila had been a participant in the feast.

 

I fed the dogs as usual in the morning. Then again for their second feeding around 7. At 8 I ran to the market to pick up some human food for the rest of the weekend, I'm here until Tues. When I got back I noticed that Sheila looked a little round, but she does get round when she eats. I assumed she had got into another dog's food (there are 5 dogs here) when I wasn't looking. One of them is very very old and doesn't eat as often as we would like. I do keep an eye on them when they eat because they are all chow hounds, but I thought maybe she got into it when I was loading the dishwasher. Then I remembered Carl's big adventure in the morning and thought maybe I was wrong, maybe she HAD gotten into the food earlier in the day. She is VERY furry and people have always thought she was fat, but she has a thick coat.

 

About 11 I noticed that she was trying to throw up, so I took her outside and watched her. She seemed better and we came in. It happened again and I noticed that her belly was getting visibly HUGE, I felt it and it was tight. I remembered reading about bloat here on GT, so I ran upstairs and did a quick search of the internet for signs & symptoms. She had most of the classic ones. Then I had to search the internet for a 24 hour animal hospital. I know where they are at home, but I'm in Las Vegas and though I am familiar with the city, didn't know where to go. I found a number, they directed me to one that, ironically, I'd driven by earlier in the evening.

 

I called them and told her symptoms, they told me to bring her in. Sheila is 13, blind and willful, so she doesn't move quickly even on a good day. Getting her into the car without hurting her was a huge accomplishment. I had to put her front paws on the back seat and then reach around her back legs to put her in. I could feel how much bigger she had become since I'd noticed her distress a 1/2 hour earlier.

 

They took her in the back immediately, the vet came out and gave me worse case scenario. I had already assumed that I would probably lose her to this because I didn't think she could handle being under or, if she did, the recuperation from surgery would be too much for her at her age.

 

The vet came back with xrays, she had better news than what was originally thought. Sheila's stomach had not twisted, but it was FULL of food. She thought her chances of survival were now a whole lot better, she said that dogs with "food bloat" typically do better because their stomachs are too heavy to twist. They told me they would have a better idea how she would be in about 2 hours.

 

I called them an hour and a half later, I couldn't wait 2 hours. They put her in IV Diazepam, then put a tube down her throat to release the gas. Gas was released, hasn't come back, but she hasn't pooped much. When the tube got to the food it was all moist and like paste, which the vet said was good. She has had the tube hit dry food in the middle of the stomach before, she said that is harder to deal with. She is quiet, but still panting. They told me they gave her an injection to "help push it through" so she can poop. I just called them, but the vet was with another patient, she's to give me a call back when she has a moment. They plan to do more xrays around 1.

 

Please hold good thoughts for my sweet girl.

 

Sorry if this reads in a disjointed way, I haven't had much sleep.

[Laur]

fingers crossed all goes well !

[Jackandgrey]

Everything crossed and waiting with you.

[Guest Tenderhearts]

I am so sorry this happened! Prayers going out for your sweet girl! :hope :hope

[Guest SoulsMom]

Oh my goodness, how scary! Holding Sheila in my thoughts . . .

[Guest MnMDogs]

The same thing happened to Matty 5 years ago... she came home good as new, and we've never had a repeat incident. I hope the same for Sheila.

[Guest GreytMuse]

Many positive thoughts sent your way.

[Fiona3]

More good thoughts for Sheila from our house - the news sounds promising from the vet. Fingers crossed that she'll be fine! :goodluck

[seeh2o]

I just got off the phone with the vet, she said there hasn't been any change yet since I talked to them at 8am. She said that in older dogs things tend to move slower, so I don't think they are surprised that she hasn't pooped much yet. She said that the good thing is that her stomach is not getting bigger again like it had been. She thought things were going well, but she said she wouldn't say she is out of the woods yet. They are still planning to do another set of xrays at 1. They hope to see the food moving through her, if it hasn't then we have another problem.

 

My poor silly girl.

Edited January 18, 2009 by ckruzan

[CaliforniaGreys]

Prayers for Shelia and that she'll be able to come tonight vs tomorrow morning.

[Houndtime]

Very scary. That happened once with our beagle, years ago. Good thoughts coming your way from New Jersey.

[Batmom]

Egad.

 

Sounds like she is in good hands.

 

Sending prayers that poop begins happening soon.

[carronstar]

Sending lots of prayers and good thoughts for your girl.

[BertnLil]

Sending lots of good thoughts for you and Sheila.

[Burpdog]

Sending prayers!

[silverfish]

Oh, how scary!

 

I'm glad you managed to get her to a good place very quickly, and that they think she will pull through OK. Sending more good thoughts and prayers for her!

 

Poor silly old gal. Good luck!

[Guest LoveMyJoseyBean]

Oh jeez...good thoughts for you and your girl!

[Remolacha]

it sounds like she is getting the best possible care

[queenwinniesmom]

Oh my gosh! That is scary, and it's clear that you are worried about your girl. Sending prayers that "it comes out well in the end", and the next update is a good one.

[Fudge]

Come on Sheila you can poop!

[Guest argolola]

I have her on my prayer list. Please keep us posted on how she's doing.

[Guest redreed]

Only on a greyhound forum, well, here goes,

 

for pooping

[seeh2o]

I'll call them in an hour, they should be doing or processing the new xrays right now. I'm going to ask about visiting her, but I haven't yet because I don't want it to upset her, I want her to focus on "the business" at hand.

 

Who thought I'd ever be praying for poop? And a lot of poop, at that.

 

Thanks so much to you guys for your prayers and good thoughts. It helps all three of us.

 

Carl knows something is wrong, he is following me around and looks very worried. He has also been "busy" after his adventure yesterday. With as much of his poo that I've cleaned up today I'm lucky I don't have two of them in the ER right now. He is getting very very light meals today, he probably ate enough for at least two days, since that is what I've cleaned up since last night.

Edited January 18, 2009 by ckruzan

[Guest DebR]

prayers for your girl

[CaliforniaGreys]

Carl misses her Connie!! And see, when we think they have no interaction at home, when one is missing we see it.

Wayne is praying very hard for his buddy's sis