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Bowel obstruction


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OMG this little puppy has been hard work. We have been at the vet at least once a week since he came to live with us 8 weeks ago and right now Kane is at the vet...

im posting because I’m so anxious and I needed other doggy people to support me.

last night our young boy while unsupervised for around 15 minutes, ripped apart a corner of his big sisters bed, nothing too much and I really didn’t realise he may have swallowed some but thinking back, this dog likes to eat rocks and sticks and why wouldn’t he have eaten some foam?

about an hour later he vomited and there was a decent sized piece of foam in his vomit, he quickly vomited twice more and both had some foam and dinner in there.

then he went to the toilet, annoyed his big sister and curled up to sleep. He sleeps in our room and slept comfortably all night.

this morning he was just a bit quiet, ate his breakfast, drank water, poo’d and passed urine and went back to sleep, not too unusual but he didn’t jump up when big sister walked past and was just lazier than usual.

i called the vet who asked me to bring him in to be checked. Vet said he thought he was just a bit inflamed in his bowel and gave me some tablets for him and said if anything changes contact him.

we no sooner got home than Kane ran over to the lawn and started straining to poo, nothing came out, he then vomited all his breakfast up

back at the vet they gave him “markers” to show up in an xray since foam won’t show up and we are just waiting for enough time to have passed to xray and see if those markers have moved anywhere down his diges....

 

Since typing the above the vet called. He has a blockage and needs surgery right now.... between $2500 and $3500 is what they expect it to cost. I’m in shock.

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23 hours ago, Snook said:

I'm so incredibly sorry. My senior boy had bone shards lodged in his intestines in January and it was the worst week of both of our lives. I thought he was going to die a few times. Thankfully we avoided surgery but I understand the distress you must be feeling right now. Your poor little pup and poor you. It sounds like you've both been through an incredibly stressful couple of months. I'm so sorry that he's going to need surgery to have the foam removed. That's a hell of a shock, both emotionally and financially. :(

Thanks for the support!

He is out of surgery, it went well, blockage removed and bowel remained healthy. Poor little guy has a rough couple of weeks ahead and my bank account hurts but I’m so happy he’s ok. 
turns out the blockage was not foam but rocks!! He likes eating them! I have sprayed bittering agent on them but it clearly tasted ok. He is barely out of my site but now he can’t be at all! 
thinking a basket muzzle or something when he wants to go outside in future? 
certainly open to suggestions on how to protect him?

 

edited because I just realised I had typed buttering agent instead of bittering agent and thought that seemed a bit silly.

Edited by NikkiandKane
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Thanks Snook,

Im not so patiently waiting for another call from the vet to update me, Apple Watch thinks I’m exercising my pulse is so high!

plenty of time to think about what to do. He eats sticks too and we are surrounded by big trees, so that is going to be near impossible to avoid. I think he is going to be inside only and I am very glad he is crate trained already!

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I'd be putting a muzzle on him. As a greyhound owner I hear/read all the time about greyhounds muzzled for long periods of time. Personally mine current lot don't need to be but my very first grey was a bugger from destroying paper things occasionally when left inside the house alone. So he had his muzzle on when I went out. He much preferred to be muzzled and left inside then unmuzzled and kicked outside! If you choose your muzzle carefully dogs can pant and drink with them on. You would still have to puppy proof things though but as he grows it gives him time to be a dog doing doggy things outside without risking his life everytime.

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9 hours ago, Papillon Kisses said:

Do you have chew toys for the little man? He may enjoy eating his meal out of a Kong for example. Try to redirect him to his chew toys if he’s chewing on rocks, sticks or other objects.

Hi yes he has lots of chew toys of. Different textures and types and he enjoys chewing them. The thing with the rocks is, he doesn’t chew them, just gulps them down. It’s very strange.

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9 hours ago, Rebanne said:

I'd be putting a muzzle on him. As a greyhound owner I hear/read all the time about greyhounds muzzled for long periods of time. Personally mine current lot don't need to be but my very first grey was a bugger from destroying paper things occasionally when left inside the house alone. So he had his muzzle on when I went out. He much preferred to be muzzled and left inside then unmuzzled and kicked outside! If you choose your muzzle carefully dogs can pant and drink with them on. You would still have to puppy proof things though but as he grows it gives him time to be a dog doing doggy things outside without risking his life everytime.

Yes, the vet suggested a basket muzzle may be the best way to protect him. 
he is home now and very sore and sorry, such a shame he can’t understand what caused this situation and learn from it. 
we will try to clear away as many sticks and rocks out of the yard as possible but with trees around us it’s near impossible to maintain , so I think a muzzle will be in his future. 
his immediate future is puréed food, antibiotics and pain pills and lots of love. 
no baths for 10 days might be a problem. Poor little fella

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I missed this earlier :( What a journey this is proving to be :(  Hopefully  he will feel MUCH better over the coming days . having also had a dog go thru this surgery I can empathise ..and yes, muzzled when out on walks, and when not in my sight  for quite a long time afterwards as well ! The muzzle just became a part of life .... like ..walk time ..put on yr muzzle ..off we go :)
Sending thoughts to little kane ....

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3 hours ago, persephone said:

I missed this earlier :( What a journey this is proving to be :(  Hopefully  he will feel MUCH better over the coming days . having also had a dog go thru this surgery I can empathise ..and yes, muzzled when out on walks, and when not in my sight  for quite a long time afterwards as well ! The muzzle just became a part of life .... like ..walk time ..put on yr muzzle ..off we go :)
Sending thoughts to little kane ....

Oh it’s definitely an adventure! I’m one tired dog mum today. He is eating many small serves of puréed Spd roll so at least his diet could remain unchanged!

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So glad this was picked up early and able to be dealt with before any major damage .. except to your bank account.   As I was reading I was thinking how good it was that you had already taken him .. and that the markers were in his system to make diagnosis much more rapid.

A big xpen or portable dog run might be a solution for unsupervised outside time.  I hear you about the sticks from the big trees .. some of those sticks/branches end up inside my house too .. oh joy.   And the muzzle training sounds like a good plan.

My BC boy .. now 11 .. did go through a period of interest in rocks at about 12 weeks.  I can remember it was a real problem when we visited my cousin's house at Christmas time .. she had a big pebble and small rock collection rom their travels round the country.   Rory found them irresistibly fascinating, so I spent quite a bit of the visit outside supervising him .l the rock collection was up on the outdoor table by then .. but he could still get to it.    He seemed to grow out of it .. but maybe that was because he didn't come across another collection like that.

Very best wishes to you and your little man.

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Also for anyone following along, total cost was $2788 + the earlier vet appointment with the tablets just over $100. This was during normal office hours and I’m told that had he needed to go to after hours vet it would have been much more. 
we live on the Gold Coast and our lovely vet stayed back quite late to monitor Kane after his surgery to avoid his being transferred to after hours vet.

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Update for today, Kane his had his first bowel motion this morning after his breakfast soup and it was solid. He’s a happy little fellow today and not too happy to go straight back into the crate. He didn’t protest but he’s looking at me like I’ve gone mad. 
he had Metacam with breakfast though and will no doubt go back to sleep soon. I’m very happy with his progress.

As far as the vet costs go, we aren’t rich but we did have money put aside for a rainy day and I am so grateful that we had the money when we needed it, there was a time, when we were younger, that we simply wouldn’t have been able to afford it and I am so glad he lives with us and not someone who couldn’t have saved his sweet little life.

to quote hubby though “he better turn out to be a bloody good dog “

my only concern now is that he is going to be such a poorly socialised Amstaff. Because of his skin issues his vaccinations were delayed, we literally only took him on his first ever walk in public the day before the surgery.

other that the only socialisation he gets is with our other 2 dogs, the occasional visitor or postman, and when we go to the vet!

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one thing you could do is pop Kane in the car and take him to a supermarket/Bunnings/up the street/nearest skate park and open the door and let him watch the world go by. I've done that with all my pups, easy if you have a hatch type car of course. And I have always found that if a pup has a basic good nature then they are usually pretty good as adults.  It also depends on your goals. Mine were always raised to ignore other dogs but if they did get to interact then they were able to do so correctly. People were harder to ignore and still are!

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23 minutes ago, Snook said:

How is Kane doing now? 

Really well thanks. He is getting bit tired of crate life and we are about to head to the vet for a follow up in a few minutes. He is doing all the things he should be and I expect them to say he is going well, its just to check his temp etc.

Ill update you when I get home :)

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We just got home and the vet was happy with Kanes progress. Kane had his dressing changed, which fell off right away and so a second one applied, doesnt look like it will stay on either but apparently its no big deal and it is only there to deter him from licking the wound. He hasnt bothered with the wound yet, so fingers crossed. He has to remain on pureed food for 4 more days and then he can transition back to solid food. All in all a good outcome so far.

I am petrified of him picking something up of the ground and eating it, so I think I will have to invest in a muzzle sooner rather than later. 

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10 minutes ago, Snook said:

Perhaps you could use the time while he's recuperating to start slowly muzzle training him, so that he's used to it and happy to wear it by the time he's able to me more active? 

Yes! Now is the perfect time :)

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Yes, I plan to get one and pop it on him for the short times he is taken out to the toilet. I tried to get one yesterday but couldnt find an appropriate size and its hard to go anywhere right now because he cant be left unattended. 

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30 minutes ago, Snook said:

Before you start using a muzzle, check out this video by Emily Larlham on how to condition your dog to wearing one. 

 

 

Thank you, that was super useful. I hadnt really thought beyond just putting the muzzle on for short periods at a time. I did learn that the baskerville muzzle which I was considering due to comfort is not a good choice, she shows the dog picking up treats off the ground with it on :eek: which is clearly not my goal here. Kane does thinks rocks are excellent treats!

Also I cant give treats at all right now, he is on puree diet. That might be one for after friday when I could use small pieces of SPD for treats. Off to do more research on an appropriate muzzle type.

Thanks Again for all of your support. I am finding the DOL community very nice to be part of!

Edited by NikkiandKane
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