Intestinal blockage?

[katew888]

My dog has vomited his food within half an hour of eating it 4 out of 5 times I tried feeding him today...This morning I thought it was just an irritation of all the medicine he has been taking for his recent epilepsy diagnosis until I noticed tiny little "fluffs" in his vomit from a toy that he and his friend played tug of war with at a playdate yesterday.  There were also "fluffs" in his poo this morning, however these "fluffs" are by no means large enough to cause an obstruction; the boy has eaten rocks and been fine, so these fine, 3 mm "fluffs" would be a strange culprit....He is very hungry and drinking water just fine, but he is a little lethargic (this could be because he hasn't kept his epilepsy medicine down today) and pacing more than usual.  He doesn't wince when I press all over his abdomen, though....thoughts?  

[ginger899]

That is a horrible thing that happened to your dog, Jaybay! And what a brilliant result. They often do pull through the worst of things.
Good luck for your doggy Kate. Big hugs

[Jaybay]

I'm sure everything will be OK.  Last year our dog Maggie had 2 major abdominal surgeries - both emergencies - in one day.  In the middle of the night she went out the dog door and was likely jumping at a possum on the fence.  She landed on a bamboo plant stake.  It went into her anus and ended lodged somewhere up in her shoulder blade area - over 10 inches.  She never made a sound and was in shock when we discovered the problem at 6:30 in the morning.  

The specialists gave us little hope that she would survive, but Maggie surprised everyone and was discharged five days later.  The same stoicism that nearly cost her her life actually helped her while she was in ICU.  She was so calm that the staff never considered putting her in a cage and kept her on the "serious case" bed in the middle of ICU the whole time.   When we returned ten days later for staple removal (had to have been over 75 of them!) Maggie led the way straight down to the clinic area and had to say hello to everyone.  LOL!  Saving Maggie was worth every penny of the $7,000 it cost.

I think the reason endoscopy is so expensive is that it's somewhat new for animals.  The equipment is still very expensive and not every vet is trained in it's use.  It sounds simple, but accidents like punctures happen even in human patients.  I expect to see the pricing come down given time, but for now... it's just economics.

I'll keep you both in my prayers for an uneventful surgery and fast recovery.  :-)

[peekawho]

Kate, you have my prayers and thoughts for a good outcome!  I've had a dog with a blockage before, and its scary AND expensive!

Chances are great for a perfect outcome, so hang in there.  Let us know what happens!

[Misfits4Me]

Hi Kate....I'll be praying for you and Wentworth.  (Did I remember correctly?) Good luck and let us know the results......Karla

[katew888]

The endoscopy did not happen because the scope couldn't go far enough into the intestines to pull out the foreign object, so we have an exploratory abdominal surgery in the morning to remove the object that we KNOW is in the stomach (from xrays) and what MAY be in the lower intestines (vague in the xrays).  So, paws crossed that he wakes up perfectly fine; he should be fine through the night with all the meds given and because of the location of the foreign object in his tummy, but it definitely needs to be removed, as it is not passing on it's own.  While surgery is far more invasive, it's a total and thorough cure of the problem, and actually, will cost far less, which is odd to me.

[Jaybay]

I'm so glad you were able to get your dog to the vet in time to save him.  Good work on your part!  :-)

I'd be thinking along the lines of "no more toys unless supervised" by now.  "Hoover" dogs are so scary.  You just never know when or where they'll decide to chow down on something.  Thankfully, I've never owned a dog like that - yet.  No doubt my turn will come.  

[ginger899]

That doggy is lucky he's got people who really love him! It's good you acted fast after he wasn't keeping food down for so long. (What IS IT about bits of plastic, etc, that dogs find so tasty???) Well, hope he's much better soon, now the horrible plastic's gone!

[have 2 kids]

I'm glad he is doing better.

[katew888]

We went to the er last night bc he hadn't kept his food or  medicine down for 12 hours, so we got an IV of his meds, and we found a piece of plastic in his stomach...no clue how it got there since the toy is plush, but the boy is a true Hoover, so it could be from anywhere.  Off to the diagnostic clinic to have an endoscopy to pull it out and keep it from causing an obstruction.  Thank goodness for early detection.  Bad for the wallet though.  Ah well.

[ginger899]

Take a look at the toy. How much of it is missing? If you think a lot of it is missing, check this out with the vet. If it's only tiny bits, he'll probably pass these through ok. He might feel lethargic because he's vomited and not kept his food down. I always reckon dogs  vomit easily if they have eaten something they shouldn't, and once or twice isn't such a big deal. But if it's more than that I'd take him to the vet. The vet will probably give him something to help him pass all this stuff through easier, and might give him a shot for the epilepsy dose he didn't keep down? Hope he's better soon.