The
last few days I have found myself in a mood-ditch, hunkered down in a blanket, listening
to music on headphones, dogs on my lap, me thinking:
winter-is-interminable-go-away-grumble-cough.
Then:
Then
a 7 week old, 8 pound, pit puppy came in yesterday to the clinic, very sick,
but still managing a brief tail wag. He wasn’t eating, he wasn’t pooping. His
brother threw up a rope toy. Yikes. And yes, likely foreign body. The owner
started to weep—the surgery cost was beyond what she could afford—she had the 7 other
puppies at home and a furnace that died the day before.
All of us were devastated at the thought of euthanasia.
Then after a brief moment my wonderful boss offered to have her sign the dog over to the clinic and do the tricky surgery. He was very depressed—it was a big risk to go ahead with an abdominal explore. The owner signed him over and the little dude went to surgery at 3 pm. By 5 pm he was done: 16 inches of rope toy! Five incisions: one to the stomach, four to the small intestines to safely remove the rope. The intestines were curled back and forth on themselves like a birthday ribbon, and in more than one area, his intestines were telescoped over themselves, called intussusception. All of this would have been fatal, probably that day or night.
Then after a brief moment my wonderful boss offered to have her sign the dog over to the clinic and do the tricky surgery. He was very depressed—it was a big risk to go ahead with an abdominal explore. The owner signed him over and the little dude went to surgery at 3 pm. By 5 pm he was done: 16 inches of rope toy! Five incisions: one to the stomach, four to the small intestines to safely remove the rope. The intestines were curled back and forth on themselves like a birthday ribbon, and in more than one area, his intestines were telescoped over themselves, called intussusception. All of this would have been fatal, probably that day or night.
It
will be touch and go for the next few days, to see if his gut recovers. Pain
meds, IV fluids, antibiotics.
I
don’t have a picture of him, but imagine black and white, chubby square face.
Sweet.
May
he do well. And he will need a permanent home—let me know…
 |
| Let's hope not! (this is George in summer gear) |
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