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Can my EBT suffer from PTSD after surgery?????

My 1yr old EBT just recently had a major surgery on his stomach. He ate a dish towel and it had to be surgically removed along with 14 inches of his intestine. We are just over a week post-op and he is doing well other than his behavior has changed some. Due to his strict diet and needed to be fed every hour I have been taking him to work with me every day. He has been barking at quite a bit of the male employees here but has not barked at any of the female employees. He has been mighty jumpy at any loud noise or if someone walks into my office it startles him. Today he nipped one of my male coworkers in the finger and it drew blood. Twitch(my EBT) has always been a little jumpy at loud noises ever since he was a baby but it seems to have gotten worse since the surgery. So what led up to the bite is this...It was thundering and it echoes inside my office very loud. There was also a bunch of noise coming from the warehouse just outside my office. I could tell Twitch was scared. About 3 seconds after all the noise quit my coworker bursted into my office to ask me a question and that startled Twitch. Twitch started barking and approached him and my coworker lowered his hand by his side and that is when Twitch nipped his finger. When Twitch calmed down about a minute after the incident I let Twitch see the coworker that he bit. Twitch seemed to apologize to him. Is this normal??? Could he be suffering from anxiety after all the surgery. I mean it was an emergency surgery that had him in the clinic for three days away from his family. The day after he gets out I bring him to my office so that I can care for him. So he just went thru a horrible experience and now he has been brought to a strange place with strange people. We have had new people come to our house before and he never acted this way. I am so scared that he may lash out again at someone. I could tell that he was already frightened by the loud noise and he seems weird around some of the guys. I keep him in my office away from everyone until someone walks into my office. Has anyone every dealt with this???? ANy help is appreciated.

Comments

  • choobachooba Michigan / Missouri
    edited February 2017
    Just a week out of major surgery, having a substantial amount of his bowels removed.
    And this behavior is surprising to you ?
    How comfortable would you be.
    Now throw you in an elephant exhibit and see if u don't get jumpy.

    He's probably still in pain and ultra sensitive to anything that in his mind could pose as a threat. therefore he's going to stay guarded until he heals completely.

    If twitch has always been Twitchy ..
    Now the pain, discomfort, altered diet, new surroundings, new noises, new people....
    .... that's only going to exacerbate the problem

    I want to say more, but I won't. I'm trying to stay positive this week and I don't want the ban hammer.  

  • I had a dog receive a similar surgery and it's a rough one

    Give him time to recover physically and emotionally and keep him clam

  • philsergeantphilsergeant Palm City, Florida, USA
    Unfortunately. The last place he needs to be is in a loud bustling work environment... Find him somewhere peaceful to recover before the behaviour becomes permanenet
    In the beginning God created English Bull Terriers, in the image of EBT's, God created all other breeds.
  • Chooba... Nowhere in my post did it say I was surprised by his behavior. He has every right to be acting different.Especially after what he has been through. My question was has anyone ever dealt with a similar situation and I was asking advice on how to handle it. There was no need to be rude or make the comments that you made. If you can't give advice on this topic and all you want to be is judgmental then don't say anything. 
    JParanee...We are doing the best as far as his recovery goes. I know this is going to take time. This is probably the roughest situation I have been in with one of my fur babies. 
    Philsergeant... Twitch and I have moved to a different location in my office building that is much quieter and he seems to be doing better. 
  • philsergeantphilsergeant Palm City, Florida, USA
    Terrific news!!!
    In the beginning God created English Bull Terriers, in the image of EBT's, God created all other breeds.
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