Rocky's Surgery

BulliesofNC

Rocky got sick on Saturday and had the runs real bad. He refused to eat and it was obvious he was under the weather. I wasn’t too worried about him at the time because we often have one of our bullies get into something that causes an upset stomach. However, by Sunday he started to get red under his belly and still didn't not wanting to eat. I was able to give him some water but not much and due to his diarrhea I knew he’d be getting too dehydrated and would require some medical assistance. I took him to the vet and couldn’t find anything wrong with him. This morning his condition was a lot worse and I could see something was really wrong so I took him back to the vet so they could run every test possible. He was losing weight fast and kept his tail tucked between his leg with obvious signs of pain and discomfort. He had lost about 4-5 pounds and the diarrhea was really getting to him. He was 72 lbs when we brought him in sick and this morning he was already down to 69 lbs. This time they actually found something in the x-ray that appeared to be a metal object caught in his intestines. He required surgery and is currently recovering. The frustrating thing about it is that neither vet could find the object during surgery. They are saying they think the object is moving which is a good sign. God, I hope so. I hate having him over there and can’t help worrying about him. They plan on conducting another x-ray in the morning to pin point where the object is. I hope he gets through this and makes a full recovery. His condition has really scared us and we’re all worried about him. I hate seeing him so sick and I pray there won’t be any complications from the surgery he just had. I sure wish he was here by my side right now. It's going to be a long night waiting to here from the Vet in the morning.

 

Leslie

I'm so sorry to hear that your boy is sick, a foreign object lodged in the intestines will make them very very sick as you see, it has to go thru the large first then the small, sometimes when the xrays are taken the large intestines are hidding the object so it may take a few xrays to find the object as it will move around as he does, I have seen this many times when I was a vet assistant and their unable to pass anything therefore they don't eat so their health goes quite quickly:( gatorade will hydrate them and for a tip my breeders vet told them if you know they swallowed something feed them a loaf of bread it will bind to the object and the yeast will bloat around it and this helps them pass it:) FYI. Please keep me updated as I will be worried with you.

BulliesofNC

Thanks for your concern and info. It really is hard knowing he's so sick and I hate the fact that he's still sitting at the Vets office probably wondering what's going on now that he's come to after the operation. This is one of those times you can't feeling helpless and just hope things will look up tomorrow. I can't wait until the morning to hear from the Vet and hopefully get to pick him up and take him home!

Leslie

You may not get him back for a few days after the surgery as they will want to keep a close eye on his vitals, and rehydrate him with sub q fluids but just know he's where he needs to be right now getting the best care possible! Theirs nothing more you can do but pray and know he will be fine their strong dogs with a will to live. that helpless feeling is awful I do know where your at right know all I can say is positive thoughts and he will do the rest. keep me posted and I will say a prayer.

BulliesofNC

Thanks for the kind words Leslie. Our fingers are crossed and hope for the best. Rocky is a very strong Bullie but this really took a quick turn on him and had him whooped. This morning he didn't even look like himself. He could barely stand on the scale (as illustrated above) and he lost a lot of weight from not eating. He looks so sad. He's going to get spoiled to death when he gets back.

Leslie

I just gave my two a big hug and kiss!!! They just mean so much to us don't they! I put my pit to sleep 3 years ago and I miss her more everyday:( a foreign object really will take them out and pretty quickly sometimes, once they remove it he should bounce back..... no he WILL bounce back!! It's just a matter of time, luckily he's tough!! My female ate my sons mink pelt, and she was pretty ill but I caught it only a few hours after injestion and she's like a goat so I fed her a loaf of bread and she did pass it luckily as it was a pretty large peice of fur! I had my vet on speed dial for like 4 hours after feeding her the bread but it came out little by little and she was fine. I also remember a case at the clinic where a samoyed ate a door knob off the kitchen cabinet as these people were remodeling their kitchen And it took like 4 xrays to finally find it, and my vet when they came to pick up their dog gave them back their door handle they were shocked!!!!!!

Zerlett

oh man that has always been the biggest fear of mine!! ive always tried to be so careful and ellie was my worst eater ever!! scarlett is pretty bad too, shes somewhat grew out of it but she ate an entire leather collar once except the metal parts and i caught it fast enough i gave her hydrogen peroxide and made her throw the whole thing up!! I tried the same strategy with Bowzer once and almost killed him, so it can be a touchy trick of the trade...she still loves leather and has chewed up and eaten a few more leather parts since than. Caught her eating a lucky rabbits foot for a key chain once and that scared the crap outta me than too!!! I just spoke to another bullie owner on saturday who told me that she almost lost her bullie boy from the same exact thing, he had to have surgery to have something removed that he ate. It is truly terrifing and i try to stress to every new owner that these dogs WILL eat foreign objects!! I hope rocky improves quickly and that it never happens again!!! fingers crossed!! And what a big gorgeous boy he is!!

BulliesofNC

I finally got to pick up Rocky. He's doing MUCH better. I was a little disappointed that both Vets were unable to find the object in his system that was causing a bad reaction and putting him in so much pain. However, they assured me that the object was moving and not lodged. They said he'd pass it in due time. The medications that they provided seemed to really help him. Well, it was a very costly medical bill but well worth it to see his spirits back up and at least having some energy. He was actually able to eat a little a few minutes ago. He's got a bunch of stitches that I have to watch over until they get taken out next week.

Beleive me I'm well aware of how puppies/dogs get into things and will chew and eat what goes in their mouths. I've been dealing with it for over 20 years. However, there are those seldom times when your back is turned that one may get into the trash can or take from the table. I sure wish I knew what he ate and where he got it from.

Here's a couple photos taken yesterday. It's pretty easy to see the metal object that caused so much damage. No idea what it is!

 

Leslie

So glad to hear he's doing better!!! They are sneaky and tall enough to snatch things even off my counter:( it is impossible to watch them 24/7 unfortunately:( with my little guy they chew his toys allot and I bust them with all kinds of stuff in their mouths:/ give him a big hug for me!!! what a scare for you to have to go thru, I don't know about you but I would have gotten no sleep last night and would take that big fella to bed with me spoon him and take a nap:) !!!!!

BulliesofNC

Oh, he's getting a lot of attention now! Everybody is so happy to see him again and know that he's going to be fine.

Leslie

I bet!!!!!

Zerlett

awww rocky you lil devil!!! kiss him for me!

Daisy

Steve, how is Rocky?  I just checked in and found how sick he has been.. I hope he has passed the metal object by now.

BulliesofNC

Mary, Rocky is doing much better and if it wasn't for the site of his stitches you'd never know he was so sick the other day. He's a strong dog and bounced right back, thank God. #:-S

BulliesofNC

Ever since we got Rocky back from surgery Makoa has been following him everywhere. Like she knew something was wrong with him. She's been licking him and napping next to him. I think they're "BFF's"

(Is it me or is Rocky starting to Make Makoa look like a Mini... ) )

 

Daisy

He's looking wonderful, Steve.  Yes, he is dwarfing Makoa.  This is SUCH a love bug picture.

Zerlett

cute pic!!

BulliesofNC

Rocky got his stitches out today and is ALL better. He was back up to 74.8 pounds and full of energy. He had that look on his face like "I hope you aint palnning on leaving me here again!" [-X

Daisy

Great news?)