It's been a while since I've posted here, but I try to keep up with everyone on Facebook as much as I can. That said, I thought I would post a little bit on here about Pippa's recent ordeal.
I left Pippa with a "friend" and professional dog trainer (N) about a month ago while I was traveling for work. I gave her as many resources as I could, and although I was apprehensive about leaving my high-drive, working line GSD, I sucked it up and went. My dad came to visit and found an extremely sick dog. Pippa had lost almost 10 pounds and was listless and vomiting. N insisted that she had been "fine" except for getting into it with her terrier cross over food (although I requested she be fed separately) and generally being "poorly trained."
Livid, my father immediately brought her to my regular vet, whose abdominal x-rays caused him to suspect that she had an intestinal blockage. He sent them home, but they quickly rushed to the emergency vet when she continued to vomit and visibly deteriorated.
At the emergency vet, Pippa was stabilized and rushed into emergency surgery, where they removed a large portion of her dog bed from her lower intestine. She responded well, and was sent home three days later, which is when I returned from my trip.
Immediately following surgery, they made note of a small pocket of fluid that had accumulated in her abdominal cavity. A test revealed that it was antibiotic-resistant E. coli, and she was put on a cocktail of drugs to help combat the infection. Still, when it came time for me to leave again 10 days later, I woke up to find her unwilling to eat. Hoping she was just feeling "off", I hopped in the car to drive to work. About 15 minutes into my commute I changed my mind and called my dad, in tears, begging him to take her back to the emergency vet while I was away.
When he did, they discovered that she was once again in critical condition. Fearing another blockage, they opened her up to find a massive mesenteric torsion: her intestines were necrotic. A torsion of this type has a fatality rate of nearly a hundred percent, but when they finished the procedure she pinked up almost immediately.
Through the course of this, Pippa had wracked up almost $23,000 in medical bills. In any other circumstance, I would have had to put her down. That's as much as I make in a year (and then some). But my parents insured her for me as a graduation present, and so Pippa came home early last week. Hopefully for good.
Hug your dogs, insure then if you can, trust your instincts. Holy crap.
I left Pippa with a "friend" and professional dog trainer (N) about a month ago while I was traveling for work. I gave her as many resources as I could, and although I was apprehensive about leaving my high-drive, working line GSD, I sucked it up and went. My dad came to visit and found an extremely sick dog. Pippa had lost almost 10 pounds and was listless and vomiting. N insisted that she had been "fine" except for getting into it with her terrier cross over food (although I requested she be fed separately) and generally being "poorly trained."
Livid, my father immediately brought her to my regular vet, whose abdominal x-rays caused him to suspect that she had an intestinal blockage. He sent them home, but they quickly rushed to the emergency vet when she continued to vomit and visibly deteriorated.
At the emergency vet, Pippa was stabilized and rushed into emergency surgery, where they removed a large portion of her dog bed from her lower intestine. She responded well, and was sent home three days later, which is when I returned from my trip.
Immediately following surgery, they made note of a small pocket of fluid that had accumulated in her abdominal cavity. A test revealed that it was antibiotic-resistant E. coli, and she was put on a cocktail of drugs to help combat the infection. Still, when it came time for me to leave again 10 days later, I woke up to find her unwilling to eat. Hoping she was just feeling "off", I hopped in the car to drive to work. About 15 minutes into my commute I changed my mind and called my dad, in tears, begging him to take her back to the emergency vet while I was away.
When he did, they discovered that she was once again in critical condition. Fearing another blockage, they opened her up to find a massive mesenteric torsion: her intestines were necrotic. A torsion of this type has a fatality rate of nearly a hundred percent, but when they finished the procedure she pinked up almost immediately.
Through the course of this, Pippa had wracked up almost $23,000 in medical bills. In any other circumstance, I would have had to put her down. That's as much as I make in a year (and then some). But my parents insured her for me as a graduation present, and so Pippa came home early last week. Hopefully for good.
Hug your dogs, insure then if you can, trust your instincts. Holy crap.