For dog lovers

This blog is dedicated to pet lovers. Not the crazy “I’ll do absolutely anything for my pet” owner. Just for the “normal” pet owner. This is the owner who considers his pet part of the family.

Let me take you back a few days. Last Thursday, Maggie (our 5 year old black lab) vomited. I can’t remember the last time she vomited. That afternoon, she vomited two more times. So, I called the vet. They suggested I watch her closely. While I was on the phone with the vet, she also pooped. This was good news, as it meant she did not have any type of obstruction. She probably had a virus. Friday was a good day. No vomiting. Saturday she vomited again – but only once. All the while she was her normal self. Sunday I fed her white rice at around 1:00. Last night at around 11:30pm, Mark woke me up. Despite his CPAP machine, he heard Maggie vomit. She vomited in the bathroom, hallway, and kitchen. So, at 11:30, we were cleaning up the mess.

That brings us to today. This morning I withheld food. Maggie was just as energetic and playful as any other day. I checked the yard and she had a few normal poops I needed to clean up. I decided it was time to go to the vet. I got a 9:30am appointment. So, after dropping off the kids, I took her to our vet. Upon examination, she was “guarding” as he pushed on her abdomen. He suggested an x-ray to rule out an obstruction. I agreed. A few minutes later, the vet asked me to come back to see the x-ray. He explained that there was a foreign body in her stomach. You could see it, but couldn’t tell what it was. He advised surgery. I asked him to talk with our regular vet to confer. Awhile later, the vet explained that our primary vet agreed that surgery was necessary.
The unfortunate thing was that Mark was unavailable – on a plane again this week. I couldn’t even call him for his advice! The vet explained that surgery should be done as soon as possible, or the objects could move to the intestines and cause a blockage. If this occurred, it could kill part of the intestine – which would be even more costly to repair. Unable to reach Mark, I decided to give them the OK for surgery. I couldn’t agree to kill her. She’s a healthy, young dog who is great with the kids. What would I tell the kids if she died from a fixable problem?

Maggie came through the surgery well. We went to visit her this afternoon. When we arrived, she was outside walking on the grass with a vet assistant. She had a “hep-lock” on her left leg; a shaved abdomen; and staples up her belly. The kids were ecstatic to see her. Another vet assistant came outside to talk with us. He brought a ziplock bag full of blue plastic chunks. The bag was FULL! This was the foreign object from Maggie’s stomach. Lauren and I both confirmed it was the blue plastic ball. From what I can recall, the blue plastic ball was played with on March 5th when the Girl Scouts were over. They played in the backyard with Maggie and the ball. Sometime after March 5th, Maggie must have eaten the ball.

Hopefully she will come home tomorrow. The vet said she'll come home on pain medication and a bland diet. Good news, is that they do have a payment plan.