It Finally Happened...

Dieter finally ate something that would not pass - either up from whence it came, or out through the other direction. It all occurred quite quickly on Tuesday morning March 27 around 7:45AM as I was gathering my things to leave for work.

He grabbed a puppy toy (round fuzzy ball) and jumped on the couch. I grabbed a handful of treats to trade him and walk towards him, calling him to me. He jumped off the couch and trotted towards me - in the 5 secs between coming off the couch and arriving at me the toy was gone. And he was still saying - give me those treats!

In usual fashion, he came with me to work and I induced vomiting using a drug called apomorphine. This medication is notorious for causing strong stomch contractions and evacuation of all gastric contents. Well after vomiting over 10x, no toy came up. (Under normal circumstances, stuff will be brought up within the first 1-2 vomits).

I called my husband inquiring if he could just double check the floor and under cushions to ensure it had not been dropped. Sure enough - nothing there.

Becoming slightly more anxious - I called the local referral hospital that sees many of my patients that require specialized testing and care. They were gracious enough to see Dieter immediately. The plan was to use an endoscope, pass it into his stomach, grab onto the toy and pull it back up his esophagus. Thus removing the need for an exploratory surgery.

After about 40 minutes of trying to force this now soggy and swollen toy back through his esophageal sphincter, we admitted defeat and woke him up from the anesthetic.

As I made the 20 minute drive back to my clinic, my mind began to accustom itself to doing surgery on him.

I love doing surgery, however there were a couple things. First, this is my dog and I wasn't sure what I thought about surgery on my own dog. Second, what about his training?! He was doing so well and it killed me to do something that would lay him up for at least a month from regular work.

Nonetheless by the time I arrived at work, I had decided that IF my one boss (he is kinda like my mentor) would stay after work to be a support for me, I would go to surgery that night once the clinic closed for the day. My mentor was gracious enough to do that - so Dieter got back to the clinic and begin prep for surgery that night.

To be honest, everything went perfectly and we even got a little liver sample (biospy) while I was in there so send away for analysis. The most difficult thing for me was to see him being put under the anesthetic. Once he was all covered in drapes and ready to go - he was just another abdominal surgery for me. I viewed it as an opportunity to see the inner workings of my favourite doberboy!

The infamous toy!

And the best thing about being a vet - I get to look after my own animals at home!

Dieter got to shuttle back and forth from living room to work for several days while he was on IV fluids and medications. I got to sleep on the couch. Here he is for one of his weigh ins at work with the saddest eyes.

He has recovered phenomenally well from the whole ordeal. The most difficult thing has been keeping him quiet. He wore a basket muzzle on his face to prevent him from licking at his incision. I also sedated him the first few days to just help him rest.

He had been feeling quite sorry for himself and has a lot to say about life right now. It is just a glimpse into how "talkative" this dog is. You can almost have a conversation with him sometimes!

Stay tuned for tracking video from today.....it will be posted soon!