Diablo

Diablo is going in for surgery on Monday.  He got sick last weekend and threw up all of his dinner.  I thought at first that he just had a bug.  When he hadn't eaten for 2 days, I started to get a little more concerned.  While out running the other dogs on a very slippery trail last Sunday, it dawned on me.  Diablo chewed his collar about 6 weeks ago and I never found the majority of it.  I was fairly sure this was the best explanation.

I took him to the vet Monday morning.  We couldn't see anything on the X-rays so we decided to wait and give him some antibiotics to fight a possible infection of some sort.  He did seem better on Tuesday and I was hopeful.  He woke me up on Wednesday morning in major distress so I took him back to the vet. 

After running barium through his digestive tract, we were able to see something in his stomach.  You could almost see the texture of the webbing from the collar.  Since his digestive tract isn't actually blocked and it was getting late in the day before Thanksgiving, we opted to wait until Monday for surgury.

I thought I was going to be spending the next few days syringe feeding him soaked food and water.  But, after Thanksgiving dinner, he started getting into the trash.  When I offered him food, he devoured it.  I have been feeding him small meals every 2-3 hours and he hasn't stopped eating.  This is very good and hopefully he won't lose any more weight.

We are hoping that we will be able to remove the object/collar from his stomach by pulling it back up the way it went down.  The vet is not overly optimistic that this will work as a collar is a fairly substantial object and the claws on the endoscope are not especially strong.  If this doesn't work, he will have to have his stomach cut open.  I am hoping for option one as this will mean a quicker recovery and less stress on all of us.  But, if it has to be option two, I think I will be having another house dog for the winter.  Wiley (my Border Collie) is not really happy about having another boy dog in the house.  But I have always loved this little guy who came into this world kicking and screaming and is a little monster.  Having him inside with me has been interesting especially the last couple days when he has been feeling better.  I can't take my eyes off him even for a second.

I am sure all will end well with Diablo and I look forward to putting this week of too many vet visits behind us and moving forward with the endless list of "must dos".