Last Wednesday morning when we got up - Beau was acting weird. He ran straight upstairs and jumped on our bed. Dogs are not allowed in the bedrooms in our house - but it was obvious something was wrong with him - he was crying. Seriously, crying.
I rushed him to the emergency vet and then lost it! They gave him IV fluids and prepped him for surgery. By 9:30 he was having major abdominal surgery and by 11 I had the phone call that surgery had gone well.
See - overnight or sometime early Wednesday morning, Beau's tummy had flipped. This is called bloat or torsion. Unfortunately - it's rather like SIDS - nobody knows for sure what causes it, they can just tell you what to look for.
When I felt his tummy Wednesday morning and it was hard and swollen - I knew. I was pretty sure that by this I would give you all a very different report. I'm happy to tell you that he came home on Friday. He was a very good patient until Sunday overnight and now he's just my normal, stubborn, bull-headed obnoxious boy. He's still taking thing easy on his own, he's leaving food on his plate (his favorite right now is scrambled eggs), however he's finally figured out that I'm slipping pills in his treats and he doesn't like it. I've resorted to sitting on him (literally - well okay, he sits and I straddle him to keep him from walking away) and putting the pills as far down his throat as I can manage. Tonight he bit me and I was less than pleased.
But I'll take being bit over the alternative.
Last Wednesday morning when we got up - Beau was acting weird. He ran straight upstairs and jumped on our bed. Dogs are not allowed in the bedrooms in our house - but it was obvious something was wrong with him - he was crying. Seriously, crying.
I rushed him to the emergency vet and then lost it! They gave him IV fluids and prepped him for surgery. By 9:30 he was having major abdominal surgery and by 11 I had the phone call that surgery had gone well.
See - overnight or sometime early Wednesday morning, Beau's tummy had flipped. This is called bloat or torsion. Unfortunately - it's rather like SIDS - nobody knows for sure what causes it, they can just tell you what to look for.
When I felt his tummy Wednesday morning and it was hard and swollen - I knew. I was pretty sure that by this I would give you all a very different report. I'm happy to tell you that he came home on Friday. He was a very good patient until Sunday overnight and now he's just my normal, stubborn, bull-headed obnoxious boy. He's still taking thing easy on his own, he's leaving food on his plate (his favorite right now is scrambled eggs), however he's finally figured out that I'm slipping pills in his treats and he doesn't like it. I've resorted to sitting on him (literally - well okay, he sits and I straddle him to keep him from walking away) and putting the pills as far down his throat as I can manage. Tonight he bit me and I was less than pleased.
But I'll take being bit over the alternative.
We lost our first mastiff to a torsion. He was already in shock by the time we even got up that morning; it was heartbreaking. I'm so glad you didn't suffer that. As for the biting, well, Beau thought you deserved it for the insult of sitting on him! Funny, Thor always wolfs vitamins, pills or anything else in a peanut butter sandwich. I swear we could make him take a pill the size of a Toyota with enough peanut butter.
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy to see Beau doing better -but not as happy as you, I'm sure.
I teach mine as puppies to take pills so when they get old if they meds they're used to taking them. Sometimes I do put their pills in yogurt just to hurry them along.
ReplyDeleteI hope he didn't REALLY bite too hard... I'm sure Marjie nailed it though; he's not at all pleased with the indignities of it all!
ReplyDeleteWe have to do the same pill stance with our boys and both have accidentally bit us before in the same manner... but both immediately realize it and get very overly sorry about it.
ReplyDeleteWell, it sounds like my grandfather (when he was alive). We always knew when he was feeling better because he's turn back into the ornery old cuss that he was. (I say that with all the love in the world, because he was *my* ornery old cuss. lol) So, Beau's just getting better, which is fabulous.
ReplyDeletePoor Beau with his missing patches of fur!
ReplyDeleteI'm lucky that I can just put Simon's pills on a dab of peanut butter and he just gobbles them down.
sweet beau.
ReplyDeletei'm -so- glad he pulled through.
the 'alternative' is simply unthinkable!
much love...
I'm so glad that Beau is feeling good enough to bite you for sitting on him. :)
ReplyDeleteI'll keep him in my prayers still. Hugs
ahhhh.......so glad to hear Beau is feeling better. Pongo and Buddy are sending doggie-zen his way.
ReplyDeleteOh Gaylen - I'm so glad this turned out well! My husband works with a guy who almost lost his Great Dane puppy due to that and I know it's always in the back of his mind when Abby isn't feeling well.
ReplyDeleteI'm happy he's back to his normal self again. Isn't it funny how they can manage to separate a tiny pill from the rest of the treat? We're lucky in that Abby has always gobbled her pills down with yogurt and as long as we wrapped Sophia's tightly in cheese she's okay too.
I bet Beau was sad after he bit you.
Glad Beau's starting to feel better.
ReplyDeleteLike Thor, my Alex will eat anything hidden in a dollop of peanut butter (cheez whiz works too).
Skippy's almost 5 and we haven't yet managed to get a pill down him ! No matter how it's hidden, he either lickes very carefully or chews very daintily around all the good stuff til the only thing left is the pill. Then we get the look that says 'HA, you can't fool me !'
He must smell it, cause if there is no pill hidden, he doesn't even chew most of the time.
I am so glad he is home and doing better. Im with you, I'll take a bite anytime over the alternative. We hide pills in cheese slices and they inhale it without any hesitation. Our new addition, a Wheaten Terrier now 11 months old gave us a scare last week too. He escaped from the back porch and I got a call at work (an hour away from home) that someone found him on the side of the road tangled in thorns. My heart fell - anyway it all turned out ok as he is just fine, no injuries at all - just several years off of our lives.
ReplyDeleteHugs to you all
Susan (fabricluver)