Staying put!
Almost as soon as it was announced out trip was canceled.
On friday night my dog got into the fridge and helped himself to almost a week’s worth of groceries. This might sound like a familiar story to many of you, however, Ryker is a bit different. He came to us last year at the age of 3 with some serious seperation anxiety. We have spent the past year working with him and managed to progress him from being in a crate when we would go out to having the freedom of roaming the house. He was doing amazingly well, but for some reason had a relapse on Friday. Most of the time you can just wait for all the food to pass, but Ryker being a deep chested large dog is at serious risk of bloat. Bloat in large dogs can happen when a dog gorges or eats and drinks too soon after exercise…the stomach will expand causing it to flip over and trap all the gasses inside killing the dog if left untreated…Bloat doesn’t go away on it’s own. Ryker ate a deadly combination of pancake in saran wrap and lots of margerine causing a plug in his stomach…the gasses started to expand his stomach and caused the incoming and outgoing valves to swell and close off. When I arrived home on friday night he was in serious trouble. His stomach had expanded to over 400% larger than it’s normal size. He was knocking on death’s door.
An extremely fast race to the nearest 2 am emergency hospital resulted in a major surgery. Trip canceled! We are SO VERY lucky to still have him with us. I am grateful for the hours of research we did on his breed which enabled me to identify his emergency within seconds of seeing him…it saved his life…as did my wonderful car with a heck of a lot of get up and go!
Anyways, he is now home and slowly recovering
Lots of love, snuggles, a new padlock on the fridge and we should all be ok!
All three of us were going on the trip together, but I would much rather we all stay home than be one less in Florida.
Oh my!!! I’m so glad to hear he is ok! What a scary thing to come to!!
Commented by Jody on March 23, 2010 at 10:39 amPoor puppy! What a relief that you were able to figure out what to do in time. Trips can wait.
Commented by Adriana on March 23, 2010 at 10:58 amPoor Reiker… Wonder what set him off? Hope he is recovering happily.
Commented by Martina on March 23, 2010 at 1:07 pmHere’s to a speady recovery Ryker!
Commented by Kim on March 23, 2010 at 1:46 pmThank goodness he’s going to be alright. Poor guy
Commented by CatieP on March 23, 2010 at 6:38 pmHoly heck, Michelle! I am so glad that Ryker is okay and that you caught it in time. You must have caught it within the first hour or so…Buffy’s boyfriend, aka my neighbour’s german shepherd, Fidus, died of bloat last fall. It was so, so heartbreaking and so awful for our neighbour – and all of us, really. Since then we have been talking about bloat to anyone who will listen.
Commented by Emily on March 25, 2010 at 8:40 amSmall dogs are less at risk than the big dogs, but it can happen to them, too. The signs to watch for are restlessness and an inability to sit or lie down comfortably, retching without vomiting or white vomit and possibly distension of the abdomen. At any of these symptoms, alone or together, you should get your dog to an emergency vet…and CALL them to let them know that you are coming with a dog with possible bloat. That way they will have everything ready. Every second counts with bloat.
Sorry, I should have added that the second paragraph is what we say to anyone with dogs now. It’s so, so, so important to get the word out.
Commented by Emily on March 25, 2010 at 8:41 am