Tuesday, June 12, 2012

poor diesel...



If I am friends with you on facebook or you follow "Prayers for Ben" on facebook you would know how our afternoon has gone down! Ben and I are just fine but Diesel our pup has had a rough few days and afternoon.

This past Friday afternoon I noticed he had been a bit sluggish and he was refusing to eat. Ben I took off for an over night trip (blog post to come) and my brother tended to him. Well, Diesel didn't eat that night or the next am. We got home in the afternoon and he was still sluggish and just wanted to sit close to us. I watched him for a few days. He would play fetch, drink water and lay down. Poor guy just didn't look to hot!

Thursday he had some rocks in his crate so I knew he had swallowed them and got them back up...this is not new for him at times! I took him to the vet today and she checked him out saying he didn't have a temp, heart and lungs were good and she didn't feel anything in his stomach or intestines. She wanted to do an xray just in case.

It was a few minutes later and I heard shrieking from the xray room. I had stayed put in the exam room and I am glad I did because Diesel decided that he would have a huge blow out back there! I am sure he felt much better after the case but I'm sure the techs were not to thrilled...although they were all laughing and I heard, "no way" "oh my gosh we have a big one" and "umm, this is Diesel and we think he has a rock in his gut!" Well, they got the xray and sure enough he had a massive rock in his small intestines!

I left him there to have immediate surgery and they said the vet would call when he was out. Poor guy was to get a midline incision large enough for the vet to get his hand in his abdomen, iv's, monitoring and pain meds! I know it's not the same but it took me back to the days or my surgery although it was seat belt related and not rock!
The vet called me about 2 hours later and said that they had retrieved the massive rock that was lodged deep into his small intestine and caused significant inflammation.

Diesel will be monitored there for the next few nights. He will have to be on pain meds and IV fluids and then weaned onto food and see how he does.

The timing of this incident is good and bad. I am glad that we caught it and that we were able to get it taken care of quickly. It's just that schedule and emotional wise there is so much going on in our lives! We really didn't need this but here it is!

We would appreciate your prayers at this time. The biggest prayers is for when he comes home we can keep him laying low so he doesn't burst his incision and also that there is no infection. Also pray for us as this week is super busy and full of stuff! We will be fine but your prayers are appreciated!

Oh and if anyone has any ideas on how to keep him from eating rocks besides keeping him crated that would be great!!

7 comments:

B. Wilson @ Windy {City} Wilsons said...

Wow, that sounds incredibly painful! Glad they got it out!

Grandmabeckyl.blogspot said...

Must be something in the rocks that Diesel likes? Weird but glad he's ok and you guys take care!

Mariette VandenMunckhof-Vedder said...

Dearest Ben and Katie,

Oh, as they say: 'When it rains it pours!'
One of those things and it's Murphy's law that it always happens at the wrong timing.
But Diesel will be fine, they are smart enough to sense what will be good for them.
My parents used to have a Dachshund that ate rocks and required several surgeries too.
All pets are different, like human beings and sometimes things are unpredictable.
Trust that things will work out.
Love to you all and be strong.
Mariette

PS try to take this word verification OFF. You can find how to do this here: http://bit.ly/wuDl5h

Jessica said...

Poor Diesel! I'm glad you took him in & they were able to get the rock out. Praying for his quirky recovery!

Caroline said...

Poor pup!! Glad you were proactive and took him in. Hope he feels better soon!

Erin said...

I'm glad his ok! The only thing you can really do is monitor him while he's in rocky areas and make sure he's got plenty of "good" things to play with. Hope things get better for you soon!

Anonymous said...

Oh my!!!! Diesel is one blessed pup. I will trust Father he doesn't eat rock NO MORE, NO MORE, NO MORE!! I remember from when I was a child, my parents put cayene pepper in a garden spot they didn't want our dog to get into. Blessings to you guys, Marion