I don’t know if that title is very good. We’re only assuming it was a rubber ball from the look of the remains they extracted from Mississippi’s intestines…
So, rewind back to Saturday 4am. Mississippi starts puking. She basically doesn’t stop puking until about 9 that night when we took her to the doggy ER. She would eat a bunch of grass, puke it up, eat more grass, puke it up, repeat. I picked up about 2 cups worth of eaten and regurgitated grass Saturday afternoon from our backyard. She was trying to get something out of her tummy. She didn’t eat or drink anything except for a bite of food in the evening which she immediately threw up. So we took her to Dove Lewis Emergency Animal Hospital in NW Portland Saturday night and they x-rayed her and took blood samples. She was dehydrated but nothing showed up on the x-ray so we decided to play the waiting game and see if whatever it was that was making her sick would clear up on it’s own. They gave her subcutaneous fluids and anti-nausea meds. The fluids are basically pumped under her skin so her body can absorb them over time. Saturday night she got some decent rest but was still not eating and was panting, drooling, clearly still nauseous and not feeling well in general Sunday morning. She just wanted to hide in dark places in the backyard or basement. We took her back in Sunday about noon. They gave her more fluids and anti-nausea meds and we decided to continue to wait and see until Monday morning. Her mood was still about the same. Still a little bit of a waggy tail, still an occasional bark, but clearly not a happy pup.
Waiting at the Doctor
She got a few hour’s rest Sunday night but was feeling bad again by 2am, I nearly took her back in then, but she curled up on the couch and went to sleep so I joined her and waited til the morning. I brought her in at 6am Monday and admitted her for an ultrasound. Sure enough, she had something blocking her intestines so they did surgery about 11. They removed a very large chunk of what looks like thick rubber ball from her small intestines. We visited her last night. She looks terrible. They were hoping she’d be able to come home this morning (Tuesday) but she’s not eating. I went down there and tried to hand feed her but she wouldn’t take it. The Doctor still feels optimistic that she’s recovering well, but she’s giving her food through a tube now. Tom is going to pay a visit tonight after work and see if she’ll eat for him. We’re now hoping she can come home tomorrow.
We don’t know for sure where this rubber piece came from. We think she probably got ahold of it at her doggy daycare on Friday. I think they are generally pretty good at throwing away damaged dog toys there. Our dog is a moron for eating large, inedible objects. I don’t blame them, but at the same time, my heart is breaking. Not to mention what an incredible financial burden this is. I don’t know when I’ll ever be comfortable letting her out of my sights again. I just want my baby back. Please eat Mississippi. We love you and miss you. We want you home.
Post Surgery
This is gross, but this is what they took out of her:
