We need mega vibes!!!

starryeyedtiger

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We could use some of those fantastic TCS vibes tonight if you guys can spare them please!

My sister's dog Bailey is recovering from a massive emergency surgery right now.

This morning my sister Kimmy called me from work and told me that when she woke up this morning to get her kids ready for school and take care of her animals, their dog Bailey had thrown up three times and upon closer inspection Kimmy saw that what she had vomited was pieces of the blanket from her kennel. She and her husband absolutely had to go to work so she asked me if I could go over to their house and check on Bailey. (I just live a few streets over from them.)

When I got to their house I checked on Bailey and she was just not herself at all. Normally Bailey is estatic to see me and covers me in kisses every time I'm there. This time when I went to her kennel to let her out she didn't even want to get out of her kennel or move. She whined horribly when I examined her stomach and just looked miserable.

I called my sister back and told her that she absolutely had to go to the vets office for x-rays because I was almost certain she had a blockage (I used to work as a vet tech.) I told my DH what was going on and he told me to go ahead and take her and we would pay for the bill and let them pay us back. (they're good for it, they just don't have a lump sum right now). When I got her to the vet they did two x-rays and the physical and she had a massive blockage as suspected.

One very useful thing my sister did this morning was set the blanket and the scraps Bailey left out for me to look at. I took it with me to the vets office and the vet and I tried to piece back the blanket....when we did we saw there was a massive chunk missing (more than she could have vomited back up). I spent several hours at the vets office while they did tests/etc on little Bailey (actually my whole day almost). As soon as my sister got off work she ran over there to talk with the vet and see Bailey. After talking with the vet we decided that we wanted to go ahead with surgery to remove the blockages and try to save her life. Without it there's no way she would have survived- she had horrid blockages all in her little GI track.


The vet cancelled all of her afternoon appointments and immediately took Bailey back once we decided to do the surgery. She worked on her from around 4:00 almost 7:30. Bailey had tiny pieces of the blanket all throughout her system. They had to do a lot of work on her intestines as well so now they're worried about an increased risk for infection.They said that she did as well as could be expected for that kind of major surgery. She also didn't loose too much blood eithor, so that's good. They put her on some good antibiotics and lots of pain killers. She may get to come home tomorrow depending on how she does- if she does ok we'll go ahead and bring her back to my sister's house for the weekend then mine during the week so I can watch her while they work (the vet isn't 24 hours and doesn't have staff on Sundays so that's why)

They told us the recovery for the surgery should take about 8 weeks our so for her to be fully healed internally....she will now have to stay on a soft diet for an indefinite amount of time as well with special food so she can digest it ok. Please pray for Bailey to make a full recovery without any nasty infections from this. We all love and adore this dog to pieces- she is soo sweet. I am hoping she makes a smooth recover without any complications.

Bailey is really my 13yr old niece's dog- and that pup is her baby- she sleeps in her room at night and is always by her side. We had to tell her what happened to her girl tonight after she got home from school, so she was defiitely upset. I'm just glad we were able to get her surgery done though. The vet said the extent of the material she swallowed would have been fatal without surgery. I am just glad we were able to get her operated on in time. I will update tomorrow as soon as we get back from the vets office (hopefully with her in tow!)

This is one of the only pictures I have of Bailey at the moment, but I thought i'd share it with everyone. (She's a little lab/rat terrrier x) (The picture is from Easter a few yrs ago...Colin was helping my niece Kaitlynn hunt for Easter eggs. The little dog in the background is their Chinese Crested, Mac).
 
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starryeyedtiger

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Originally Posted by mews2much

Prayers for her.
I hope she will be ok.
Thankyou
She needs all the prayers she can get right now.

I still can't believe she did that....she's never torn up any of the blankets in her kennel before now. She did it last night too while my niece was asleep and didn't hear her. My sister has since taken ALL of the blankets, toys, even food dishes out of her kennel from now on and has even removed all of the other animal toys in the house just to be on the safe side.

I told my sister we ought to frame the remains of that $2,000 blanket
 

bella713

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In a state of misery w/o my Bella
Oh Poor baby
Many vibes and prayers for a full recovery

I had a cat years ago that had to have a 7 hour operation on his intestines, because he ate one of those elastic strings from a toy, it was imbedded in his intestines
It was scary, but he recoverd beautifully
 

mom of 4

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Lots of positive vibes headed Bailey's way.

My vet told us that the intestines of a dog repair themselves very quickly - 7 to 10 days. A couple of days with no food, IVs and heavy pain meds, then boiled chicken or hamburger and rice for two weeks.
Ben had a linear obstruction, with strands of thread from the advancing piece connected to the piece trapped in the stomach cutting into the intestines in various places. The surgical vet told us that in another hour, he would have died (we'd been trying to get someone to listen to us for a week over a holiday and in a strange town).
That was six years ago. He had another surgery for blockage due to eating a sock - a guest didn't follow the rules on keeping clothing put away.
 

gothic~mermaid

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oh no, he wil be in my thoughts and prayers and sending so many of these your way
 
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starryeyedtiger

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Little update this morning. The vet called my sister to give her an update on Bailey....apparently the dumb dog ripped out her IV line last night
This is after we told them repeatedly to put an e-collar on her because if she woke up she'd chew (hello, the dog just ate a huge blanket, what's to stop her from chewing an iv line)
So yea....I'm taking me old e-collar from my foster dogs with me when we go to pick her up!


We're supposed to go around 3:30 today to pick her up and talk about what we need to do with her. The vet said the incision site looks good this morning so that's good (and she is obviously feeling better since she ripped out her line lol!) I'm so glad she made it through the night!

My sister and I talked a little bit and I am going to bring Bailey home with me instead of taking her to their house since I'm home during the week while they're at work/school/etc and I can watch her and since I used to work as a vet tech- I can keep a close eye on that incision site/etc and handle all the meds. My sister said she wasn't so comfortable with all the medical aspects of her recover and is nervous to handle her like that, (meds, iv's, and handling the incision site/etc) , so I going to be taking her home with me and caring for her here while she recovers.
 

mbjerkness

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quick healing vibes for Bailey. I think it would be wonderful, if Bailey wasn't home alone, at least for a few days. That is very kind of you to offer.
 

babywukong

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Oh no, poor baby! I'm so glad she's recovering from her major surgery, sounds like she's a very strong puppy
Vibes for her continued recovery Do keep us posted.

I don't understand why your sister won't let you take her home for the week. Wouldn't she feel more comfortable knowing that her pup is in good hands... especially if she's a chronic chewer! Who's to know what's gonna happen when she's alone at home and bored out of her mind?
 
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starryeyedtiger

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Originally Posted by mbjerkness

quick healing vibes for Bailey. I think it would be wonderful, if Bailey wasn't home alone, at least for a few days. That is very kind of you to offer.
Thanks
Keep those vibes comming!

Originally Posted by BabyWukong

Oh no, poor baby! I'm so glad she's recovering from her major surgery, sounds like she's a very strong puppy
Vibes for her continued recovery Do keep us posted.

I don't understand why your sister won't let you take her home for the week. Wouldn't she feel more comfortable knowing that her pup is in good hands... especially if she's a chronic chewer! Who's to know what's gonna happen when she's alone at home and bored out of her mind?
Oh no hon, you misunderstood - my sister isn't comfortable handling all the meds and iv stuff/etc....so she's more comfortable with me doing it and taking care of her this week since i'm a vet tech.
I'm going to pick Bailey up at 3:30 with kimmy and my niece and bring her home with me. She's going to stay at my house until she recovers so I can monitor her progress. My niece Taylor is going to spend the night with me tonight too so she can be by her dog. She had a total meltdown last night when they had to tell her about what happened
So we think it'll do her good to stay over tonight and help me care for her


I'll get some pictures of Bailey once we get her here and settled.
 

babywukong

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Originally Posted by StarryEyedTiGeR

Oh no hon, you misunderstood - my sister isn't comfortable handling all the meds and iv stuff/etc....so she's more comfortable with me doing it and taking care of her this week since i'm a vet tech.
Oh.. oops!! Sorry, I did misunderstand. That's great then, that Bailey will have you to take care of her till she's feeling better
 

trillcat

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For the puppy! Get well Bailey! We are here for you doggie, though this is a cat site, we are equal lovers of animals.
I had to rush my former dog (she died from old age) to the vet because she ate an entire bar of soap as a young one. Also bunt her nose smelling a candle. I put it up whre I THOUGHT she could not get it. More
 
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starryeyedtiger

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Just wanted to update before I head off to bed.

Bailey is here at my house with me (as is my niece Taylor for the night). Bailey has a massive incision site and will definitely have a long recovery ahead of her.

When we picked her up from the vets office, the vet had a "gift" for us...a bag filled with all the lovely blanket bits they pulled out of her stomach and intestines.
(Oh yes, you better believe I got pictures of that lol!) We are now changing the value of that blanket .....origionally around $10 now at $1541.36 and counting
I told my sister we need to frame that darn blanket lol!

She is resting up at the moment in her kennel in my kitchen. I have her e-collar zip tied to her regular collar- no way the little thing can get at her stitches without a miracle! The only thing in her kennel is an orthapedic dog bed (she HAD to have something soft to lay on) ....no blankets no nothing else in there.

She can't have anything to eat until tomorrow night and even then I'm only supposed to give her two tiny meatballs out of her prescription i/d diet. She's going to have to be fed very gradually. I'm having to really watch her liquids too...tonight I only gave her 10cc's of water by a dropper....that's about all she can handle for now...tomorrow i'll build her up to a bit more.

Right now she's staying pretty stoned up on pain killers and sedatives to try and ease her discomfort a bit- her surgery was really invasive and the vet said she had to cut into tons of her intestine/etc....she had 3 obstructions. At the moment she is on Tramadol and Acepromazine for the pain/sedatives and she's on three antibiotics...flagyl, kflex (cephalexin), and cimetidine....she also had iv's full of antibiotics and pain meds before she left so hopefully with all these meds we can keep her from getting an infection and help keep her out of too much pain.

Please keep praying for Bailey, she is still in a lot of pain/discomfort from this surgery and it will definitely take her a while to heal. I'm taking her back Monday morning just for the vet to give her a one over and make sure all is still looking alright.

I took a few pictures of her tonight, i'll had DH put them on his pc so I can share them when he gets some free time. Please keep those vibes comming!!!
 

babywukong

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More vibes for poor little Bailey

Isn't there any way a vet could come to your house instead of making her go over there? She should be kept comfortable, not transported all over the place... It sounds so terribly painful... Poor little baby girl


Let's hope she learns from this lesson, though something tells me otherwise
 

mom of 4

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When Ben had his surgery for the linear obstruction, he had surgery on Thursday and they kept him until Monday. He had a fentanyl patch for pain, with IV demerol to supplement. They put in a heplock, for intermittent IV fluids and to use for the IV pain and nausea meds. We had to make an appointment to see him on Saturday - that allowed them to schedule his meds so he was comfortable, but alert enough to walk into the exam room to see us. They also started his food and water and watched him for the first 24 hours on food before they would let him come home late Monday afternoon.
Ben hated the canned food, probably ID. So our vet gave us a recipe for a rice and chicken (or boiled hamburger) mixture - includes boiled eggs and some Karo syrup. Yuk! But he loved it. And so did the other dogs. We had to make enough for all of them.

Lots of positive thoughts headed your way.
 
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starryeyedtiger

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Originally Posted by BabyWukong

More vibes for poor little Bailey

Isn't there any way a vet could come to your house instead of making her go over there? She should be kept comfortable, not transported all over the place... It sounds so terribly painful... Poor little baby girl


Let's hope she learns from this lesson, though something tells me otherwise
The vets office she's going to tomorrow is only about 3 minutes (if that) up the road from us, so she will not be in the car long at all. I've had to transport tons of foster animals before- the worst being the ones who've had amputations/etc....so i've got a few tricks up my sleve when it comes to transporting them and keeping them comfortable, so no worries, she'll be ok for the ride. She is also on lots of very good pain killers and sedatives/etc so she should be ok for the short trip.

This particular vet she's seeing doesn't make house calls (she's not the one I normally go to, but she is one of the best in the area for obstruction surgeries/etc and she is very thorough and kind.If an emergency ever did arise though, the one I used to work with at the shelter would be over in a heart beat if I needed her, so no worries, Bailey will be ok.


Just a mini-update.....tonight I fed her a tinsy bit of her first meal since her surgery. Just a tiny tiny meatball of the prescription ID food....she held it down and did great so I waited a few more hours and then gave her one more tiny meatball of the ID food and a little teaspoon of plain yogurt (it's probiotics will help her stomach along). She is doing very well so far with the soft foods so that's promising....I'm still taking it very very slow for now though- better to be gradual at the moment.

I took my niece back home tonight, but while she was at youth group, my sister and one of my nephews came over for a few hours to see her and give her some attention....Bailey was quite happy to see them. Bailey has done pretty well today....i've been keeping a strict schedule on her meds so no far no noticable discomfort or pain that I can tell. She still will have a long road ahead of her though so i'm just taking it day by day. I'm picking up my niece after she gets out of school tomorrow so she can some do her homework over here and see her Bailey. (She adores this dog so much, it's really her dog.)



Originally Posted by Mom of 4

When Ben had his surgery for the linear obstruction, he had surgery on Thursday and they kept him until Monday. He had a fentanyl patch for pain, with IV demerol to supplement. They put in a heplock, for intermittent IV fluids and to use for the IV pain and nausea meds. We had to make an appointment to see him on Saturday - that allowed them to schedule his meds so he was comfortable, but alert enough to walk into the exam room to see us. They also started his food and water and watched him for the first 24 hours on food before they would let him come home late Monday afternoon.
Ben hated the canned food, probably ID. So our vet gave us a recipe for a rice and chicken (or boiled hamburger) mixture - includes boiled eggs and some Karo syrup. Yuk! But he loved it. And so did the other dogs. We had to make enough for all of them.

Lots of positive thoughts headed your way.
I'm sorry Ben had to go through a rough surgery too
Thankyou for the vibes!!! Keep them comming please!


As far as Bailey eating her food goes, let me be the first to say the dog is NOT picky....goodness knows she will apparently eat anything if she has the chance...even a blanket
She was in heaven tonight when she got the first tiny taste of her ID food...she ate it like a champ so i don't think we'll have any complications as far as that goes
 
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starryeyedtiger

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Thankyou everyone for the kind words and vibes!


It's a little after 1am here at the moment. I just finished changing out her bedding so i'm going to try and get a little sleep now. Bailey is out could lol- she can't move much, but her tail is while she dreams
 
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