[NAGDU] Virtue is at the Pet ER

[joy.relton at icloud.com]

Hi Vanessa,

I had a dog who had two different instances where she picked up something that she shouldn't have. That rascal was fast and could scoop up a knee high sock and swallow it faster than I thought was possible. She passed them but, on two occasions I had serious concerns which worked out ok. 

First, I had a regular physical  for Belle and took in a stool sample. The vet came to me and asked if I knew what color the stool was. I looked at her very strangely and said what I assumed. It turned out that she had gotten a hold of a little of the stuff that the county was spreading to kill rats. The best that we can figure out is that a bird or something brought a bit of it into the yard and she swallowed it. I had to put her on coumadin and vitamin K but we made it through. Apparently several dogs in the county had had fatal consequences to the rat poisoning because it contains an ingredients that is a blood thinner and dogs were bleeding internally. We happened to catch it in time. 

The second time, she begin to have problems keeping things down and stuff was coming out both ends. I took her to the vet and they x-rayed her. They saw something in her intestines and we kept her on IV in the vet for a couple of days because she was dehydrating. The vet suggested that I bring her home to see if she would pass it. She did. It was a piece of flexible plumbing pipe somewhere between 1 and 2 inches long and about the size of a quarter. Since we had not been doing any plumbing in our house we assume that a friendly neighborhood bird dropped this enticing  bit in our yard. 

I wish you and your partner a smooth and speedy recovery. Just be patient and loving. The poor thing doesn't understand what is happening and certainly doesn't think that anything he/she did contributed to the problem. They are worse than kids because even when you ask what they did they just give that look and wag their tail. 

Best of luck to both of you.

Joy