Poor Little Buddy

We came home on Tuesday from Florida & picked up Toules from doggie day care. He was tired, but he always is after spending a couple days running around with other dogs. On Wednesday morning, however, he didn't eat breakfast. He always eats. Natural Balance dog food. We don't give him people food b/c we didn't want a dog that begged while you are eating dinner. He's always loved his own food though. I came home at lunch to check on him. Uh oh, he didn't want to get out of his bed. He eventually did, and was soon trotting around the yard. Still didn't want to eat though. Same for Wed. night & Thursday. He was pretty lethargic too. He's always been super active & loves to run around the yard. Not this week though. I was beginning to think - stomach flu & somehow he was tramatized at day care (he's a frequent visitor, but has never loved going) We called the vet & had an appointment for Friday. He finally ate some food on Thursday night. Then we woke up to him getting sick - oh joy.

I took him to the vet on Friday. Appointment took so long (xrays & blood work) that I had to call Chris to pick Toules up & wait for the blood work). Their blood checking machine was on the blink, so Chris just took Toules home. The vet called me at 4:00. "I have some very bad news. Your dog has almost no red blood cells. It looks to me, like a poison issue. I want you to go home, check to see if anything is missing, stop by here & pick up the blood samples & Xrays, then take Toules to emergency. Now how soon can you get here?" Totally freaked me out, so I called Chris & he met me at home. Toules is barely moving around at this point. I doubted a poison issue b/c Toules has never been one to eat weird stuff.

Long story - we took Toules to emergency. We arrived at 4:45 - just in time for the ultrasound tech to check him out (tech left at 5:00 for the weekend). They discovered a large mass on his intestine - most likely cancer. They wouldn't know anything until Monday however. To keep him alive - he needed an immediate blood transfusion. Since he is our 'kid', we didn't hesitate to agree. We left him in their capable hands.

Next day we attended our triathlon club training weekend. I wasn't in the mood, thinking we would be putting Toules to sleep soon, but it did help me to think about other things. We went home early, so we could go visit Toules. Just as we were getting ready to leave, a vet from the hospital called. "We received a phone call from the pathologist. And the mass that is on Toules intestine is beginning to rupture (poisoning him - which is why his red blood cell count was so low). We have a surgeon on hand & if you agree, we will prep Toules for immediate surgery." I asked if we could come visit, and she said they needed to get him into surgery. So, we agreed to the surgery. The rest of the afternoon, we waited for the surgeon to call with a report - thinking it could be bad or good. Surgery lasted 3 hours. Surgeon finally called & reported that all went well. Toules was awake & responding well. Whew, what a relief that phone call was!

On Sunday, we went to visit. He was happy to see us, but looked so miserable. Poor guy. Did we do the right thing?

Crazy guy stood up, then wouldn't lay back down. He wanted to come home.

On Monday, Chris went to see him at lunch. Looking a little better, but still so sad. He was on IV drip. Still not interested in eating.

We went back on Monday night - still not eating. Tuesday, the vet called and said that we could take him home. The mass did turn out to be cancer, but a 'good' kind. They removed it all, and said he was clean - no spread. Not sure how long it took to grow though - hopefully it was slow growing, and won't return. The mass was the size of a tennis ball!

Leary about taking him home, but knew it would be good for him. He needed to eat! 3-5 days after surgery were the most critical. It was a race between his sutures dissolving & the intestine healing.
We did get him to eat a little hamburger on Tuesday night - score! Slowly but surely, he ate more & more. No dog food though - and preferred eating from our hands.

Finally, eating from a plate!


Very loving now, and comes to sit by you all the time. He finally ate some 'dog' food yesterday (Saturday), so we know he is finally on the mend. The cat isn't scared of him anymore. And he is starting to enjoy his squeaky toys again. Wow - only one week later - amazing! He should be 80% healed by next Saturday. New nickname - Zipper!

Still a skinny butt - but on his way!! Next Saturday, he gets his staples removed. The group at Emergency are going to be so happy that he is doing so well. What a great hospital. If I get sick - I may just asked to get taken there!