Our beloved labradoodle kept us up all night. Whining, whimpering. By 2am, he had trouble getting up on his hind legs, but could walk with encouragement. A little bit of anal seepage, no ability to pass a b.m. One small accident by the door when we woke up at 6am.
He is notorious for being a sock-swallower! Normally he just throws them up. This time whatever is creating the blockage has passed thru most of his system. We dread calling the vet, & are hoping for "movement" by Noon when church releases.
Sooo, has anyone had experience with seeking the vet's help? I know we are looking at xrays & possible surgery to remove the blockage. Has anyone been thru this? & how long can we wait? My fear is that CoCoa will just sit in a cage until Monday morning....since it's Easter. I would much rather watch him at home. Any thoughts?
UPDATE: spoke with our local vet. He asked us to try Cat Hairball Remedy. He is suggesting waiting for "movement" before beginning diagnostics. At the 1st sign of vomiting, we are to contact him. CoCoa has had some water, sucked down the remedy/treats, & is currently walking the yard. Moving slooooow.
Oh, & I posted this question while I was waiting for my call-back from our vet. Small town, no emerg services unless we drive into St Louis - 2 hours away! Thank goodness I trust our local vets!
Thanks to all....
SWH #2: thanks to the vet's recommendations, we are seeing improvement. By late this afternoon, CoCoa was initiating play in the backyard. Still has trouble getting up/down, but is now able to run & play. Still taking the hairball remedy to help ease passage, still not fully-recovered....but better. We have our instructions for thru the night, & will be consulting again in the morning.
Learned a lot by posting this question. Learned how very few people have the ability to trust & wait...."riding it out" is a skill to be achieved thru faith, patience, & trust -not only in our vet- but also in the Lord. We had our list of precautions/warning signs from the vet....& we were at ease with our instructions. Knowing that our vet had CoCoa's best interests in hand allowed us the freedom to follow his thoughts for today. Not much different from waiting for delivery of a baby....we had our surgical team all lined up in case of emergency - & still prepped for thru the night. :)
thanks for all of the kind words....& Peace to those who freaked. I was looking for helpful hints, "been there" recommendations - not character bashing. :)
FINAL UPDATE: official dx.....gastroenteritis - most probably caused by the fiberfil in the doggie bed the idiots destroyed on Friday. CoCoa is on a special diet, antibiotics, & probiotics. He was quite perky by the time the appt rolled around....& in LOVE with all of the staff. He certainly entertained them! :) So glad it wasn't a blockage! The fact that he never vomited, nor ran a fever really helped us determine our decision to "trust & wait". Well, that & trusting our vet! Thanks to all.....
I would take him to an animal hospital. I would not wait any longer, too risky. I hope everything works out okay.
S.:
Good morning and happy Easter!! Chris is Risen!!
You do not say how old your dog is...however....IF IT WERE MY DOG????? that was having anal seepage, trouble getting up on his hind legs and hasn't had the ability to pass a BM - I would be taking my beloved Grady to the Veterinary Emergency Room...I would skip church, I would skip festivities and take care of my dog.
DO NOT WAIT!! Here is a google list of emergency vets in St. James, MO
http://local.search.yahoo.com/search?p=emergency+vet+serv...
u need to take him to the vet asap.. especially if hes having trouble/ pain walking .. he definatley has a serious blockage and it needs to be removed right away...my yellow lab swallowd a dish towel whole.. hes notorious for not chewing anything.. we didnt know until about 20 minutes later when he threw it up and almost choked to death.my dad has to literaly pull it out of his mouth. we made him a vet appointment for the nxt day (it was at night and he seemed ok after that so we didnt wana put him through the stress of taking him to the emergency vet) and wen we told the vet what happened the next day she said we were extremely lucky that our dog is as large as he is (at the time the was 120lbs) or he couldve easily died.. we've also seen him poop out my socks (luckily they are very small .. and once even a pair of my underwear.. thank god he grew out of the habit of eating clothing
if the dogs stomach is severly blocked enough to the point where its effecting blood circulation to the tissue of the stomach that section of stomach can actualy being to die (this is what happens when large dogs get bloat.. air gets in the stomach causes it to twist stopping blood flow and the tissue dies) .. i hope that your dog is large enough and the sock is small enough that he can pass it but if i were u id be extremely concerned... are u positive that he ate a sock? for all u know it could be something else entirely ..the only way to know for sure is to have the vet xray his stomach
Is he vomiting? Vomiting is more of an indicator of obstruction than trouble passing stool.
Is there an emergency vet practice in your area? They should be open 24/7, fully staffed, and be able to hospitalize your dog and perform x-rays and surgery if need be before tomorrow. Most regular vet practices are not staffed after hours so I agree, he should not be left alone somewhere without someone to monitor him, but if there is an ER practice in your area, I would call them.
If it were one of my dogs, we would have already been in the Animal ER.
You don't compromise health and safety, even with beloved pets. The dog can die soon if you don't get him to the Animal ER stat!!!!
You wouldn't wait for one of your children to see what happens, would you?
I would be on the road to St Louis where he can get treated TODAY.
*** Those who wait too long often have a much worse outcome of their pet. Long ago I worked for a vet and I saw many terrible situations with blockages, people that just didn't want to rush treatment or spend money. I don't know if that's the way the Lord works.
ETA Wow, sorry if we freaked in your opinion. I have been there, many times in the emergency clinic, usually at the end of a very sick beloved pet who's owners (parents) waited too long.
I would take him in NOW.
I lost a dog 2 yrs ago due to kidney failure. It started showing as diarrhea and vomiting and then weakness and then he couldn't walk, we didn't catch it until he was so sick he only lived a week past that. I thought he had just eaten something he wasn't supposed to , he liked to eat my hair scrunchies , and underpants. I was waiting for him to throw up another scrunchy . He never did. He stopped eating , then drinking. It was the hardest thing I've ever been through.
I would drive him to the emergency vet 2 hrs away now.
Vet hospitals are usually open 365 days a yr (call before driving to be sure).
Google to ensure there is not a close vet hospital.
Hope he is going to be ok.
My sock eating Lab does this occasionally.
With him it usually means the sock is in his rectum, and he can't push it out. Rubber gloves and a slow pull and he's back to tricks immediately after.
He eats 3-4 socks a week and this only happens once or twice a year. Going on year 4 now. Sigh.
