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March 07, 2008
Friday Creature
I've got quite the treat this week! A lot has been going on in the world of Dear Puppy, and I have the pictures to prove it -- and they're interior shots (don't worry! I didn't take them myself)!
DP went in for yet another weekly progress inspection this past Monday, and things were not looking good. Her red blood cell count was stable, but she'd lost more weight and, alarmingly, her white blood cell count was sharply elevated. Clearly, she had some sort of infection. The vet gave her a thorough exam, complete with x-rays, but couldn't find anything definitive -- she was just too skinny for anything to be all that perceptible.
Further testing was needed, so I took her back early Tuesday morning for some barium and an Upper GI exam, which finally revealed something: an obstruction of some sort in her intestine. This would call for some exploratory surgery, and fast.
She was on the table by lunchtime, and the vet found an intestinal inteceception. He removed a third of her intestine, sewed her back up, and she was in recovery by the middle of the afternoon (the surgery lasted for around two and a half hours). We got her back home by 7pm.
It was quite the whirlwind/rollercoaster of a day, but I'm happy to report that DP has been mending quickly all week long and is eagerly trying to catch up on all her eating! She's so much better already!
The vet (Dr. Tai Federico, if you locals are wondering) was kind enough to share his photos of the surgery with me, and I'm going to share them here -- but for those who get weak-kneed at the sight of medical stuff (which is a category I normally belong in), I've put them on a separate page, so that you won't see them unless you really want to.
So, without further ado, here are the images, step-by-step, of Dear Puppy's intestinal resection. For those who don't want to go there, here is the recovering DP, on the day after surgery (there's an IV stump under that tape on her leg) -- and, of course, as usual, there are more creature pics over at modulator.org (which I think are mostly exterior shots)!
As always, have a great weekend!
Posted by alice at March 7, 2008 11:30 AM
Comments
Awwww - DP and Ms. B have matching right front legs(except that MB's is not quite so colorful, no vetwrap).
alls well that ends well - and I'm giving myself a bit of time before I have a look at those pics. I may forward this post to my school's yahoo group so they can see what goes on, unless you'd rather I not do so (bandwidth?). Let me know here. I'll check back.
Posted by: sravana at March 7, 2008 05:31 PM
OMG your poor DP!!!
That first pic looks so so SO painful!!
I imagine she's raring to go after losing that bit of unpleasantness...
Posted by: sravana at March 7, 2008 05:34 PM
Go ahead and share, sravana! I'm sure the servers can handle it! ;-D
Posted by: alice at March 7, 2008 06:08 PM
Amazing intestines! Glad that DP is on the mend and up to a photo op :)
Posted by: poopie at March 7, 2008 06:57 PM
Those were some pictures! I can't make up my mind what DP's expression is saying, bu she's sure a cutey!
Posted by: June at March 7, 2008 09:57 PM
Wow. That is amazing. Thank god you took her back in. What I'm left wondering is--what is the mysterious mass? Did she eat something that wouldn't digest (like a rock or piece of plastic in the yard)? I'm so glad that the mystery of her weight loss is solved. Can't wait to come see her!
Posted by: scott at March 8, 2008 10:51 AM
I'm so glad the problem was determined and corrected. It sounds like the vet care was superb in this case also. I have to admit to not looking at the surgical pics tho. Give DP a big hug and a Beggin' Strip or pig's ear for me.
Posted by: fletch at March 8, 2008 12:22 PM