Wookie Update...

First of all, I want to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has taken the time to express their concern for Wookie through comments or emails. I can't tell you how much I appreciate your kindness and caring.

 

My last update was Saturday... right before we took him back to his regular vet for the fourth time. His regular vet still couldn't find anything specifically wrong, and discharged him with antibiotics.

 

On Sunday morning, we found that he had vomited a huge amount in his crate. Mixed in with everything was what appeared to be a large chunk of an IAMS tartar treat. Wookie was cowering and screaming in pain whenever we touched him. I put the chunk in a baggie and rushed him to the off-hours emergency vet clinic.

 

They put him on IV fluids and doggie morphine and said they needed to keep him until his regular vet reopened Monday morning. When we called to check on him, they said he had vomited another large chunk of the IAMS biscuit.

 

We picked him up from the emergency clinic on Monday and took him back to his regular vet. He had never looked so awful - his tail was pinned between his legs, he could barely stand on his own, and he felt cold. His temperature was down to 98 (normal for a dog is 101.5 or so) - his pulse and respiration were half the normal rate.

 

His regular vet examined him again and immediately got on the phone to our regional veterinary teaching hospital at Virginia Tech. We rushed down there (about a two and a half hour drive)

 

The vet team at Tech was absolutely wonderful with Wookie. They wanted to rule out all possible structural and metabolic causes before they focused on the fact that he vomited up two huge treat chunks and may be suffering effects from a foreign object stuck in his stomach.

 

They did more bloodwork and an ultrasound. The bloodwork came back perfect for the most part -- except for markers for malnourishment. (that wasn't a surprise since Wookie really hasn't eaten for nine days). The ultrasound showed that his digestive tract looked empty and normal. The vet did caution us that ultrasounds are not foolproof, they can miss things due to all the curves and folds in the digestive tract. Endoscopy and exploratory surgery are the only foolproof ways (both are done under anesthesia) to see if there is a foreign body in a dog's digestive tract.

 

She wanted to avoid putting Wookie under anesthesia, and treat him more conservatively. She decided to keep him at Virginia Tech as an inpatient. She's been giving him a small "meatball-sized" meal every few hours and tracking his progress. If Wookie keeps the meals down and eventually passes them normally, she's going to assume that the vomited treat chunks were his problem.

 

She called us about 15 minutes ago, and told us that Wookie has now had 4 mini-meals and has not vomited. He's also looking more energetic and happy. So maybe I can dare to hope that he has finally rounded the corner! She'll call again this evening and if he is still doing well, he might be able to come home tomorrow!

 

If he does start vomiting again, they will likely do the endoscopy and surgery. I really hope it won't come to that. Wookie has been through so much misery these past ten days.

 

Incidentally, I had suspected this IAMS tartar treat since the very beginning, but the symptoms and tests did not back my theory up. I suppose there is a lot to be said for intuition. Also -- for other dog owners -- these IAMS treats were specifically created to compete against Greenies. IAMS claims they are safer, 100% digestible and edible, and "so hard that your pet won't be able to break the treats into chunks large enough to disrupt digestion". Wookie is not an aggressive chewer and he was watched the whole time he ate his IAMS treat. He ate it quickly, but not that quickly. This was the first IAMS treat Wookie ever had in his life. It is also the LAST one Wookie (or any of my dogs) will *ever* get. I'm amazed that two large chunks of this treat floated around, undigested, in his stomach for NINE days.

 

Poor little Wookie only weighs 13 pounds right now. :(

 

These are the tartar biscuits that caused his troubles: www.petco.com/Shop/petco_Product_R_1899_PC_productlist_Na...

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