Other What a f*&%@#$ awful week we've had ......

kazzy220

..........
Jul 31, 2010
8,556
441
Grafton, OHIO
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England
Bulldog(s) Names
Maggie (My Angel Baby 5/31/2012). Daddy (2 years). Linus (1year). Bella (4 years)
Well pardon my french ... but it's been a real :poo: of a week when all is said and done!!!

Soooo............... I get home on tues night and all is fine, make dinner, and just as we sit down to eat, Linus throws up. Then he throws up again. And again. Then a bit more. Again. we eat dinner. Throws up again. Again. Once more. Again and finally again. Ten times. In between he's all happy and smiles for the most part. Tom is freaking out, and I'm trying to stay calm because he is perfectly normal apart from this sudden interest he has in playing the lead role in the exorcist. Now if his head had started spinning it would be a different story!!

So I stay up with him and at 2am he hasn't thrown up for a long time and seems very very sleepy so we all go to bed.

In the morning, he's perfectly fine. Hadn't thrown up at all during the night and by now 6 hours had passed.

So I cook up some white rice and a little beef ... and he has the bland diet for breakfast. Tom was off that day because we are getting quotes for a new garage door, so off I toddle to work. Then at 9am I get a call from Tom that Linus has thrown up three times since breakfast. Off to the vet he goes.

Now, for those of you who have missed my previous posts ... Linus is known to eat anything that is not nailed down and/or has not got a pulse. I thought I had seen an improvement in this behaviour but maybe not.

The vet immediately takes x-rays suspecting a blockage, and returns with them pointing out what they are confident is a blockage of some sort. So Linus ate something. The vet does mention enemas to see if the blockage will move, but is still pretty sure there is a blockage on the x-ray. I wasn't in the room, but for whatever reason Tom is convinced that surgery is immediately necessary. Total cost right now is $2400.

Many many hours pass, and I'm so impatient that I call and happen to catch the vet just as surgery finishes. There is NO blockage. So what was this supposed blockage on the x-ray. It was apparently a lot of grass and the rice he had for breakfast. They found absolutely NOTHING!

I asked if he had been poisoned .. they say no because poison would have shown up as ulceration as it went down. They can only say that he must have either eaten something poisonous that day before (tuesday) or it may be viral. But his blood panel came back with nothing to suggest that. HOwever they did say that the blood panel does not necessarily show everything.

They did say that parts of his intestines were "over active". For those of you who are not sure, the intestine contracts and that's what forces the food along the right path. If it contracts too much and too hard then it will often come up the wrong way. It was the over active intestine that was causing the exorcist type projectile vomiting that he was doing on Wednesday morning.

So ... my baby boy was cut open. His stomach was cut open and the contents scooped out. Parts of his intestines were cut open because they wanted to make sure the "over active" parts didn't' have something weird like a shoe lace stuck in them. All for absolutely nothing.

I outright said to the vet.... "so my bulldog has been cut open for nothing, there was no blockage, you dont' know what caused it, and so there is no way of me stopping this from happening again"!!!

I am furious that they were so quick to get the scalpel out and put a bulldog under anaesthesia. This was not the normal doctor that Linus saw, it is a younger girl who works with my normal vet.

So LInus comes home and they knock $500 off the bill .. so we're at $1900. three types of meds. painkillers, anti-acid to stop the stomach acid destroying the stitches, and anti vomiting tablets. Also strict instructions to take his normal daily food allowance and split it into six regular meals. Those of you who have work fulltime .. you will appreciate how difficult that is to do. I am so far behind in my work right now because out of the two of us it is easier for me to slip home and feed him and give the meds then my husband. Being there to feed him every three hours requires special ops planning. Every night we stand in front of our little board on the fridge.. dry eraser pen in hand, and plan out how the hell we are going to get through the next day!!

I get home on Wednesday and just want to cry when I see him. My baby boy is so uncomfortable so I just curl up on the doggy bed in the laundry room with him and we both just lay there for a while with me not trying to cry.

Linus was always the Mummys boy, but since this he has become more so. We have to put him on the lead/leash to take him out so he has got used to it. But he prefers me to go with him rather than Tom and won't budge out of the sunroom unless I'm 2" away from him. It's got to the point where I dont' even need the lead because he wont' move unless I'm less than a foot away from him.

So we seem to be making improvements, and then I get home from work on Friday afternoon to find blood and poop all over the laundry room floor. We are talking poop mixed with blood and then just blood. So I call the vets .. they want him in immediately. So I leave the poopy laundry room .... and off we go. I see my usual vet this time. She examines him and says the stitches look ok. Basically, the incisions were done in the upper intestines so blood from there would be dark. This was bright red which would indicate it was coming from the colon. There were a number of options ... it could be the painkillers upsetting his system, or it could be whatever he ate that was poisonous had finally passed down to the colon and was irritating that.. hence the blood. So she gave me another medicine that was going to stop the bleeding and calm down the colon. Then she had the audacity to charge me it!!! My bully got cut open for NOTHING on the "advice/professional opinion" of the other vet. An unnecessary and invasive surgery, then she charges me $25 for yet more pills. I was fuming, and I just took the invoice and walked out. Still haven't paid it.

So as we stand right now ... I have a bully baby who is never more than 6" away from me whenever I am home. He is very clingy. His stitches this evening are still intact but they are obviously annoying him, he sometime walks around in circles as if he is trying to get to them but he can't. They also feel moist ... so I am thinking another call into the vet tomorrow is needed to find out if this moist seeping type thing is expected. It's the first time I"ve had a dog go through major internal surgery such as this.

:nope:
 

mcraven2

Bonnaroo bound in my bulldog batmobile
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[MENTION=959]kazzy220[/MENTION] wow that is awful. I would be just as upset if I were you!! That is unbelievable that they gave him that surgery in the first place, but then to CHARGE YOU THAT MUCH!? WTF?!!! I am getting mad just thinking about it! And poor Linus!!! Give him an extra hug and kiss from me tonight! I just feel so bad for him and YOU!
 

cali baker

Worlds Greatest Chef
Feb 25, 2011
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Oh, Karen!!! I wish I could wave a magic wand and make Linus all better again and make this go away. I'm sorry he's had to endure all this and that you guys have had to go through this. I really feel your pain. This does sound like a nightmare especially when a diagnosis wasn't even made. I know when one of mine are sick, it makes ME feel sick and yes, when we have to work full time on top of it, it's definitely very challenging. Hang in there, my friend. Take it step by step and breathe. You and Linus will get thru this, just will take a little more time and hopefully not so much more money and frustration! :assurred:
 

Vikinggirl

Norwegian Rose
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Oct 8, 2012
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Oh what an awful week, and an awful experience. I'm so sorry you and Linus had to go through this terrible ordeal. Poor baby, I hope he heals quickly without any more difficulties, and that he's back to himself soon. I also have a male named Bulldozer who eats everything and anything that's not nailed down. I came to the conclusion a long time ago that he's a bully goat. So far he's been able to pass or throw up everything he's swallowed, which includes 2 sweat socks, and a dish cloth. Thankfully we've dodged the surgery bullet, so far and I hope we don't have to face that one day. Sending love hugs and prayers for you and Linus. Keep us posted on how he's doing.
 

bullmama

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This whole situation stinks! I had the total opposite problem with Yuna, I had to demand they cut her open to find out what was wrong with her. Cutting open one small portion of intestine to see if there was anything in it is not going to find something small and possibly sharp. X-rays can only pick up things with density. It seems like he may yet still have something working its way through the lower intestines causing the bleeding. Did they ever do a fecal analysis?

For his stitches seeping, I'm not really sure that is normal.. My vets have always insisted that stitches are to left alone to heal on their own, no cleaning allowed. If I did want to wipe them only using saline solution and water only. Is the skin near the stitches red and inflamed?


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OP
kazzy220

kazzy220

..........
Jul 31, 2010
8,556
441
Grafton, OHIO
Country
England
Bulldog(s) Names
Maggie (My Angel Baby 5/31/2012). Daddy (2 years). Linus (1year). Bella (4 years)
  • Thread Starter
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This whole situation stinks! I had the total opposite problem with Yuna, I had to demand they cut her open to find out what was wrong with her. Cutting open one small portion of intestine to see if there was anything in it is not going to find something small and possibly sharp. X-rays can only pick up things with density. It seems like he may yet still have something working its way through the lower intestines causing the bleeding. Did they ever do a fecal analysis?

For his stitches seeping, I'm not really sure that is normal.. My vets have always insisted that stitches are to left alone to heal on their own, no cleaning allowed. If I did want to wipe them only using saline solution and water only. Is the skin near the stitches red and inflamed?


Sent from my iPhone 5 using Tapatalk :)


Tom didn't seem to think they were paticularly red and inflamed. They just seem moist and oozy bit it's a clear liquid. Not pus or bloody. Linus will not lay on his back so our examination is me picking him up and holding him back against my body whilst Tom inspects with the flashlight. He won't wriggle with me and with a 50+ lb bulldog it's a good thing I'm a personal trainer!!
 

ddnene

EBN's SWEETHEART aka our little GOOB
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Jun 19, 2013
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Gosh I'm so sorry... That's horrible, and I don't understand why they would do surgery if they were not sure it was a blockage. My Bella had an incision from a C-section that was slightly red, we just washed it w/soap & put neosporin on it. I hope your baby feels better soon ; (


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Texas Carol

Texas Carol....put the heart in EBN
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Jul 4, 2012
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Brutus & Cami live in Heaven
Dear Karen, such a horrible experience...I'd be very upset too and now
to watch Linus go thru recovery...just sucks! Prayers for a quick, easy
recovery and I'd talk to them again about further reduction on that vet
bill, all they can do is say no...they might do it, too hasty on a bully breed,
that should always be a last resort.

If I could have a 'do over' I'd never have put Brutus thru the dental cleaning
that killed him. I thought we were safe since he'd been neutered but we weren't.

Kisses & hugs to all y'all, GOD bless!
 

Libra926

Pistol Packing Bullyagrapher
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Wow...this whole thing sucks! Kick some ***! Hugs to you!
 

RiiSi

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How horrible for you and Linus. You have all the right to be mad, I'd be kicking some butts too! It's hard for me to understand why they didn't try something else first???!!!
 

Maife

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Apr 8, 2012
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oh God it sounds so awful, I'm so mad at these vets. So many of them just like to make extreme decisions without thinking it through. You just don't cut open somebody without being at least 100% sure it is absolutely necessary and there is no other option. It is horrible to say but many are just after the thousands you will pay for having big procedures done in your pups, it's sickening. I hope Linus feels better soon, poor baby has gone through so much in so few days and you too. I'm thinking of you 2!
Ulysses it's also a Mommas boy, I do everything with and for him, and I try to never let my hubby go anywhere alone with him, specially not the vet, I just feel like he sees him too much as a dog and not the little person he is (and yes I'm not crazy!) but for me Bullies are little people and so they behave. So special care and consideration it is always need it :yes:. Some people can be fooled by their tough looks, but they are such gentle souls and even more delicate on the outside.
 
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LariP

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Aug 4, 2010
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I sure hope he's feeling better soon. :hug:
 

Momma2Bullies

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Wow - this is a heartwrenching situation!
My thoughts are with you and poor Linus, I hope he is all better and back to normal very soon. :*(
 

Valentine215

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Not sure what I will name my new bullddog
I cannot believe they put poor Linus through this! Unbelievable. Is there an option for your to change vets? At least you know that nothing was hung up in his intestines but I hate that he is now in so much pain.

I hope your baby heals soon! ♥
 

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