FAQ: Has your bulldog ever had an obstruction?

[bullmama]

Has your bully ever had an obstruction? Please tell us your story. Include as many details as possible, including symptoms, tests or vet visits, photos, and recovery.


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[Vikinggirl]

Hi, yes Bulldozer has had an obstruction, he has swallowed socks on 4 different occasions, and on all occasions has been able to either vomit them up, or poop them out. Only on one occasion that he swallowed a sock did he show any signs of illness, the other times, he ate his food, drank water, and acted and played like normal. He would just throw up one morning, and a sock would appear. I didn't know he had swallowed a sock, and don't know where he found them, other than my Grandson always takes his socks off when he comes home from school and leaves them around.

One Sunday I woke up in the morning to Dozer throwing up in his crate, he threw up once, I cleaned it up, and he seemed okay after that, I took him out and he drank some water, I fed him his breakfast, and he came and laid beside me on the couch. All of a sudden, he threw up all his kibble in my lap, and on the couch. Thank goodness for leather couches. I cleaned it up again, and he was laying in his crate, I noticed he was drooling water from his mouth. It was Sunday, and my vet opens from 11:00 to 5:00 on Sundays, so I had to wait to call her, as the morning went on, he became very lethargic and was just laying and sleeping. I called the vet when she opened and explained what was going on with Dozer, and she told me to bring him in at 2:00, he kept on vomiting, and he had a mushy bowel movement, which I put some in a baggy, to take with me in vase she wanted a poop sample for testing. He continued to get worse, so at about 1:00 I picked him up, and took him into the vets which was a 5 minute drive from my house. She took Dozer in right away, and checked him over, she listened to his tummy, and felt his stomach and intestines, she said she could feel a mass in there, and wanted to take X-rays. The X-rays showed a shadow in his lower intestine, but she could not tell what the object was. She gave him a laxative to see if it would help move his bowels along. We waited and then she asked me to take him outside to see if he could have a poop, he did poop a little, and some paper towel came out. We thought that he had probably swallowed paper towel and thought that this was causing the problem. He still was very lethargic, and my vet didn't like the way he was acting, she gave him some pain medication, because she said he was showing signs of being in pain, and she put him on IV fluids to keep him hydrated since he was vomiting. He stayed at the vets until 5:00 when they were closing, and then she sent us home. She called the emergency vet Hospital, and told them that more than likely we would be coming there that night and that Dozer was probably going to need surgery. She gave us his X-ray, and some cans of a high fibre prescription dog food, which we were told to feed him 1 to 2 Tbsp's every one to two hours to help move his bowels along. She wrote down all the medications she had given him, to take with us to the hospital, she was convinced he was going to have to go to the hospital. We took him home, and he was pretty groggy from the pain meds, he wasn't vomiting anymore, but was very sleepy, we had to carry him outside to go potty. He slept, and we fed him his fibre food every hour, he ate it no problem, and then went back to sleep. At about 8:30 that evening, I took him outside to go potty, and he peed, and then he started walking in circles, looking for a place to go poop, he seemed to be straining and having a hard time going, then he would circle again, an dry to go poop. I saw something coming out of his butt, and he was really straining to go, I helped him a little by putting a poop bag on my hand, and pulling out the poop, finally he was able to pass his poop and it was much longer than it usually is, and I could see some white poking through. I was thinking the white was more paper towel in his poop. As soon as he pooped this out, he was back to himself, he seemed to bounce right back, and I took him back into the house. I got two more poop bags and put them on my hands and went outside to clean up the poop, I did some poop CSI sleuthing and pulled it apartbtomsee what in the poop, and I found what once was a little Old Navy white sweat sock that was my Grandsons. Dozer had swallowed and pooped out a sock, it was very brown, and very sour smelling, so I have no idea how long it had been in his stomach. Dozer was totally fine after he passed the sock, and back to himself. The next morning, my vet called me to,ask how Dozer was, I told her what he passed, and she couldn't believe it, she thought that she was going to hear that we had taken him to the emergency hospital, and he had surgery. When I told her he passed a sock, she asked us to bring him in, so she could recheck him, and feel his tummy again to make sure he was okay. She asked me to bring the sock in so she could see it, as she couldn't believe he was actually able to pass a sock. I fished the smelly sock out of the garbage, bagged it, and took him back to the vets. She said he was fine, and he was okay after that.

Here is a picture of the sock Dozer swallowed and the X-ray of the shadow in his tummy:

 

[nycbullymama]

Partial Obstruction.

Blue broke the squeaker off of a large Kong Squeezz Gel toy and swallowed it.
We waited for him to pass it, but he didn't. Instead, he started throwing up.

Took him to a veterinary hospital. They did an x-ray, and said they couldn't see anything- said he must have passed it. Chris and I knew he didn't and insisted on a sonogram.
When they did the sonogram, the tech actually saw it right away.

Since it was still in the stomach, they decided to try and get it out via an endoscopy. Said if it was successful, they wouldn't need to do surgery.
We (or should I say Blue) got lucky and the endoscopy worked.

Blue is an extreme chewer. We've learned that most toys, even ones that claim to be indestructible aren't. Things bigger than his head, and the rubber Kong ones are the safest for him. By default, Wellie's stuck with the same types of toys..lol.

 

[jimmyjj]

Not yest. Not ever I hope

 

[2BullyMama]

We have had one with Nitschke... unfortunately, it was so long ago I really do not remember many of the details, but he chewed off and swallowed the fin of a baby toy whale. My sister was eatching Nitschke for the weekend and asked her husband to keep an eye on him while she ran to the store. When she returned, she found Nitschke in the hall bathroom with the toy whale in his mouth and the fin gone! Needless to say, surgery followed.... and yes, 8 yrs later, I still have the fin in a medical jar

Banks, well, she was not obstructed, but only becasue the rock she ate could not pass from her stomach to her intestine!! We took her to the vet knowing something was wrong with her, her behavior was totally off. She was not sick or showing any normal signs of obstruction... no vomit, no poo issues, not lethargic, she was eating and drinking normal, but she was not herself. So what made us take her in for a full exam with x-rays.... she put her teeth on Daddy! She had never ever done this... all her dominance, stubborness and attitude, she has never placed her teeth on us. Turned out she ate a rock that was bouncing around her belly for who knows how long, he stomach lining was inflammed and brusied/irritated which was causing her lots of pain. The rock was too big to pass so it never was an obstruction, but had to be surgically removed.