The Ross Report

It all started on Tuesday last week. Ross was having some digestive issues. He'd constantly have to go to the bathroom and didn't have much of an appetite. He'd be bad one day and the next day he's be fine. That was until Thursday. Thursday, the flood gates opened. He couldn't keep anything down. This prompted a trip to the vet to find out what was going on with Ross. After the vet examed Ross, she decided that she wanted to take some x rays to make sure that there wasn't anything in Ross' stomach that wasn't suppose to be there. After a few x rays and me getting very nervous, she came back and told me that there was something in there and that Ross needed to have surgery the next morning.  I was to take him home with me that night and not give him anything.....no food and no water. He needed to be back the next morning by 7:30 so they could have him on the operating table at 8 am sharp.

After staying up all night to watch the Royal Wedding with my friend, Jodi, I drove Ross to the vet and was meet there by my other friend and member, Ruth. I asked her to come with me when I dropped him off because I knew that it would be too hard on me to do it alone. I did all of the paperwork that needed to be done and took off Ross' colar because they asked me to. I felt really bad about taking his colar home with me but I knew that I would feel a little better having a piece of him with me at home.  I said my goodbyes to Ross and they took him back to prep him for surgery.

To my surprise, they brought Ross out to see me while trying on his cone that he'd have to wear for the next two weeks. They updated me telling me that they repeated the x ray from the day before and there was still something in there. Ross still needed surgery.

They took Ross back again and I went home. I couldn't sit in the vet's office all day waiting to hear something. That would just be too hard on me. Just as I walked in the door of my apartment, my cell phone rang. It was the vet. She said that after looking at that morning's x ray that whatever was in Ross' stomach had moved. She suggested shooting him up with dye and taking x rays for the next several hours to see if there would be a chance for whatever this thing was to pass on it's own. I agreed thinking that that was a much better option that cutting Ross open.

Around noon, I got another phone call from the vet. The dye just sat in Ross' stomach for hours and didn't really move. She said the he needed surgery. I gave her permission to operate on Ross. She told me that I would get a phone call when he was out of surgery and awake. That phone call came around 2:30 Friday afternoon. She said that there wasn't anything in there and that his intestines weren't acting the way that they should have been acting. She said that sometimes they have to open dogs up to "let the evil spirits out" and that the dogs would be fine after that. The vet went on to say that I could come out and see him around 4:30 but I should call first to make sure she was around so she could explain everything to me when I got there.

 Ross was happy to see me when I got there. He looked really confused as to what was going on.....as you can tell by the picture above.

 This is the only picture of his incision that I could get. It's pretty big for a dog like him but at least it took care of what needed to be taken care of. The vet, after kindly letting me take these pictures, showed me the x rays they took before hand and told me about the kind of care that Ross would need once he came home. I asked all the questions that I could think of so I could be as informed as possible. The one question I did ask was what could have caused all of this. She said that she definately thinks that he ate something that he shouldn't have. Whatever it was called all of his digestive system to play the evacuation game in hopes of getting it out. That did the trick but his body didn't know when to stop. This caused his stomach and intestines to become irritated as well as inflamed causing them to basically stop working. Providing he had a good night that night and a good morning, he'd be allowed to come home the next day.

Saturday morning came and I was very excited to go get Ross. I hadn't heard from the vet so I knew that he had a good night. Once I arrived at the vet's, I recieved all of the food that Ross is suppose to eat for about the next week, medication for him to take several times a day, and directions for the care that he'd need so I wouldn't forget. Once I asked all the questions that I needed to and made sure that I understood everything, it was time to take Ross home!

Ross walked right into my apartment like he never left. He did his standard exploring and began to adjust to life in my apartment wearing the cone of shame. He wanted one thing and one thing only.....to eat.

So that's exactly what he did. I've never seen Ross eat so fast! I knew that he had to have been feeling better because of how quickly he ate his food.

For the rest of that night, we continued to follow the vet's orders including giving Ross the medication that he needed. However, one of the medications didn't sit right with him. Apparently, one of the antibodics that they gave Ross has a side effect of vomiting. This is one of the things that the vet told me to look out for because that might mean that there's something else wrong. I quickly called the vet's office and got the beeper number for the vet on call. The vet on call happened to be the same vet that operated on Ross the day before. I told her what was going on. She explained the side effect of that particular antibodic and told me not to give it to him anymore but that I should continue with the rest of the medication just like she perscribed.

Ross had a steller day yesterday including weathering another bout of severe weather for our area. He's always the calm one in a tornado warning.

Today, Ross is being a good little church dog. With all of the care that he'll need with feeding in the new few days, he's come into the office with me so I can make sure he gets what he needs while I work. He walks to my doof where I have a baby gate up so greet the members and people that walk by. He's also sat in my lap a few times and just stared out the window at the rain. He's also rested next to my desk almost as if he's keeping watch over me when it's really the other way around. We've also reached the last major hurdle to Ross' recovery. As of this morning, I can now confidently say that everything is back in working order. It's a huge relief for me!

Needless to say, Ross is on the mends. I'm so thankful that he's feeling better and couldn't be happier to see him acting like himself again!