New Lease on Life

On July 31, 2013, I started my day as usual around 7:30 AM, letting the dogs outside and then bringing them in to feed them.  Right after their breakfast, I noticed that Fynn's disposition was a little off - she didn't seem comfortable.  She wouldn't take her morning pill and looked uneasy... like she needed to go outside.  So I let her out and immediately noticed her tummy was slightly enlarged.  Normally, I keep her fairly lean.  Now some people may think she is underweight but due to her legs having problems, it is best to keep her that lean and it's actually healthier.  So it was really easy to spot that her tummy was slightly more round than usual.  I woke Shane up to get her opinion and she confirmed Fynn looked a bit odd and that I should call the vet.  Fifteen minutes later I was at the vet and Fynn's stomach had swollen to the size of a very large medicine ball.  My poor baby could barely walk and was crying out in pain.  And then the vet confirmed my worst fear... Fynn had bloat.

Now my family has had fila brasileiros for a while now and I am well aware of the health issues that plague not only this breed but all giant breeds, bloat being one of them.  That said though, I still never though this  could happen to my kid!  And when talking to my friends and extended family about her situation, I came to realize that most people are actually unaware of the risk of bloat.  So I write this partly to share Fynn's story but to also spread the word so that maybe more canine lives can be saved.

Bloat is a condition where the stomach distends with gas and fluid and then twists.  This traps the gas within the stomach preventing the dog from vomiting.  As the food within the stomach ferments, it creates more gas and eventually the stomach wall begins to die.  According to the vet, it looked like Fynn hadn't digested her last two meals.  And all of this happens VERY fast.  It took about half an hour from when I noticed her not being herself to me being at the vet with a very sick dog.  Bloat is very dangerous.

Dog with bloat

Bloat occurs mainly in large dogs with deep chests but can also occur in small dogs with deep chests like dachshunds.  Other symptoms besides the ones I already mentioned include pale gums and pacing.  It is extremely important to catch this early on.  Luckily, we did so with Fynn and not much tissue had died.  You  can read more about bloat here.

Right when I brought Fynn in, the vet techs rushed her in to get x-rays of her belly to see what they were dealing with.  They were unsure of the image results as there was so much gas in her belly so they intubated her to get a lot of the gas out, then re-did the x-rays and sure enough her stomach and spleen had twisted.  The vet then told me that there was a 70% chance of survival with this surgery.  That was a hard pill to swallow.  You see, once they un-twisted the organs, that would release a lot of toxins into the body and some dogs are unable to recover from that shock.  As usual, I asked the vet if she thought it was worth it and she said yes.  I felt that I owed it to my dear Fynn to at least try to save her.  This was all so sudden, I wasn't ready to let her go.  Even with such a big risk, I decided to move forward with the surgery.  It's a good thing I did... Fynn pulled through just fine.  She was very lucky though... lucky to have this happen when I was home and lucky that she was healthy enough to pull through such a difficult life-threatening situation.  You see, all the bloat cases I have ever heard of never ended this well.   I was truly amazed that she lived.

After the surgery, Fynn had to deal with a new set of problems.  I decided (on the vet's recommendation) that she should go to an overnight vet to be monitored as there were possible unseen issues that could occur.  That facility sent her home with a pain medication.  My personal vet had only prescribed an anti-inflammatory.  Not only that, but during the surgery, my vet had not emptied her stomach.  I'm assuming this was to be as minimally invasive as possible.  The overnight facility's indicator on whether a dog is well enough to go home is if they are able to eat.  So regardless of the records that were sent over by my vet showing this, they fed her and gave her pain medication that slowed her elimination.  None of these things helped the food that was still in her stomach to move through her system.  All of this was completely counterproductive (and really frustrating).  Finally, after two days of no solid waste, minimal food, no pain meds and walking, Fynn showed that her system was digesting and getting back to normal.  I was the happiest mama in the world! 

Now it has been a month and thankfully she is doing just fine.  While her hair is growing back very slowly, her energy level and appetite for not only food but life was practically back to normal the moment she left the hospital.  I have a pretty amazing and resilient dog!

Fynn in Neah Bay, 3 weeks post-surgery

My hope is that we can save more lives if we get the word out there.  I count my blessings every day with Fynn.  I don't believe that it was her time to go.  But every day she is here is a day that I almost didn't have so I am extremely thankful for the miracle that her existence is.  And to commemorate her new lease on life, I have started a mini-journal of her life... tweeting pictures.  You can follow me on either instagram or twitter and see all the pictures.

Thanks for reading.  Mama loves you, Fynn.