Oh, it's all drama here at the moment!! I went round to my friend's house to feed Shadow and, as I was putting his bowl down, I noticed that he was HUGE across his ribcage and stomach. I felt it, and he was rock, rock solid. He was also lethargic and nowhere near his normal bouncy self. Immediate thoughts of bloat and other nasties, so we called the emergency vet who said we could come in now or wait until morning. There's no way we could settle from worry - especially after re-reading the symptoms and implications of bloat, so we headed off to the vet. She wasn't our regular one, in fact she is Alfie's vet from a different surgery (Alfie being the other dog Shadow is staying with at the moment), because they share the responsibilities of call-outs between the two surgeries. She immediately put my mind at rest that it wasn't bloat, because he wasn't hollow - there was definitely something in there. So she x-rayed him and his tummy was so full of food that you couldn't even see his bladder/bowel etc. She said "this is NOT normal". He must have snarfled something on a walk without me or Sarah (who does some of his walks) noticing, because it was a LOT of food. I did feel a bit like a naughty schoolgirl being told not to overfeed my dog, but that's probably just the language thing. It's pretty obvious he's not fat, but he's SO bloated. So, he's now on starvation until Thursday evening (!) and has some meds to take morning and evening. Because they're likely to make him a bit "loose", I've brought him home and he can sleep in the crate overnight, so he doesn't mess up my friend's floors! He's still very dopey, like Grandpa after Sunday lunch, which is good because it means he and Willow aren't jumping on one another. After a day without food and walks, though, it may be a different story. The vet said he's not allowed off lead for the next couple of days, to stop him running and jumping. So, I'm going to have two bundles of energy to try to keep quiet! Fun times!
Re: Shadow at the emergency vet.... Oh crikey, what a worry. Hopefully starvation and rest will cure. Not what you need just now though. Hope you all on the mend physically and emotionally soon
Re: Shadow at the emergency vet.... Oh no, hope the starvation does the trick and he gets back to normal.
Re: Shadow at the emergency vet.... Oh no! Well done for acting fast though. I wouldn't have been able to wait it out til the morning either. Hope he's back to normal soon!
Re: Shadow at the emergency vet.... Oh lord that was scary!! Glad you got to the bottom of it and good luck keeping them both quiet
Re: Shadow at the emergency vet.... Shadow Do I sense a detailed poo thread coming up ;D ;D ;D ;D Fell better soon little man....
Re: Shadow at the emergency vet.... It never rains but it pours. Hope that's not a metaphor for poos. Sleep well.
Re: Shadow at the emergency vet.... [quote author=sunsetpines link=topic=10076.msg147231#msg147231 date=1425419149] Do I sense a detailed poo thread coming up ;D ;D ;D ;D [/quote] It may be just that! Yes, I know I overreacted, but I also know that if someone had come on here saying "my dog is really stiff around the middle", I'd have been advising the vet. I wouldn't have been able to sleep tonight with worry, and I wouldn't have forgiven myself if something bad had happened. He's now completely zonked out. Bless him. Right now, my runty little man doesn't look so runty PS only I'm allowed to call him runty.
Re: Shadow at the emergency vet.... I don't think you over reacted! I think getting it checked out was essential. I hope he has a big poo and feels much better soon! Do you think he got into the dog food cupboard or something like that?
Re: Shadow at the emergency vet.... I agree, definitely not an over reaction. I hope is have the sense to do the same thing in that situation. Poor Shadow, probably had a ball scoffing whatever he scoffed! Hope he poops himself back to normal soon.
Re: Shadow at the emergency vet.... It's as well you took him to the vet to be checked. I hope all is resolved tomorrow with whatever it was beginning to make an appearance! Meanwhile, good luck with keeping two recovering dogs calm.
Re: Shadow at the emergency vet.... Maybe he read your threat on the other thread about force-feeding him lard.... Hugs from me and big licks (and quite a lot of respect) from Pongo
Re: Shadow at the emergency vet.... This used to happen to my son when he was about 4! It was a combination of over eating and constipation, his tummy would be like a huge hard football! He was a skinny wee thing too. I hope Shadow is soon back to his normal self xxx
Re: Shadow at the emergency vet.... Poor boy :'( you done the right thing rushing to the vets - better to be safe than sorry. Hope he feels better soon and good luck keeping them both calm
Re: Shadow at the emergency vet.... You definitely did the right thing to take him to the vet. Poor lad, hope he feels better in the morning; what a worry for you.
Re: Shadow at the emergency vet.... My goodness, poor Shadow! I wonder what on earth he got in to?? I mean, a quick grab at a tasty bit of garbage on a walk is one thing, but to be that full it sounds like concentrated eating...I would suspect the dog food cupboard too.... ???
Re: Shadow at the emergency vet.... My goodness, what a worry. Hope he's deflated overnight. I strongly suspect a food cupboard raid too. Many years ago my sister had a Lab who broke into a bag of kibble and was just as you're describing. He was fine after a day or two.
Re: Shadow at the emergency vet.... Gosh.....I was so worried when I spotted this this morning. Hope the gannet gets back to his normal speed PDQ. What a fright for you x
Re: Shadow at the emergency vet.... Well, the person who has been looking after him says no, but I wonder if that's just so I don't get cross - not that I would. Yesterday, I walked him at lunch time and in the evening, and although he found something in the snow on his evening walk, it looked more like poo than food and he was only digging at it for about 20 seconds, so I wouldn't have thought long enough to be this kind of volume. Anyway, he's home now, where I can control exactly what goes into him. He has more energy this morning and has had a (kickable) poo but is still massive compared to normal. He was very put out when Willow had her breakfast and he just got a syringe of medicine squirted into his mouth!
