Ivan a 7 month old puppy, training to be a guide dog, was brought in to the practice after being sick and refusing his food. This was very unusual for Ivan particularly as he is a Labrador!
Ivan a 7 month old puppy, training to be a guide dog, was brought in to the practice after being sick and refusing his food. This was very unusual for Ivan particularly as he is a Labrador!
Claire performed a full examination and decided further investigations were needed as Ivan was definitely not himself.
As Ivan is a calm and good-natured dog the nurses could carry out conscious x-rays of his abdomen and a large foreign body could be identified in his stomach preventing food from passing. To help Ivan the only option was surgery to remove it, as obstructions can cause a patient to become very unwell quickly without other signs he was made ready for surgery straight away.
He was given fluids by a drip and strong pain relief before he was anaesthetised. As soon as he was prepared he was take in to theatre and the surgery go underway. His stomach was located quickly and a gastrostomy was performed (an incision into his stomach) to remove the object. After the surgery Ivan woke up well and was placed in a warm quiet kennel to recover. Ivan was monitored closely and given intensive nursing care and was soon well enough to go home to finish his recovery.
Ivan returned home and has been in for his postoperative appointments with the nurses to ensure his recover was progressing well. He is now back to his bouncy self and his appetite quickly returned, so he can continue with his training to become a fully-fledged guide dog.
Oh and the foreign object causing all the problems was a large section of one of his dog chews!
