Bluedog
New member
It has not been a good week for my girl...hell, it hasn't been a good past 8 weeks or so for her either.
Just as quick background...some of you may remember that Emmy had bloated and torqued on May 31st of this year which I posted about here on NN. At that time the local emergency vet did surgery and a gastropexy (stomach tack) to prevent future torquing.
Emmy has been going through some serious medical issues of late...a subject for another thread, so I won't go into details here just yet. We have been working toward finding a cause and treatments with our vet and several specialists.
On Monday last week Emmy was undergoing an ultrasound on her heart and abdomen before some neurological tests to be done the next day under anesthetic at the University of Florida Small Animal Hospital. I got a phone call from the neurologist telling me that they found something unexpected while doing the ultrasound on her abdomen, and had called in a surgeon and her internal specialist for a consult. They said that her stomach was, at the time, only mildly distended (she hadn't been fed that day), and her pulse was a bit weak, but no other obvious signs of distress. However, when they scanned over Emmy's stomach, they found she had bloated and torqued 180 degrees again!!! :shocker:
So I gave permission over the phone to take her into surgery, and she made it through fine...no damage to the stomach or other organs...thank God! The surgeon said that her first gastropexy had failed. :tequila:There was a small scar on the stomach and the lining of the abdomen wall, on one side, but it was completely detached! Whether it did not heal properly, or the stitches dissolved too quickly, or the repair was not strong enough to hold or what...we're not sure. This time they tacked her on both sides of her stomach.
Emmy must have a very vigilant guardian angel watching over her, and I'm so thankful that she was in the right place when it happened this time. We brought her home the day before Thanksgiving, and she's recouping before they can resume the neuro tests. Emmy is a tough girl and she's giving everything she has to get better.
So for those of you that have had gastropexies done on your dogs after bloating and torsion, or have had one done on your females at the time of spaying, it may be an insurance policy of sorts, but is not a guarantee. Please do not be complacent about bloat awareness, even if they have been tacked. Yes, it is rare to have a gastropexy fail, but it can fail.
Just as quick background...some of you may remember that Emmy had bloated and torqued on May 31st of this year which I posted about here on NN. At that time the local emergency vet did surgery and a gastropexy (stomach tack) to prevent future torquing.
Emmy has been going through some serious medical issues of late...a subject for another thread, so I won't go into details here just yet. We have been working toward finding a cause and treatments with our vet and several specialists.
On Monday last week Emmy was undergoing an ultrasound on her heart and abdomen before some neurological tests to be done the next day under anesthetic at the University of Florida Small Animal Hospital. I got a phone call from the neurologist telling me that they found something unexpected while doing the ultrasound on her abdomen, and had called in a surgeon and her internal specialist for a consult. They said that her stomach was, at the time, only mildly distended (she hadn't been fed that day), and her pulse was a bit weak, but no other obvious signs of distress. However, when they scanned over Emmy's stomach, they found she had bloated and torqued 180 degrees again!!! :shocker:
So I gave permission over the phone to take her into surgery, and she made it through fine...no damage to the stomach or other organs...thank God! The surgeon said that her first gastropexy had failed. :tequila:There was a small scar on the stomach and the lining of the abdomen wall, on one side, but it was completely detached! Whether it did not heal properly, or the stitches dissolved too quickly, or the repair was not strong enough to hold or what...we're not sure. This time they tacked her on both sides of her stomach.
Emmy must have a very vigilant guardian angel watching over her, and I'm so thankful that she was in the right place when it happened this time. We brought her home the day before Thanksgiving, and she's recouping before they can resume the neuro tests. Emmy is a tough girl and she's giving everything she has to get better.
So for those of you that have had gastropexies done on your dogs after bloating and torsion, or have had one done on your females at the time of spaying, it may be an insurance policy of sorts, but is not a guarantee. Please do not be complacent about bloat awareness, even if they have been tacked. Yes, it is rare to have a gastropexy fail, but it can fail.
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