Perry's having surgery.

[Horsefeathers!]

Some of you remember that I adopted a Standard Poodle about three months ago from a Poodle rescue group. He's three years old and had been kenneled in a show kennel his entire life. He has been fitting in well here and I am so unbelievably in love with this boy. He has not been alone for over two hours during the entire time he's been with me. He's with me 24/7 whether it's work, errands, or even eating out. It's amazing how many "dog friendly" places you can find if you just snoop a little (and this in a rural area where dogs aren't always highly valued as family members).

Anyway, I became somewhat concerned about Perry's foul breath and constant belching. Even after a dental cleaning, his breath could make you cry. It stank clear through his face without him ever opening his mouth. And LOUD burps. Xrays revealed that Perry had a faint, round "something" in/on his stomach. Further xrays with barium revealed TWO faint, round "somethings." The vet is stumped as to what exactly these could be. We don't know if it's a constriction, a hernia or exactly what as there are several possible things. Still, my vet says this is very serious. Perry has been on antibiotics and gas medicine to clear up any ulcers and infection, but he will be having his preliminary bloodwork tomorrow and the surgery is Thursday. The vet scheduled this with another surgeon present as he says this will likely require two vets. If all goes well, they will also be tacking his stomach up to diminish his chances of ever bloating.

I'm so worried about this boy. Both vets have already taken me to the side to give me the "hope for the best, but prepare for the worst..." speech. It breaks my heart to even consider the idea that Perry's life may end just when it has really started and he has so much to look forward to. We lost another rescue dog only two weeks before Perry came along and I just don't know if I could stand this. He is such a special boy and I can't even begin to describe the way he makes me smile. He is living proof that a dog can have a sense of humor.

If you would, please send Perry some positive energy. He's going to need all the luck he can get.

[Hobbit]

You know you and Perry have my well wishes, 10-fold!

[Guest roo]

HF.
Sending you positive energy, a hope, a wish and a prayer :lol:

Please please keep us all informed

Roo

[Guest Anonymous]

[quote name='Horsefeathers!']....I'm so worried about this boy. Both vets have already taken me to the side to give me the "hope for the best, but prepare for the worst..." speech. It breaks my heart to even consider the idea that Perry's life may end just when it has really started and he has so much to look forward to. We lost another rescue dog only two weeks before Perry came along and I just don't know if I could stand this. He is such a special boy and I can't even begin to describe the way he makes me smile. He is living proof that a dog can have a sense of humor.

If you would, please send Perry some positive energy. He's going to need all the luck he can get.[/quote]

[color=blue]HF....just remember, you have given Perry a WONDERFUL life! Even if his life may end, he did have the best two months of his life...with YOU, because of YOU. You have probably given him more than anyone else in his life. Please remember that. If it wasn't for you, what kind of life would he have????

I am sending the most positive energy this body can send out![/color]

[Guest Anonymous]

Sending all the wishes, hopes, and prayers your and Perry's way!! :wink:

[shorty]

Sending positive energy and prayers to Perry.Good luck Horsefeathers I know you love him so much.

[Guest Anonymous]

I've got a group of friends (dog lovers, but not dogo participants) who are sending their positive energy as well.

HF, as I go back and re-read my post, it isn't what I wanted to say. He WILL pull through this, you will NOT lose him, and he will have a LONG and wonderful life with you!!!!!!!!!!

[Horsefeathers!]

Thanks so much for the well wishes and support, everyone!

Perry had his prelimary blood work today and, thankfully, that was all normal. He was also xrayed again today just to see what changes may have occurred over the last two weeks since he's been on all this medication. It's the weirdest thing. In this recent batch of xrays, there was NO distention (round "something") in/on Perry's stomach. It looked almost normal, though Doc said Perry's spleen seemed like it was sitting weird(?) :-? . Also, there is still a lot of gas in his tummy. Doc is thoroughly puzzled now. He cannot figure out why there is distention and then there is none. He's still going to poke around in there on Thursday to see what he finds. It does appear that Perry may have also been suffering from ulcer(s), so I guess the medication has been helping with that. His breath, at least, is MUCH better. It doesn't make me feel all woozy now when he breathes in my face :lol: . Anyway, we're now wondering if maybe it's just some weakened tissue in there causing his stomach to distend the way it does. Doc says that Perry is still definitely not out of the woods yet until we know what's going on.

Anyhoo, thanks again for the support. It means so much to me to know that Perry has so many people in his corner pulling for him. I really am thinking he's going to be ok. If it's just weakened tissue, they can just cut that right out of there and stitch him back up. Let's hope that's as serious as it gets. :D

I do want to add a little footnote here...

This is just one example of why it's a good thing to always follow your intuition. You know... when something kind of gnaws at you, but you just ignore it, thinking that it's nothing. Intuition is a wonderful thing. Don't ignore it. Foul breath and gassiness is not something I would ordinarily take too seriously, but that little inner voice kept insisting that this was worth checking out. I'm glad I listened. There were so many times I ran my critters to the vet for what turned out to be minor things. Doc thinks I'm such a crackpot (I was practically planning the funeral for my Schnauzer a few months ago when he had a simple abscess on his side... I was sure it was a cancerous tumor). For once, my paranoia may have paid off. :roll:

[Hobbit]

Better safe than sorry. Ahhh, the old 6th sense that some people don't believe in. I always listen to that inner voice....[size=2]I just wish it would speak a little more loudly concerning winning lotto numbers! [/size]:lol:

[mouseatthebusstop]

:) my thoughts are with you and Perry

[Horsefeathers!]

Oh well... the expected case of da nerves has set in. Perry is boarding at the vet clinic overnight tonight and they will be doing the surgery first thing in the morning. I will be right there. I've already rescheduled all the appointments I had for tomorrow so that I can be right there. I'm nervous as a pregnant nun! Good grief, I know I have a lot of dogs, but when ONE isn't here, it throws the whole balance of things off. It's so quiet around here tonight without Perry. He's such a ham and a goofball. This is the longest I've been away from him since I first brought him home with me. He is ALWAYS with me 24/7. Most of my other dogs are used to spending time alone, but Perry is so clingy. Since I've had him, he HATES to be alone and will start barking the minute I leave the room if he can't go with me. I'll bet he's barking his fool head off tonight. I feel as if I've betrayed him. He spent his first three years of life in a kennel and now I'll bet he feels like I've just dumped him right back in one. At least he's in familiar surroundings and with familiar people even if I'm not there since I take him to work with me every day.

I know, I know, I'm just rambling on. I tell ya it's just a case of da nerves.

This is another good reason I'll never have children. I do not handle stress well when it involves loved ones. :-?

[Hobbit]

I'll be waiting to hear from you as soon as you can post about Perry-winkle! :wink:

[Guest Anonymous]

Today is Perry's day. It's time to worry about him now. HF, PLEASE let us know as soon as you hear anything....

You are very lucky to be able to take him to work with you! I sure wish I had that option.....I'll bet your co-workers are very worried as well.

Here's one for Perry! :drinking:
Just a little "wishing you well" sip....

[Hobbit]

Any news on Perry??

[Horsefeathers!]

Well, good news... sorta. :-?

Perry made it through the surgery with flying colors. I was there the whole time and Doc dug through all Perry's innards, looking for "something." Remember in earlier xrays, there was a very obvious "something" there and in the second xrays a couple of weeks later, nothing. Doc said he's never seen anything like this. Anyway, everything inside Perry looks good and healthy which is good news. Both vets are scratching their heads over this, though. They took more blood and ran further, more specific tests, looking for (?). One thing we know is that Perry is hypoproteinemic(?) and his albumin is low. Ok, at this point, I was way in over my head, so we all (two vets and me) sat down with some medical journals and began reading. The only thing we know for certain is about Perry's low protein/albumin and that he has had some significant weight loss. We will be checking urine again tomorrow.

At this point, I'm really just glad that Perry is through this surgery and is ok in that respect, but I'm totally lost on where we go from here. I was so overwhelmed with possibilities and information today that I couldn't even begin to make sense of it. To begin with, we are putting Perry on a lamb and rice puppy food to try to get some weight back on him. During this time, he will be undergoing constant monitoring and testing and then we'll go from there to decide if he needs to be on a prescription diet. I would just as soon feed him a totally natural cooked diet and I have someone that is an expert on that, but am playing by the vet's rules at this point. We just don't know at this point what part of Perry's problems may be diet related. Also, I will have to feed Perry little bits of food throughout the day. Just a few bites here and there at a time as Doc doesn't want Perry to have a whole lot on his stomach at one time. We still aren't sure what caused that distention. There are several things we are working on like protein losing enteropathy and irritable bowel disease. Perry will likely be on medication his entire life for gas and will probably also be taking a lot of antibiotics. Some of his problems may make it really difficult for him to fight infection and have a hard time healing wounds.

Anyway, sorry if I'm not making sense, but I'm totally overwhelmed by all the new info thrown at me (and lack of sleep). I'm just thankful that he made it through this surgery ok and didn't need any extensive internal work (Doc did tack Perry's stomach to one side to help keep him from bloating while he was in there). Now we just keep testing and looking and wait and see. At this point, we are going to try to control Perry's problems with diet and medication and frequent rechecks.

Thanks so much for all the concern. I really appreciate knowing that so many people have been pulling for him.

[Hobbit]

Glad Perry's okay and pray he will continue to recover.

[Horsefeathers!]

No, Mei Mei, that's what has everyone scratching their heads. The "somethings" were there and then they weren't. Still no idea what they were or what caused them. The only thing logical thing seems to be that they were distentions on his stomach perhaps caused by excess gas, but Doc could find no weakened tissue on his stomach to make it protrude like that.

Weird, huh? :-?

[Horsefeathers!]

Thanks, Hobbit.

[Guest Anonymous]

Oh HF, that's great to hear! Please keep us updated on his progress..

[mouseatthebusstop]

sounds like a mystery. I will keep on sending thoughts for you both

[eggrolyn1223]

Well, I'm a little late.. :) That's weird... :-? Huh.REALLy weird.I hope you guys find out what's wrong (hopefully there's nothing wrong)..I'd hate to be like you..knoing something's wrong, but not knowing what it is.I'm going to the temple today(my grandma's making me, I'm not exactly buddhist), but now I'm happy to go and wish you and Perry good luck.

[bk_blue]

Horsefeathers I'm even later- but I am happy to know Perry made it through surgery ok and I hope he lives a long and enjoyable life, with no more scares! :angel:

[Horsefeathers!]

Thanks again, everyone, for all the positive thoughts. Mei Mei, don't think for one second that I have any clue about how to interpret these theories and such. If you think your sister can offer some input, go for it. I need all the help and input I can get and I'll take it where I can get it. I've been reading in Doc's medical books about different disorders dealing with protein loss and other things, but the more I read, the more overwhelmed I get. It would be great to get some outside input. Thanks. Right now, our primary concern is getting Perry healed and getting some weight back on him. He's a bag of bones. :(

Anyway, he's home and seems none the worst for wear. He's obviously uncomfortable, but he hasn't forgotten what food or the kitchen is all about. That's a good thing, I suppose. :D

Sasha, here's your new Perry photo, as requested! I figured a recovery photo would be appropriate. 8)
[img]http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0aQDhAnMhkP2Thsszf5pUOrPGJvjaR1EHgPotEgiV5YTRVeepke6mXtHkkKBbfHzqe6UHIcWTg2bSTPuND8tvoF1WcXpnb5P5JzJaehdfJgTEuXWQtbh7EFEcJ4!ZYDEeTX1RtuXNZGjTE2N9B*oaEhGGO5L3UV5!/12-07-02Perryrecovery.JPG?dc=4675400218475883291[/img]

[Carolk9s]

Glad to hear Perry made it through surgery, hope he is on the mend and the mystery is solved soon. He looks so sweet in the photo, I just want to cuddle him!

[Hobbit]

Poor Perry. He looks glad to be home, but miserable.