It's three am. I have been here since 11pm. Last weekend jasper (7 years old) started throwing up a few times a day and so first thing Monday I took him to the vet. He didn't get better and I was questioning the vet's diagnosis of a possible stretched esophagus and took him in on wed morn to a second vet. They concluded it was a stomach ulcer and held him until Friday to monitor and get fluids in him. Everything was fine until 10pm tonight, he threw up, and then started dry heaving. I let him outside to walk around since I figured this was from his ulcer. He quickly got worse and stopped responding to my commands. He wanted lots of water and I assumed it was because he has been feeling poopy and not getting up to get water as much as he normally would. What threw me off was he was holding his tail up and looked kind of tense, even the hair on his back was standing up. In less than an hour from his first puke, we were at the E vet and diagnosed with a flipped stomach. Here's the torturous part: this is the only E Vet in the area and only has one vet on duty. She had a puppy stuck in the birth canal that she was working on so it has been 4 hours since he came in and they are just now taking him into surgery. I keep reading online that the sooner you get them in the better, but how much time is considered soon and how much time is considered Grim?
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**update for reference**
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- gender? MALE
- age?7 YEARS, 10 MONTHS
- color? FAWN
- known medical issues? HIP, ARTHRITIS, WAS CURRENTLY DEALING WITH STOMACH ULCER
- usual temperament (stressed, calm)?USUALLY CALM BUT WAS PROBABLY STRESSED DUE TO STOMACH ULCER
- deep chest? NO, BUT WIDE
- type of food – raw or kibble (brand name)?USUALLY KIRKLAND NATURE'S CORNER SWEET POTATO, BUT WAS ON PRESCRIPTION SCIENCE DIET I/D (LOW FAT, EASY DIGESTION FOR GASTRIC INTESTINAL TRACK) FOR ABOUT A WEEK PRIOR
- human food allowed? NO
- recent diet change?YES, ONE WEEK PRIOR
- feedings per day (one, two, three)? WAS ORIGINALLY 2 TIMES A DAY, CHANGED TO 1 CUP PER FEEDING SEVERAL TIMES A DAY
- feeding(s) at what time(s) of the day? ORIGINALLY 7:30AM & 5:00PM, CHANGED TO EVERY ONE TO TWO HOURS
- fast or slow eater?[COLOR="Blue"] [EXTREMELY FAST/COLOR]
- ground or raised feeder? FOOD RAISED, WATER GROUND
- free access to water? YES
- allowed to exercise/play right after meals? ALLOWED, BUT TOO LAZY TO DO IT
- if known, did sire/dam/littermates encounter this issue? ADOPTED SO UNKNOWN
- gastropexy - before/after the incident? AFTER
- oncoming warning signs, if any? EXTREME THIRST, HELD TAIL UP, HEAD DOWN LOW, WANTED TO STAND OUTSIDE(UNUSUAL FOR HIM), DRY HEAVING SEVERAL TIMES, TENSE, STOOD STIFF & STILL, UNRESPONSIVE TO VERBAL COMMANDS, EARS BACK
- how long after a meal did the incident occur? 4 HOURS
- time of incident?STARTED AT 10:01 PM
- sequence of events? PUKED FOOD AT 10:01 PM, DRY HEAVING IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWED SPACED 1 - 7 MINUTES APART
- vet involvement? ARRIVED AT VET AT 10:55 PM, X-RAYS, BLOAT TUBE UNSUCCESSFUL, STOMACH PIERCED TO RELEASE PRESSURE AND THEN GASTROPEXY SURGERY AT 3:15AM, MONITORED FOR ABOUT 36 HOURS AFTER SURGERY, RELEASED FOR MONITORING AT HOME
- outcome? SURGERY SUCCESSFUL, RECOVERY PENDING
- further comments? THOUGH SOME SYMPTOMS WERE SIMILAR TO THE STOMACH ULCER, JASPER SHOWED SIGNS THAT LOOKED LIKE HE WAS FEELING FEAR OR INTENSE PAIN AFTER ABOUT 30 MINUTES RATHER THAN JUST BEING UNCOMFORTABLE AND TIRED AS WITH OTHER STOMACH CONDITIONS. SYMPTOMS ESCALATED VERY QUICKLY.
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**update for reference**
********************
- gender? MALE
- age?7 YEARS, 10 MONTHS
- color? FAWN
- known medical issues? HIP, ARTHRITIS, WAS CURRENTLY DEALING WITH STOMACH ULCER
- usual temperament (stressed, calm)?USUALLY CALM BUT WAS PROBABLY STRESSED DUE TO STOMACH ULCER
- deep chest? NO, BUT WIDE
- type of food – raw or kibble (brand name)?USUALLY KIRKLAND NATURE'S CORNER SWEET POTATO, BUT WAS ON PRESCRIPTION SCIENCE DIET I/D (LOW FAT, EASY DIGESTION FOR GASTRIC INTESTINAL TRACK) FOR ABOUT A WEEK PRIOR
- human food allowed? NO
- recent diet change?YES, ONE WEEK PRIOR
- feedings per day (one, two, three)? WAS ORIGINALLY 2 TIMES A DAY, CHANGED TO 1 CUP PER FEEDING SEVERAL TIMES A DAY
- feeding(s) at what time(s) of the day? ORIGINALLY 7:30AM & 5:00PM, CHANGED TO EVERY ONE TO TWO HOURS
- fast or slow eater?[COLOR="Blue"] [EXTREMELY FAST/COLOR]
- ground or raised feeder? FOOD RAISED, WATER GROUND
- free access to water? YES
- allowed to exercise/play right after meals? ALLOWED, BUT TOO LAZY TO DO IT
- if known, did sire/dam/littermates encounter this issue? ADOPTED SO UNKNOWN
- gastropexy - before/after the incident? AFTER
- oncoming warning signs, if any? EXTREME THIRST, HELD TAIL UP, HEAD DOWN LOW, WANTED TO STAND OUTSIDE(UNUSUAL FOR HIM), DRY HEAVING SEVERAL TIMES, TENSE, STOOD STIFF & STILL, UNRESPONSIVE TO VERBAL COMMANDS, EARS BACK
- how long after a meal did the incident occur? 4 HOURS
- time of incident?STARTED AT 10:01 PM
- sequence of events? PUKED FOOD AT 10:01 PM, DRY HEAVING IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWED SPACED 1 - 7 MINUTES APART
- vet involvement? ARRIVED AT VET AT 10:55 PM, X-RAYS, BLOAT TUBE UNSUCCESSFUL, STOMACH PIERCED TO RELEASE PRESSURE AND THEN GASTROPEXY SURGERY AT 3:15AM, MONITORED FOR ABOUT 36 HOURS AFTER SURGERY, RELEASED FOR MONITORING AT HOME
- outcome? SURGERY SUCCESSFUL, RECOVERY PENDING
- further comments? THOUGH SOME SYMPTOMS WERE SIMILAR TO THE STOMACH ULCER, JASPER SHOWED SIGNS THAT LOOKED LIKE HE WAS FEELING FEAR OR INTENSE PAIN AFTER ABOUT 30 MINUTES RATHER THAN JUST BEING UNCOMFORTABLE AND TIRED AS WITH OTHER STOMACH CONDITIONS. SYMPTOMS ESCALATED VERY QUICKLY.
and yes, get some rest. I'll be praying for a swift and certain recovery for your guy.
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