The "Gastropexy" Doctor

[MillyVanilly]

Ok..he is not really called that but I have just dubbed him that appropriately. Dr. Shcmidt in Morris, IL comes very highly recommended by the "who's who" group of Dane people in this area. After calling and speaking with him personally(for 45 minutes!) I now know why.
He performs gastropexy Laproscopically and does this for a VERY reasonable fee thanks to a generous donation by Dane 911, a prominent rescue in the area. I was told it would be between 600-700n roughly. Imagine that compared to a lifesaving bloat surgery and not only are you in the green, you have some added piece of mind.
Here you can read about the Vet:

http://www.vet4me.com/PBmeet.htm

Here you can read about the procedure.

http://www.vet4me.com/PBGastropexy.html

If you'd like to set up an appt. or speak with him, I am sure he would give you the same care and attention he gave me. What a wonderful man!
I will be scheduling Milly's tack for when she is a bit older..(Just my preference- Doc will do as young as 6 mo.)

Brian D. Schmidt, DVM
Pine Bluff Animal Hospital
(815) 942-5365
vet4me@pinebluff.comcastbiz.net
7995 E. Pine Bluff Road, Morris, IL 60450


And No...I don't work there, never have :O). Just know a good, honest Vet when i meet one.Years of working for them has taught me well.

[Bev_K]

He is a great vet. I've taken four Danes into him for pexies. It's about a 6 hour drive from my place to Pine Bluff and it's well worth it!

[deb9017]

Isn't six months too young for them to be done? I don't know a lot about it, but in the research I.have done it has been mentioned several times that they should be closer to finished growing.

[Bev_K]

Isn't six months too young for them to be done? I don't know a lot about it, but in the research I.have done it has been mentioned several times that they should be closer to finished growing.

I believe so, yes. We wait until 18 months for Danes. For a smaller breed, doing the pexy at a younger age might be more appropriate.

[MillyVanilly]

Dr.Schmidt said that the youngest he would feel comfortable doing the surgery is 6 months. I think that may be related to the time line of when "Pet" owners spay/neuter their pets and he said that can usually be done all at once. I am not really sure what the recommendations are elsewhere....Back when i was a tech, tacking was rare..Just meaning not many Vets at all(including mine) performed the surgery.
Good thing to research. The reason I was waiting to do Milly was because I am showing her and not sure if I should go messing with her right now.

[stray]

Two weeks ago Tsunami had her spay/pexy at Pine Bluff by Dr. Schmidt. Our regular vet is at the Dwight branch of this group of three animal hospitals. When my vet and I first started discussing Tsunami's spay/ pexy, he told me about Dr. Schmidt and said he had a lot of experience doing the pexy laproscopically, something that not many other vets in the area have.

I really can't say enough good things about Dr. Schmidt and Pine Bluff. The Dr. throughly explained the procedure again, answered my questions and in general made me feel much less nervous about leaving my baby girl in his hands.

The surgery went really well. She came home that afternoon. She had no vomiting and started eating small amounts of food after a couple hours. I was really surprised that both the spay and the pexy incisions were less than two inches long. The pexy had stiches that had to be removed but the spay had dissloving stiches. There was never any redness or swelling at the incisions and since we put a tee shirt on her, she wasn't able to lick at them and cause any irritation. Within two days she was acting like nothing had happened and then only problem was keeping her from running about like nothing had happened.

Highly reccomend Dr. Schmidt and Pine Bluff if you are in Illinois. I'll be taking Mayhem there when he is ready for his.

[btlsmum]

Thanks for the tip! It's only about 5.5 hours from me. Totally doable.

[isdapous]

Ximmy was pexied there at 16 months old, and Sprocket was pexied and neutered at 8-9 months old.

I would take my pups there for regular vet care if I lived closer to Morris. It is a 90 min drive on a good day, more like 2 hours due to road construction, accidents, school buses etc.

I will say should one of them need obstruction surgery and I can wait the time, he will be the one to do it for us. He can go into the stomach laproscopically and retreive many things, which can save huge incisions and infection risks.

I can't say enough of how well both of their surgeries went as well as the kindness and consideration shown to us by both Dr Schmidt and his staff! (he even gave us a break on the cost since both of my kids are rescues!)

[Phirefly]

I'm lucky that I'm about only a half hour away from Dr. Schmidt. I'm still narrowing down my breeder choice, but I've known about him for years and am glad to have him so close for when I finally bring my baby home!

[SizeofSeven]

Two weeks ago Tsunami had her spay/pexy at Pine Bluff by Dr. Schmidt. Our regular vet is at the Dwight branch of this group of three animal hospitals. When my vet and I first started discussing Tsunami's spay/ pexy, he told me about Dr. Schmidt and said he had a lot of experience doing the pexy laproscopically, something that not many other vets in the area have.

I really can't say enough good things about Dr. Schmidt and Pine Bluff. The Dr. throughly explained the procedure again, answered my questions and in general made me feel much less nervous about leaving my baby girl in his hands.

The surgery went really well. She came home that afternoon. She had no vomiting and started eating small amounts of food after a couple hours. I was really surprised that both the spay and the pexy incisions were less than two inches long. The pexy had stiches that had to be removed but the spay had dissloving stiches. There was never any redness or swelling at the incisions and since we put a tee shirt on her, she wasn't able to lick at them and cause any irritation. Within two days she was acting like nothing had happened and then only problem was keeping her from running about like nothing had happened.

Highly reccomend Dr. Schmidt and Pine Bluff if you are in Illinois. I'll be taking Mayhem there when he is ready for his.

I second everything you have to say about Dr Schmidt and Pine Bluff! I drove 2 hours each way almost two weeks ago to have Seven spayed and pexied. Her recovery has been wonderful - knock on wood, no complications. Will definitely make the drive again with our next Dane!

[stray]

It is good to have a vet with his experience close by. I'm about an hour away from the Morris clinic and went with the Dwight branch since it is only 25 minutes. This way I have my regular vet close but if I should ever need Dr. Schmidt's experience, they have complete access to all her records at the Morris branch. But I would have driven a couple hours in I needed to just because he is so experienced with the procedure.
SizeofSeven, we must have been there almost at the same time. Tsunami had her's on May 14th. Glad it went just as well for your baby girl.

[KarenO]

I drove 15 hrs... OK, well I am from the suburbs of Chicago so I did spend a week there and had "Dane friendly" family to stay with!

I was referred to Dr. Schmidt by a board member (thank you!) and after speaking with them and weighing my options locally, we decided to make the long haul and have his pexy and neuter done at Pine Bluff. Dr. Schmidt and the staff are very thorough. If I ever move back, I'd probably suffer the drive to go to them on a regular basis. I was very impressed and Murphy is doing well a week post op.

[katkimandcrew]

Looking into someone for a spay and 'pexy if I do get to adopt my girl...Pine Bluff is cheaper, even with the drive, than the one local vet that does it, by about $150.

Do they keep them overnight following surgery? I forgot to ask the receptionist when I called. It's roughly a 3-4 hour drive for us so we could do it in one day unless she would have to stay overnight.