see jane bake: The Sick Little Puppy

Sunday afternoon I noticed Sweet Ruby Foo was having difficulty breathing. I called her regular vet Monday morning and there were no appointments until 3 pm. I ended up taking her to the vet my Dad takes his sheep and other big animals to. We waited while the vet checked the teeth of a shetland pony and x-rayed a goat. When he saw us there was a blood clotting test (over 6 minutes is a bad sign) for rat poison, x-rays, a diagnosis of a huge enlarged heart which would cause certain death and then lots of tears. He sent us to a critical care hospital in SLC where they have a cardiologist who could provide a more exact diagnosis.

At the critical care hospital there was more testing for rat poison, an oxygen tank, more tears, ultra sounds, the draining of lung fluid and finally surgery for Lung Lobe Torsion (twisted lung lobe) which included partial lung lobe removal and a chest tube. Once on the operating table this was changed to a surgery to repair a diaphragmatic hernia. Sometime in the last 48 hours a lobe of her liver had slipped through a hole in her diaphragm into her chest cavity. So she spent the night in the ICU at the hospital with around the clock nursing supervision. My parents went up to visit her in the hospital this afternoon....in the hospital visiting room of course...and she got to come home with them.

She is now on lots of drugs, half of her hair has been shaved, she is wearing a fancy yellow body bandage and a Fentanyl patch.

2 bits of information -

1-The hospital we took her to was amazing! AVC Advanced Veterinary Care. They have specialists in Oncology, Critical Care, Surgery, Eye Care and Dermatology. They are open 24 hours for emergency care also. I hated being there but they were all so nice and helpful.

2- If you buy a French Bulldog buy dog insurance. They are a genetic mess! I knew this when I bought Ruby Foo and I just never got around to insurance. And the amount of money you spend for oxygen tanks and dog ICU is frightful.