Please keep our JoBear in your prayers

[Cleo]

My sister did water the food down but was unsuccessful in getting her to eat it.

I don't know why they couldn't give her a laxative or enema? We asked but the vet said it wouldn't help, it all passed and is in her colon now. He said that the colon is bigger than the stomach and small intestines so the worst is over ??

I don't know, I don't buy it. I'm taking sis to work now so mom and I will be in charge for the afternoon and you can sure as heck bet, if I feel she needs to go today, she'll be going.

[Tambrey]

I have no doubt in my mind with you in charge, CLeo!!

[Traci]

Cleo, is JoBear's abdomen distended? Is she gassy? Is she painful in the abdomen when touched? Is she squatting or acting like she wants to pass a stool?

An xray doesn't always show things in the stomach or intestine, but a barium xray series can detect where a blockage may be, or a location where food/debris is slow moving, this probably should have been done yesterday instead of taking the wait and see approach, especially since sis knew she hadn't had a stool in a few days. Only thing is, you can't give barium to a sedated dog, or at least the sedation must be really light. You said there was no evidence she actually consumed the woodchuck, so the "bones" the vet thought he may have seen may not be bones at all. Plastics, fabric, and any other debris can take on various shapes upon an xray and just when you think you know what the object is, when passed (or retireved via surgery), one is almost always wrong and surprised to find something else entirely. Did the kids leave anything out in the yard? Toys? Dog toys? Anything missing from their bedrooms or other areas in the house? Is JoBear a frequent chewer?

An enema might have been attempted, but it depends on the size of the obstruction or object, so as not to cause scarring or tearing if it should pass through the colon. This would have had to be done under heavy sedation in the event the vet determined whether or not it had to be manually removed.

Again, if she's still crying out, seems uncomfortable in the least, abdomen is distended, is attempting to vomit but unable to produce anything, and if her mucous membranes are pale, don't wait, get her in on emergency TODAY.

[Tambrey]

I am going to assume that since there has been no post from Cleo in a while that they are at the vet....prayers that all is gojng smoothly

[Cleo]

We just got back from the ER vet. They had to sedate her once again, lightly to get a look under her neck. They said they didn't see any puncture wounds and initially thought it could be hot spots because of her breed and coat. I demanded that they treat it as if it were bite wounds because in her 7 summers being with us, she has NEVER had a hot spot or anything like this. Traci, I'll get a picture of it later and send it to you via PM. I'm wondering if an abscess didn't burst and that was the wet smelly spot under her neck yesterday that I brought to the attention of the vet but they dismissed it as vomit. No traces of vomit in the yard, house or kennel.

So they shaved under her chin, cleaned the area, gave her subq fluids and antibiotic in the IV and we'll be pilling her twice a day until meds are finished. She's on Cephalexin caps 500 mgs twice a day and Gentocin topical spray applied 2 to 3 times a day.

[Traci]

But, what does this have to do with suspected impaction/obstruction, what did the vet do to address that!??

[LisaLisa]

Hi Cleo,

How is JoBear doing? Hoping for an update with positive news...

[Tambrey]

I have checked in a few times today myself....hoping for some news....I am going to assume that no news means they have spent the day at the ER, and do not have access to internet to update us

Anxiously awaiting news when you can Cleo.....and prayers for a good outcome....

[Cleo]

My sister and mom both feel that she was alot perkier this morning. I had her with me all day and back to the vet for a recheck. This vet said the antibiotic Jo is on is good for abscesses but not a broad spectrum enough. We have to keep up with warm compresses and apply the spray they gave us 3 times a day. Both of which are a task because she's not letting us near the area really. I'm concerned though because she's scratching at it and made it bleed a little.

She still hasn't had a bowel movement, aside from a small one yesterday, but the vet today said it could be from all the sedation in her system and the fact that there's really not any food in her to push along. She ate some plain turkey today and at the vet's recommendation, my mom is going to boil chicken and mix it with rice for her. Maybe just one or two servings because Jo is on a dry food only diet and we'd like her to continue that and not get too used to these "treats".

So overall, the wound appears to be healing but again, have to keep a close watch on it. She's a bit more perkier but still very clingy. They admitted their mistake, apologized, backpeddled a bit and credited me 65.00 (for the office exam) out of a 500.00 total bill. Not sure how happy I am with that so may take it up with the credit card company.

Thanks for the concern and your prayers and support especially. This is the first time in the 7 years that we've had her that we really went through anything like this. With as many cats as there are in the house and something always popping up with them, I'm used to it but this time around really knocked us all for a loop.

[Tambrey]

Good to know that today was a bit better.....keep us posted as you can