Oh man…where do I begin?
3 abdominal surgeries- Male Doberman who had to have some sort of OCD Pika. Just ate absolutely everything you could think off.
Lessons learned-
1. No- nope- noooo: you will not stop him from eating everything. You are just not fast enough and sometime, somewhere you will not have eyes on him.
-Instantaneous Prong collar corrections?
-Instantaneous ECollar corrections?
-24 supervision?
-More food?
-Probiotics/mineral supplements
-None of the above worked despite persistent attempts.
2. Should have been more preventative with use of a muzzle or a medication to calm his urges- like doggy Prozac. I tried CBD oil but seem to not have an effect. Just had a hard time giving doggy Prozac to a Doberman- that’s my fault and regret.
By definition on the AKC website:
A bowel obstruction is a complete or partial blockage in the stomach or intestines that prevents solids or liquids from passing through the gastrointestinal tract.
The blocking object can be anything:
Sock
Underwear/Panties
Hair scrunchie
Dish towel/rag
Any toy
Bones/bully stick
Sticks
Mulch
Signs and symptoms are pretty clear cut on the internet but I wanted to give firsthand experience to this.
For me and my Dobermans, I am always aware of if and when, and the consistency of their poop. We (Dchat members) call this poop patrol. Because of my history of having an “eater of everything” if my Doberman vomits up their food, I immediately think obstruction and start trying to figure out when his last poop was and when his last meal was kept down. So if he vomited his dinner up, then I think his last meal was kept down was lunch (we feed 3xday). Then I know, hope and pray that he will have a bowel movement in the next 24hrs. I will be outside with him everytime he goes out to inspect his poop and see if he passes anything that may have been causing the issue.
I will not feed him the next feeding but will keep water available. Will watch him closely and see if his demeanor changes. If nothing really changes…still running around being a Doberman, then all is good and may have gotten into some cat/goose poop or just not feeling well. Or the object initially blocked has moved on through. Exercise (movement) and drinking water is imperative here.
Things really get serious and I really start worrying on day two if he has not pooped and continues to vomit his meal within 30mins of feeding. Do not force feeding meal.
Late day two and into day three, progresses into:
-now vomiting up water within 10mins of drinking
-walking around with head down
-very restless
-multiple long body stretches
-you know your Doberman…you will know to take to the vet. This shat always seems to happen into the weekend.
At the vet they will do xrays to see if they can identify a blockage. Xrays have a very hard time showing fabric (socks) but they can identify a solid vs air in the intestines. Usually the X-ray will show solid intestines and then immediately a lot of space- the blockage of solids and then the rest is air.
The vet will do surgery- cut from sternum to pelvic area- open intestine and remove object. Usually stitch intestine incision and then staple abdominal incision. Will keep in clinic until standing, walking, eating, urinating.
Prob come home on Gabapentin- it will really zonk him out but it’s needed really. He doesn’t realize the extent of the surgery and will immediately want to run, jump and be a Doberman. Do not use antibiotic gel or peroxide on wound cut/staples. Observe for redness or swelling, and cleanse/clean with a wet/warm washcloth.
No need for any wet or special food. He can resume eating his dry kibble.
No need for antibiotics, vet should have giving him a bolus injection before removing IV.
Main issue now is to keep him on a leash and prevent running and jumping for at least 5 days. The vet says 10-14 days. Good Luck with keeping a Doberman down for 14days- gonna need to give Gabapentin routinely to achieve that.
Ragnar recovered well after his first surgery.
He had some difficulty after his 2nd.
He did not recover from his 3rd surgery.
The problem my Ragnar had recovering from his 3rd surgery was that his body did not heal the surgical incisions with the precision of a small line of super glue to seal together. Instead of a perfect fine line of glue, Ragnar’s body dumped like 3 tablespoons of glue on the incisions and it created unwanted adhesions that twisted his intestines and really caused another blockage.
Even if he would have recovered well, with him being the “eater of everything”….he would be like a ticking bomb of immediately getting obstructed again, esp with the unwanted adhesions in his intestines narrowing the passageway. I had already bought some muzzles and had the doggy Prozac on standby this time but we did not get that far.
Just so hard having an eater, esp in the younger years when they eat everything anyways and you just don’t know. If you have any doubt or reservations of toys??? Throw them away period. I bought all the toys out there and Ragnar demolished them all. I didn’t really know he was an eater until he started pooping out daughters socks, panties, scrunchies. Then, I guess his system stopped passing it through and started obstructing.
I truly hope this helps someone out. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask or pm me.
Good luck.
3 abdominal surgeries- Male Doberman who had to have some sort of OCD Pika. Just ate absolutely everything you could think off.
Lessons learned-
1. No- nope- noooo: you will not stop him from eating everything. You are just not fast enough and sometime, somewhere you will not have eyes on him.
-Instantaneous Prong collar corrections?
-Instantaneous ECollar corrections?
-24 supervision?
-More food?
-Probiotics/mineral supplements
-None of the above worked despite persistent attempts.
2. Should have been more preventative with use of a muzzle or a medication to calm his urges- like doggy Prozac. I tried CBD oil but seem to not have an effect. Just had a hard time giving doggy Prozac to a Doberman- that’s my fault and regret.
By definition on the AKC website:
A bowel obstruction is a complete or partial blockage in the stomach or intestines that prevents solids or liquids from passing through the gastrointestinal tract.
The blocking object can be anything:
Sock
Underwear/Panties
Hair scrunchie
Dish towel/rag
Any toy
Bones/bully stick
Sticks
Mulch
Signs and symptoms are pretty clear cut on the internet but I wanted to give firsthand experience to this.
For me and my Dobermans, I am always aware of if and when, and the consistency of their poop. We (Dchat members) call this poop patrol. Because of my history of having an “eater of everything” if my Doberman vomits up their food, I immediately think obstruction and start trying to figure out when his last poop was and when his last meal was kept down. So if he vomited his dinner up, then I think his last meal was kept down was lunch (we feed 3xday). Then I know, hope and pray that he will have a bowel movement in the next 24hrs. I will be outside with him everytime he goes out to inspect his poop and see if he passes anything that may have been causing the issue.
I will not feed him the next feeding but will keep water available. Will watch him closely and see if his demeanor changes. If nothing really changes…still running around being a Doberman, then all is good and may have gotten into some cat/goose poop or just not feeling well. Or the object initially blocked has moved on through. Exercise (movement) and drinking water is imperative here.
Things really get serious and I really start worrying on day two if he has not pooped and continues to vomit his meal within 30mins of feeding. Do not force feeding meal.
Late day two and into day three, progresses into:
-now vomiting up water within 10mins of drinking
-walking around with head down
-very restless
-multiple long body stretches
-you know your Doberman…you will know to take to the vet. This shat always seems to happen into the weekend.
At the vet they will do xrays to see if they can identify a blockage. Xrays have a very hard time showing fabric (socks) but they can identify a solid vs air in the intestines. Usually the X-ray will show solid intestines and then immediately a lot of space- the blockage of solids and then the rest is air.
The vet will do surgery- cut from sternum to pelvic area- open intestine and remove object. Usually stitch intestine incision and then staple abdominal incision. Will keep in clinic until standing, walking, eating, urinating.
Prob come home on Gabapentin- it will really zonk him out but it’s needed really. He doesn’t realize the extent of the surgery and will immediately want to run, jump and be a Doberman. Do not use antibiotic gel or peroxide on wound cut/staples. Observe for redness or swelling, and cleanse/clean with a wet/warm washcloth.
No need for any wet or special food. He can resume eating his dry kibble.
No need for antibiotics, vet should have giving him a bolus injection before removing IV.
Main issue now is to keep him on a leash and prevent running and jumping for at least 5 days. The vet says 10-14 days. Good Luck with keeping a Doberman down for 14days- gonna need to give Gabapentin routinely to achieve that.
Ragnar recovered well after his first surgery.
He had some difficulty after his 2nd.
He did not recover from his 3rd surgery.
The problem my Ragnar had recovering from his 3rd surgery was that his body did not heal the surgical incisions with the precision of a small line of super glue to seal together. Instead of a perfect fine line of glue, Ragnar’s body dumped like 3 tablespoons of glue on the incisions and it created unwanted adhesions that twisted his intestines and really caused another blockage.
Even if he would have recovered well, with him being the “eater of everything”….he would be like a ticking bomb of immediately getting obstructed again, esp with the unwanted adhesions in his intestines narrowing the passageway. I had already bought some muzzles and had the doggy Prozac on standby this time but we did not get that far.
Just so hard having an eater, esp in the younger years when they eat everything anyways and you just don’t know. If you have any doubt or reservations of toys??? Throw them away period. I bought all the toys out there and Ragnar demolished them all. I didn’t really know he was an eater until he started pooping out daughters socks, panties, scrunchies. Then, I guess his system stopped passing it through and started obstructing.
I truly hope this helps someone out. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask or pm me.
Good luck.
