[DogOnTheCouch]

My beloved 13 year-old Standard Poodle is on a drip, at a reputable veterinary hospital, about an hour and a half drive from where I live. My local vet referred her there as they could not figure out what was wrong with her. The hospital vets came up with a preliminary diagnosis (pancreatitis) within 24 hours that gives me some hope she may recover. She will be kennelled there at least 4 more days and possibly alot longer.

I would love to visit her, but am concerned it will just upset her. She is not used to staying in kennels. Whenever I go away, I pay someone to look after her out of their home. The last time she had to stay at a vet's for more than a night, I sat in the kennel with her for hours and she yipped (recovering from surgery) most of the time I was there. I hadn't realised she only yipped when I was there. I don't want her to think I've abandoned her. She is very attached to me and follows me around the house when I am home. She suffers from separation anxiety, but has not been much of a nuisance about it until recently (has begun barking when I leave the house, which she never used to do).

Has anyone out there faced a similar dilemma? The most important thing is for her to have the best chance of recovery. She has lost alot of weight and could not even hold herself up a few times. I will be phoning the vet to check on her, but when I asked them whether I should visit, they tactfully said it depends on the dog and that sometimes the dog gets depressed after the owner leaves.

Sorry for the long post. Thanks for any thoughts/experiences!

 

[pawzaddict]

When I worked at a vet hospital we recommended hospital patients parents to visit, it gives the dog something to fight for in a sense vs if you never come to check on her she may feel you deserted her. Normally I say do not visit a dog when you have them put up somewhere for awhile but a sick dog needs that extra push to fight. I would recommend not visiting for 5 mins but try and spend as much time as possible there 1-2 hours, maybe more if you can. It also helps to get the dog to eat if she is having a hard time eating. Hope your dog makes it through GL

 

[DogOnTheCouch]

Thank you!!

Thank you for your suggestion. My thoughts are similar to yours. The vet with whom I spoke has discouraged me from visiting for a couple of more days as my dog is likely to be there until at least Tuesday and it might get her hopes up that she is leaving. She says the dog seems settled, but I'm not fully convinced. She has continued to bloat (mildly) and the vet thinks if she gets excited (and vocal) to see me, she will swallow more air and make the bloat worse. They are hoping to control the bloat with medication, rather than releasing the gas with a tube.

I will speak with the vet again tonight as I am certainly willing to spend a long time sitting in the kennel with her, talking to her. I'm not sure if she's even up to barking or whimpering as she was tubed twice (for bloat) and had an endoscopy during the past week.

Thanks again for your thoughts and experience.

 

[pawzaddict]

Thank you for your suggestion. My thoughts are similar to yours. The vet with whom I spoke has discouraged me from visiting for a couple of more days as my dog is likely to be there until at least Tuesday and it might get her hopes up that she is leaving. She says the dog seems settled, but I'm not fully convinced. She has continued to bloat (mildly) and the vet thinks if she gets excited (and vocal) to see me, she will swallow more air and make the bloat worse. They are hoping to control the bloat with medication, rather than releasing the gas with a tube.

I will speak with the vet again tonight as I am certainly willing to spend a long time sitting in the kennel with her, talking to her. I'm not sure if she's even up to barking or whimpering as she was tubed twice (for bloat) and had an endoscopy during the past week.

Thanks again for your thoughts and experience.

Why do they think she is bloating? Is she barking/whining there? If your vet is sure she will be ok then I say give it a day or so and just call as many times as you wish to check on her Keep us posted on how she does.

 

[doggyhog]

I would visit her. Standard poodles are sooo social. (I have one)

Anyway, I hope she is OK!

 

[DogOnTheCouch]

They think the bloating is being caused by the pancreatitis. They had to tube her again last night as her bloat grew too large. The referring vet did an endoscopy, but did not take a sample for biopsy. The hospital vet would like to do another endoscopy, this time, taking a sample from her stomach. They've warned me the anesthesia could worsen the pancreatitis. I'm concerned about this, especially as she just had anesthesia 5 days ago for the previous endoscopy, but I don't see her coming out of this loop without further investigation.

They seem fond of her and say she is being a good patient, so hoping they will do well by her.

 

[DogOnTheCouch]

Now Recovering from Surgery

The vets recommended a gastroplexy to prevent further bloat, along with some exploratory surgery and biopsies instead of the endoscopy, as she bloated quite badly again last night, so I said yes. I was able to sit with her for 3 hours this afternoon before her surgery. She looked like she was suffering terribly, but I am glad I did not give up on her.

It turned out that her stomach had, indeed twisted, so the surgery was a life-saving measure. Will need to wait for results of biopsies and other tests, though she did show signs of pancreatitis.

I was amazed to meet another Standard Poodle, just as I was leaving, with the same name as my Standard Poodle, Yoshi. How unusual is that?!

I have now had 2 vets suggest I consider putting her down due to the bloat. It is very distressing to watch a dog go through this, but I am glad I did not listen.

 

[Criosphynx]

oh my what a mess. Sending good vibes your way

 

[pawzaddict]

The vets recommended a gastroplexy to prevent further bloat, along with some exploratory surgery and biopsies instead of the endoscopy, as she bloated quite badly again last night, so I said yes. I was able to sit with her for 3 hours this afternoon before her surgery. She looked like she was suffering terribly, but I am glad I did not give up on her.

It turned out that her stomach had, indeed twisted, so the surgery was a life-saving measure. Will need to wait for results of biopsies and other tests, though she did show signs of pancreatitis.

I was amazed to meet another Standard Poodle, just as I was leaving, with the same name as my Standard Poodle, Yoshi. How unusual is that?!

I have now had 2 vets suggest I consider putting her down due to the bloat. It is very distressing to watch a dog go through this, but I am glad I did not listen.

I wish you the best. I hate to say it but you have to be careful with bloat...especially with older dogs...I watched a dog have 2 sx's to fix bloat within 24 hours and the odds were against her and after the second one when her stomach twisted again it was just time to let her go.