It happened. Tuesday morning we woke up to vomit, compliments of Wrigley. She would no longer eat and her activity level had dropped since we picked her up from the emergency vet the morning before. I called our vet and left a message with the front desk about what was going on with Wrigley. I didn’t hear back from her, so around 1:30pm I called back in asking for guidance on what to do with my little girl. To calm my troubled mind I needed to know whether I should bring her in for further observation or not. I didn’t want to be rushing to the emergency vet again.

This is not typical of Wrigley when she is outdoors.

Ten minutes later, I received a call telling me to bring Wrigley in ASAP. At the time it was simply because the doc was leaving early and for her to see Wrigley that day it had to be now or never. I was two blocks away from home when I received the call. I flew home grabbed the dog, loaded her in the back of the SUV, grabbed the baby who was still napping in his car seat (thankfully), and made the nerve wrecking drive to the vet’s office downtown. Yes, I was nervous to find out what was going on with Wrigs, but equally as nervous because Wrigs likes to jump into the back seat when she is in the car. I couldn’t have that happen, because there was a baby in the back seat. Luckily and unfortunately, she was not feeling very well so she just laid down the entire drive.

Next, I had to figure out how I would manage getting a sickly 60lbs dog, and an 8 month old into the vet’s office by myself.

***LIGHT BULB ON***

Derek literally works across the street from our vet, so I called him and asked for some assistance. Typically, I would have found a babysitter for Gray, but I had zero time to do so. Derek met me at the vet’s office and helped me get my two babies in the building. He even stayed through the entire visit to hear what the vet had to say.

After a few more x-rays and a blood test Dr. Heartsill determined that most likely there IS still something in her. I think Wrigley had us fooled for a bit, because she is so incredibly stoic. That puppy has been through so much in her short little life that a little bit of tummy pain was nothing to her. I mean she didn’t even wince when the doc squeezed on her tummy. Since her white blood cell count was severely elevated and her x-ray showed a large build up of gas we all decided surgery was the best option. Even though we still were not certain there was actually something in there Dr. Heartsill informed us that all signs pointed to YES. She said she would rather go in there and not find anything then not operate and Wrigley die. I totally agreed.

I kissed my baby on the head, told her goodbye, and walked out the door. I actually held it together. I think I knew surgery was always a strong possibility, and I already went through the shock and massive amount of crying Saturday and Sunday. I cry every night when I pray for her. It’s just to hard not to.

How amazing is our vet? She was planning to leave early that day, but cancelled her plans and all other appointments at the office that afternoon so she could operate on Wrigley ASAP. Within 30 minutes of us walking out the door Wrigley was on the operating table. When Dr. Heartsill told me she was clearing her schedule to save my dogs life I did everything in my power not to run up and hug her. They preformed an abdominal exploratory on Wrigley. Not to gross you out, but it’s where they open the abdominal cavity and examine the abdominal organs. In Wrigley’s case, her intestines.

The entire weekend Derek and I were certain that she had only eaten some form of fabric from one of her toys. Thanks to the phone call from one of the vet staff during surgery we came to find out that it was indeed the squeaker that was still lodged in her belly. Dr. Heartsill call me herself once the surgery was over. She informed me that Wrigley did AMAZING. That was so wonderful to hear. There was minor bruising to her intestines, but not so much that she felt they needed to be removed. Since Wrigs responded so well to surgery we decided to allow her to spend the night at the vet even though they don’t have overnight staff. Otherwise, Derek and I would have needed to pick her up from our vet, put her in the back of our SUV on a gurney and drive 1/2 way across town to the emergency vet for overnight observation. That would have been another $500. Yikes! Then an amazing thing happened. Dr. Heartsill called me back and told me that Jamie, the tech that always assist Dr. Heartsill when we visit, offered to check in on Wrigley around 11pm that night. How awesome is that? I love this office.

If you live in Memphis and are looking for a new vet, and don’t mind driving downtown, check out the Downtown Animal Hospital. You won’t be sorry.

My sweet little girl is still at the vet recovering, and is doing well. Dr. Heartsill calls us everyday, sometimes twice a day, to keep us up to date on her progress. They said that she gets so excited when she gets to go out in the yard to potty. I told them that was her happy place so that made total sense. She is eating, not a ton, but she is eating. So far she is holding everything down. She is not running a fever and doesn’t appear to be in any pain. She is high as a kite on pain meds.

I miss her so much. Even though I have a house full of boys right now (Derek, Grayson, & Cohen) the house feels empty. Derek noticed it too. She really completes this family. She’s the family member that keeps everyone on their toes, can always make us laugh, and keeps the energy level up. I can’t wait to have her back in my arms. She may be dog, cat, bird, and mailman aggressive, but if you are a friend of ours she is the sweetest most loving dog in the world. She is so protective of our family. I think it’s because she mothered 7 puppies of her own. Did y’all know that she kept them alive for 2 weeks under a trailer? She was a stray with nowhere to go and 7 puppies to birth and care for. How awesome is this chick?

Now it’s my turn to take care of my puppy.

Don’t worry, we were just playing in this pic. I was trying to get her to chase me.

I’ll keep you updated on her recovery. Please pray that it is a quick and safe one.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 21st, 2011 at 1:39 am and is filed under Daily, Dogs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.