Michelle (The Vet)

[DCJenn]

So, Petey spent the night in the ICU last night. Why? Because he ate 3 (count 'em) 3 tampons. From the trash can. They observed him at our vet all day and "the mass" didn't move so I had to take him to the ICU last night. They tried an endoscopy but it didn't work. Finally at 4am he threw everything up.

Here are the lessons that I have learned:

1) everyone I told and all of the Vets had heard of or seen this as "common doggie behavior", proving that dogs are, well...dogs.

2) it's cheaper to flush tampons and occasionally have to call Roto-Rooter.

UGH...

Jenn

PS- he's on a bland diet, so guess who got boiled chicken and rice dinner tonight?

[fluffhead]

OK...I hate to be a total "man" about this...but....
yuck?
this is the most disgusting thing I've seen on the internet this whole...evening.

[DCJenn]

and don't ya know that the Vet I had to deal with at the ICU was a totally cute young MALE doc.

Sorry for the Yuck factor. I'm past that at this point!!! At this point it has become "just" the winner in the Most Disgusting Thing My Dog Has Ever Eaten contest...

Jenn

[Meenah]

Oh my, that is really gross!!!!!! Not to hijack your thread, but I will. Winston has also been in the Vet's office , had two surgeries, ultrasound, you name it and we are waiting to get results. Intially it was rule out Lymphoma, now they think it is Canine Lupus. I'm sending him out to get a job to pay his own vet bills!!
Luanne

Dogs are so weird. You know he was thinking: Sweet, there are three of these in here!
Glad to hear he is a-ok! There is a element of Murphy's Law in the cute vet side of it.

[Michele]

Finally at 4am he threw everything up.

I'm glad he was able to bring 'em up! Surgery to remove them would have no doubt been more $$ and more time for recovery...

common doggie behavior

They LOVE used tampons, used pads, used tissues, used underwear/bathing suits. My dog has chewed the crotch out of at least 10 pairs of undies and $50 swimsuit bottoms. The surgeons talk about all the goodies they get to remove from pups guts...Dogs will be dogs!

guess who got boiled chicken and rice dinner tonight?

Yum! They also really seem to like having us cook for them. Hopefully you can transition him back to dog food.

a totally cute young MALE doc

They exist?!?!? So this is in DC huh? In Fl we get all the displaced cowboys...ugh.


Jenn, I'm sorry you had to go through all of this with Petey. What vet ICU was this? Isn't there a place called Friendship Hospital in DC? Two of their current interns are UF grads and we have some in my class who are going to be there next year.

Winston has also been in the Vet's office

Have you mentioned this before? Did I totally miss this? I'm sorry Luanne...lymphoma vs lupus? Wow...just for learning and curiosity's sake what were his symptoms that brought you to the vet? What were the abnormalities they found?

[twinsmom]

Jenn-
I'm so sorry about the whole incident... and sorry that it is so funny in a warped sort of way . At least it's good to know that my dog is normal. As I am nursing right now, everytime I take out the nursing pad and set it beside me to feed, he is right there to try to steal it and run away .
I hope your dog has a speedy recovery!! And that he can get weaned back to his dog food soon!!

Jen B.

[DCJenn]

Michelle-

This was at South Paws in Springfield, VA. There is a Friendship Hospital in DC, but I've never been. Our regular vet is at Capitol Hill Veterinary Clinic.


Luanne-

Yes, do tell about Winston!

Jenn

Diapers are a favorite, too.
This is why I have cats

[Sheherezade]

Warning to potty training parents:

My dog cleaned out the cute little potty a few times when I was busy "praising". Total yuck. She did NOT get an M & M. At 17 years old now, she is too ancient to get into anything.

Luanne-sorry to hear about your dog! How is that going?

[Meenah]

Jenn,
I told my husband about Petey and he was really grossed out!!!! I think he preferred our problem.
I will try to summarize my vet visits over the past two weeks.

Wednesday he had a swollen left upper eyelid and reddened sclera. We could find no injury, no corneal abrasion and he was put on antibiotic eye ointment.

Sunday afternoon he developed a swelling in the left side of his face , similar to where the parotid gland in a human is.

Monday morning he had surgery to drain this. He came home with a penrose drain. All blood work was normal and the culture was sterile, nothing grew out after five days.

Friday he had the drain removed. Now both eyes, upper & lower lids are swollen. He is now put on Benadryl.

Sunday afternoon I felt a small lump on his side and thought maybe that was where he had a shot or IV. By Sunday evening he has numerous lumps which we assumed by now are lymph nodes. By Monday morning his chest looks distorted from lumps. We go back and have Chest xray, blood work,and abdominal ultrasound. All normal.

Are you still reading???

Tuesday surgery again to remove one lymph node and one nodule. He was sent home on Steroids and today his eyes are almost back to normal and the lumps are getting smaller. We are waiting for results. The Vet thinks now it is something autoimmune.

Damn, this little guuy has cost me a fortune!!!!! Remember my daughter bought him, and he has been with me for two years. She is never getting him!!!!
Luanne

PS my Vet is stumped. He is from Penn, and his wife is a Vet Oncologist at Penn. Hope to get some answers soon

[Meenah]

Michele,
I didn't know dogs could have Lupus?????

I love reading about all of the gross things dogs eat....I think I'll just stick with cats for now!

Luanne, I'm sorry to hear about Winston. One of my neighbors has a dog with Canine Lupus. My neighbor has been researching this disease quite a bit and she has been in contact with an "expert" in California (I'm not sure who he is) who believes that Canine Lupus might be caused by vaccinations. I hope you can get answers soon.

[Michele]

Yes dogs can get Lupus (Systemic Lupus Erythematosus)...same disease as in people...as far as I know. It is autoimmune and responds to prednisone or other steroid therapy (usually). There are people out there (not that the expert is wrong) who think that most autoimmune diseases are related to vaccination....I kinda think that's overkill. Yes cats get fibrosarcomas from vaccines....yes we used to over vaccinate...but we've erradicated many sucky diseases with vaccination so I think they have their place.

Winston's been tested for Lyme and Erhlichia right? It's often done in the Heartworm snap test (ELISA). His symtpoms are kinda unique...I've never read anything about eyelid swellings related to body lumps...very interesting... So the cheek thing was some sort of abscess?? They they were able to drain? Doesn't really fit with cancer (lymphoma)...adn I can't think of enough lymphnodes to distort his chest...so they must be some sort of nodules...when do the biosy reports come back? Yeah, I'm really stumped too...but it sounds like your vet knows what he's doing....hopefully it's easily treatable....I'm sorry you guys are going through this.

[Meenah]

He has lymph nodes and subcutaneous nodules. They biopsied both. We should get something back by Monday or Tuesday. My Vet confesses to being stumped too!! I'll call tomorrow to ask about Lyme and Erhlichia, but the heartworm test was negative. The nodes and nodules are getting smaller, and tonight he was playful for a little while. The steroids seem to be doing the job. I'll keep you posted.
The eyes were really scary, edema of both upper & lower lids. The abscess was sterille.

Luanne