Tue. Sept 25, 2007
About a year ago, two days before we were to leave for a Florida vacation, I found Dorie over a pool of barf and gave her a sympathy pat on the head, and I located two other noxious puddles, one of which, upon a reluctantly closer examination, contained thirty inches of ribbon. She threw up twice more in a few hours and refused to eat and settled into a malaise. I called the vet .The vet took x-rays, which showed nothing wrong, but he pointed out that there could be more ribbon in her that wouldn't show on the x-rays, and he described how lengths of ribbon can hang up and strangle the small intestine, which gets tight as the intestines try to move things along. Also the pulling and relaxing motion on the ribbon could create a sawing effect and cut into the intestines. We were directed us to a surgical animal hospital 25 miles away. They recommended surgery. The Chief of Surgery (this place is really is a hospital) would come in and do the operation that morning and they would call us right away. We said okay. They called at 1:30 to say she came through it all okay, and they had found another 32" of ribbon in her stomach and intestines, but they had gotten all of it out. We said thanks, many times.
Monday the hospital called to say we could pick her up at 3pm. They gave us post-op care instructions - keep her from being too active (sure, right after we keep the sun from rising), don't let her pick at her stitches (they said she hadn't been picking at them, but if she started to we would have to get one of those lampshade collars for her), and give her an antibiotic liquid twice daily.
What followed was an intense week sf attention, care and recovery. Not the planned week at Disney World, but we welcomed it just the same.