Noodles Eats a Rock

The past two weeks have had a full schedule, and our Noodle puppy helped tip us over the edge. For a few days he was not acting his boisterous self, but not acting overly sick either. And at night around 4 a.m. he would wake up and have a dry heave. He was eating but not with his normal enthusiasm. Eating, drinking, no vomiting. Then Friday morning he had some straining when he went to poop. Would only eat a tiny bit for breakfast. Was subdued, but otherwise alert. No vomitting, and though he was drinking water, it wasn't his normal gushing amount. Late Friday afternoon he turned down dinner and water. Late Friday night he vomitted twice, losing all the food he had eaten over the past couple days. I was able to track the time via the type of treats he puked up. 

I suspected he had an intestinal foreign body. Perhaps not a full blockage, but something was going on for sure. His belly wasn't tense, but his eyes told us that he didn't feel right. He had no fever and his gums indicated that he was a bit dehydrated. 

So first thing Saturday morning I called the vet hospital and arranged for an emergency visit. Of course, once I got off the phone Noodles was acting a bit better. He drank water and held it down. But he wasn't interested in going outside for bathroom walks. He actually asked for a dog cookie, but I didn't give him one just in case he would need surgery. Though not his bouncy self, he was willing to go for a car ride. He still had no fever and still was subdued. 

The vet is a 1 1/2 hour drive away. By the time we got there Noodles was acting pretty good. Not boisterous, but alert and comfortable. The vet listened to our tale and suspected that Noodles ate something, being that he's half Labrador retriever. Labs are noted to swallow inappropriate items. An ultrasound indicated intestinal inflammation. No foreign body was seen in the stomach and upper intestinal system. Bloodwork revealed no toxicity although some inflammation of the pancreas was  suspected. The X-ray was the clincher. A radiopaque object was in his colon. Bingo! 

The next morning Noodles pooped out a rock. Once the rock was gone, the pup returned to his normal self. 

That's a big rock to get through some of the tight spaces in a dog's intestinal system!