Update on Rudy

Hello everybody. This is Tracie blogging for Rudy. Many of you already know what's been going on for him, but I thought I'd put an update here for those who don't.

On Thursday he was ill. He'd been throwing up and was definitely not himself. We rushed him to the vet, and they took x rays which didn't show much, except some gas and discomfort. They gave him barium, and said to bring him back for a follow up x ray at nine the next morning.

By morning he was a lot weaker, and definitely in a lot of pain. I took him to the vet early, and left him there. I figured he was in much better hands there than with us. I went to work and waited for a call.

The call came almost immediately. Rudy was in trouble. Big trouble. Even though work is only about two blocks from the vet the drive felt like it took a million years. By the time I arrived (maybe a minute and a half later), Rudy was being prepped for emergency surgery. He'd gone into full on shock right after I left him, and were it not for some wonderful coincidences and great luck (the tech decided to x ray him early and discovered he'd started to crash, Dr. Moffatt came in early and noticed a sick sheepie, etc) we would have most certainly lost him.

I won't go into graphic details, but his heart rate was over 230 (I'm told a hundred is normal), and his fever was 42.1 (that's 107 for those of you who speak American). His mouth was dry, his gums were light grey, and his eyes were empty. I held him while they prepped him, and had this very real feeling that the life was fading from him, and fast.

Dr. Moffatt works miracles. I've always known that. He rushed him into the operating room (it was like a scene from a TV show), and in a very short period of time, Rudy was open from stem to stern, and his intestines were spread out all over...and I do mean all over. It's hard to imagine all that stuff in his little belly.

A sock was found, and it caused all sorts of damage. His intestines were not a natural colour at that point, and while they started to pink up almost immediately we have been warned that at that point there was no way of knowing what the outcome might be. We'd been lucky he survived the surgery.

We took turns sitting with him throughout the day Friday. He didn't come out of the anesthetic easily, and it took a long time for him to swallow on his own, so he was officially in intensive care for a long time. By five o'clock he was just starting to lift his head and look around. It was heartbreaking to have to leave him overnight, knowing that there was no one with him in case the worst happened, but Dr. Moffatt didn't think that transferring him was a good idea, so we had to spend a very difficult night without him, not knowing if we'd see him again in the morning. We were told there was a very real chance he'd not make it.

We arrived at the vet very early on Saturday morning, and sat in the parking lot waiting for them to open. The techs came in, and one by one they walked the other dogs we'd gotten to know from the surgical and med wards through the parking lot. There were tears in our eyes, knowing that Rudy might already be gone. He'd been so sick the night before, and so weak.

Imagine the tears and shrieking that came out of us when he WALKED out that door, to go for a pee. The word miraculous has been said by many (especially the clinic staff, which makes it really meaningful) to describe Rudy over the last few days, and I swear I heard a choir of angels singing in the background when he walked out.

We spent the morning, and early afternoon with him, but we were again warned that he was not out of the woods yet. There's still a chance the damage will turn out to be too severe, and infection is an ever concerning possibility.

We also were told that if he didn't start eating, Dr. K would want to keep him in the clinic. Again there was no one to monitor him/stay with him, but Dr. K would go in periodically to check on him and walk him, etc. Since it's a long weekend, this would have meant keeping him until Tuesday morning, and I couldn't stand the thought.

But, Miracle Rudy keeps on amazing us. The clinic staff stayed two hours late yesterday, and let us stay until the absolute last bit of paperwork and cleaning was done. And wouldn't you know it? About fifteen minutes before we had to leave Rudy started to eat. He only had a tablespoon or so, but it was enough to get Dr. K's approval to bring him home and care for him here.

He's still very sore...who wouldn't be? But he's happier at home. I cried when he walked in the door. And, last night (Saturday) he even had his first official poop. It was gross and disgusting, but we'd been prepared for this. He's sleeping a lot, which is great for healing, and has been eating small amounts steadily.

He had a good sleep on the bed last night, and whenever he woke up (which of course woke me up) I brought him his food and water and he grazed a little all night long. This morning, he woke up and attacked his bowl of food.

So, we're still not sure where this is all going. There are lots more hurdles to get by, but so far Miracle Rudy is doing unexpectedly well. I don't want to make any predictions at this point, but I will say he's one strong little fellow. I will also add that Dr. Moffatt and the staff at Transcona Vet really are amazing, and that there's no doubt in my mind that they all, collectively, worked a miracle for us.

So, thanks to those who have sent their good wishes. All those warm thoughts definitely helped Rudy. I'm sure he'll be back and blogging soon. Hopefully we'll have lots more good news to come, and I'm sure he'll have lots to say about the shiny new basket muzzle he'll be getting to wear when he's not fully supervised. We can't possibly go through this again. Rudy my love, socks are evil. Remember that.

Thanks again to all. So many people helped (directly and indirectly) get us all through this terrible time. A special thanks as well to Auntie Brighit and Cousin Vienna for Hudson sitting. It really took a load off our minds to know he was well taken care of. And who knew Hudson could walk two and a half miles? He fusses for us at two and a half blocks! I asked him about it, but he says what happens at Brighit's stays at Brighit's. Then he mumbled something about how if they'd all just stayed at Brighit's in the first place then this two and a half mile ordeal would never have happened.

Thanks so much everyone. We'll keep you updated for sure.

Tracie, on behalf of Rudy and the whole family