Sparky's Daytime Emergency

Dogs' health problems always seem to become emergencies on nights and weekends. Sparky was considerate enough to have his this morning. That's just something else to love about this dog.

He didn't eat breakfast. Failure to eat raises a flag for any dog, for a rottweiler it raises a big red flag to the top of the pole. Still, it's not really a reason to rush to the vet. But a little later I noticed him trying to vomit, but not getting anything up. I hustled him outside, but he still didn't really do anything, and he did it again a while later.

I've been through a lot with Sparky and seen most of his looks, but something about this was different. It was obvious that he wasn't feeling well, but it looked like something more than an upset stomach. He wasn't laying curled up as he usually does. I checked his gums and they still had normal color. I got him on his feet and felt his belly and that's what really alarmed me. It was stiff, hard, rigid, and seemed distended. I debated with myself for a few minutes, but having lost Vince a few days ago, I was not ready to go through that again.

He was still walking and he even hopped into the back of the van by himself. I called the vet as we were headed in. X-rays definitely showed that the stomach was bloated but it was less clear if the stomach was twisted. They deflated it and shot more x-rays and it still suggested a problem so I authorized surgery, gave him a lot of kisses on his head and came home to wait.

It went well. The stomach was bloated and twisted but they deflated it, straightened it out, and tacked it to prevent that from happening again. I was hoping to bring him home tonight, but when I went in he was still under the effects of the anesthesia. I took him to spend the night at the ER vet for monitoring and will go back to get him Friday morning.

I'm not going to show Sparky not feeling good, so here's one of my all-time favorite pictures of him.