As if Martha hasn’t been through enough in the last few months with the c-section and looking after her puppies…
| I received a message from Zoe, who was looking after my dogs and the kennels while I was at Premiergroom a few weeks ago, saying Martha didn’t finish her food. This was really odd as she’s usually a pretty good eater – not like Richard who is sometimes too busy to eat. I then received another one saying Martha was sick a little later. When I got home that evening I could see she wasn’t herself and was definitely a bit quieter. She was drinking at least, I thought, but the next day she wouldn’t eat and she was sick a few times again. I remember thinking that she might have eaten something outside as her tummy was upset, so I decided to give her a charcoal tablet. We’ve been using charcoal tablets in our family for as long as I can remember. When it comes to diarrhoea, sickness, or flatulence, charcoal tablets are 100% natural tablets which contain charcoal. They can also be used to treat the symptoms of indigestion, wind, and heartburn. In fact, years ago our vet in Slovakia told me that activated charcoal tablets are the best first aid for accidental poisoning, as it absorbs toxins. |
| But back to Martha… unfortunately, the charcoal tablets didn’t work and Martha began getting sick even after she only drank water. At this point, I was worried she would become dehydrated so first thing in the morning we went to the vet. Our vet, Julie from Abbeyfields vets in Rocester https://abbeyfieldsvetsrocester.co.uk/, put her on a drip to keep her hydrated and later scanned her which revealed a blockage in her intestine. I had no idea what it was! I’ve heard stories of dogs getting blockages from bones, toys, and socks and even though my dogs are on a raw diet, the food is still well balanced. My other dogs were absolutely fine so was I perhaps overfeeding her? I gave her much more food than the other dogs, as she had lost weight when she had her puppies and was putting it back on very slowly. Did I cause the obstruction with too much food which she couldn’t digest quickly enough? No toys were ‘killed’ recently, none of the beds were ripped and no toys were missing… so I had no idea what it could have been. Julie kept Martha on a drip overnight and in the morning, we scanned her again. The mysterious object had moved towards the ‘exit’ so it all looked promising and I was allowed to take her home to monitor her and give her a bit of TLC. I still thought that if I walk her it would get everything moving and she would feel better. She actually did poo afterwards and became a bit perkier but was still not keen on eating. I thought perhaps that her tummy was upset from the anaesthetic, medications, or barium 🤷🏻♀️. She then started drinking and was holding it in which made me so happy but then… she got worse again😞. She refused to eat and vomited a few minutes after having a drink but then pooped again so I was really confused as to what was going on! Back to the vets 🙈. Ella, the vet, kept Martha in again and put her on a drip to investigate what was causing her being sick. She eventually rung me in the afternoon saying that they had to operate as there was still a blockage that was too big to move out the natural way. I wasn’t worried as I knew Martha was in good hands and I believe worrying is praying for things that don’t actually need to happen but there was a tiny part of me that was concerned because she was still a loved one of mine. At 17:30 I went to pick Martha up. She was awake and looked so tiny and fragile 😞. The nurses then showed me the object that was causing all the drama! Perhaps fluff from bedding or toys but it was so hard to tell as it was mixed and covered with poo. It was about 9-10 cm long and about 2-3cm in diameter. How long it was in her system… I had no idea. She hadn’t shred any toys recently and all her bedding was in one piece so I assume it had been there for quite some time and it was just moving around 🤷🏻♀️. I stayed up all night with Martha monitoring her drinking, peeing, and movement as well as watching her that she didn’t pull the catheter out of her leg (the vet kept it there just in case she would need to go back on the drip). She still wasn’t interested in food but she held the liquids down and that’s always a good sign. I sprayed her wound with Soothing Antiseptic Spray and treated her with tuning forks to speed up her recovery. The next day we went for a check-up and to get some painkillers to keep her comfortable. Julie was pleased with her progress and said it may take a couple of days until she poops. I fed her very small amounts of food – a little bit of cooked chicken, a little bit of cheese, and a tiny bit of scrambled eggs every three hours but she still wasn’t keen on eating. I didn’t blame her as it’s understandable that she didn’t have an appetite after what she had been through. Sunday was a bit better. She was livelier, eating a bit more and on Monday morning she had a poo. Happy days!! Easy peasy, no pain, and no discomfort… I WAS SO HAPPY! After this magic moment, her recovery sped up and she is now back to her normal herself. She’s still eating only a small amount of food, a few times a day, as I don’t want to put too much pressure on her digestive system. Have you experienced a blocked intestine in your dog? What was the cause and how did you deal with it? |
We sometimes ‘joke’ that intestinal obstructions are the commonest health problems in Cesky Terriers – but of course it is no laughing matter, and I have known several dogs that have died because the owner did not recognise the signs. I tell my puppy owners NEVER to leave a CT alone with any rubber toy, and to remove any toy that is damaged as they WILL chew pieces off. These can stay in the intestine for many months before causing a blockage.
Reluctance to eat, drinking but vomiting water shortly after, general lethargy – in a CT I would always have the possibiiity of a blockage in my mind, as they are such scavengers.
Fortunately, they are tough little people and usually bounce back quite quickly after the offending object is removed.
Just like Martha…I think it was in her system for a quite some time. But they are tough cookies these terriers 🙂