# Peyton may have another foreign body, super



## rannmiller (Jun 27, 2008)

See http://dogfoodchat.com/forum/dog-health-issues-question/9616-peyton-has-obstruction.html for previous story of Peyton's first foreign body. 

So last night Peyton ate her dinner (a raw chicken leg quarter) with a little less gusto than usual, I didn't think much of it as she was acting pretty normal aside from that. Maybe a bit more subdued but that's all. Well she then proceeded to spend the rest of the night unable to sleep, waking me up every hour or so to run outside and/or drink a lot of water. Again, just thought she was being a pain in the butt from not getting any exercise that day. Finally at about 4 or 5 am she settled down so I could sleep until 5:30 at which point she gave up trying to sleep in bed with me and slept on the floor until my alarm went off at 6. Needless to say, tired Rachel wasn't too happy with Peyton. 

Well then I started noticing that as I was making breakfast for the pups (liver and chicken leg quarters), she was lying outside the kitchen watching me with a slightly uncomfortable expression. That was the first real red flag. I went to give her the food and she licked at it a little, picked it up in her mouth, then dropped it. *Huge red flag! * Peyton loves to eat, so her not eating means something is terribly wrong. 

I palpated her abdomen and there is a spot where I think I can feel something and she turns around and looks at me when I get there like "Hey, that doesn't feel too great." Then she just continues to walk around with her abdomen tensed and lay down like she's pretty uncomfortable. It's not quite the agonized walking and scream of pain like last time, so part of me wants to just leave her at home for observation for a few hours. The rest of me wants to take her to the pro-raw vet in town as soon as they open in 25 minutes and ask them for an x-ray. I can't take her to my usual vet because if they see the leg quarter in there from last night they'll immediately assume that's the problem even if there's clearly a roll of barbed wire in front of it, they'd just assume that the chicken is what caused it (not saying she ate barbed wire, I'm just saying that even if there was a more obvious problem, they'd still blame the raw). I'd rather take her to a pro-raw vet that is willing to look past the leg quarter to see if there's something else in there that's the real culprit. I'll take her to my regular vet for the surgery since they'll be way less expensive and I know they do good work there. 

Oh the joys of working at a feline-only clinic and not having the luxury of having a separate vet for my dogs anymore.


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## lovemydogsalways (Mar 4, 2012)

Hoping it is not serious!


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

this does suck. i hope it all works out.....


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Wow. If I remember correctly someone had thrown something over the fence last time? Please let us know what you find out. This totally sucks.


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## rannmiller (Jun 27, 2008)

Looks like fairly severe gastrointestinal inflammation but no obstruction yet. There are a lot of bones, some pretty large pieces, hanging out in her system though. She's pretty dehydrated so she's gonna stay there on IV fluids overnight to help move things through as well as some intestinal antibiotics to protect her digestive system. Theyre not sure of the cause yet though 

Literally nothing has changed in her diet in months. Anyone have any ideas? I think I'm gonna either try doing smaller, more frequent meals and holding the food for her to chew thoroughly or just put her on kibble. I'm already at $600+ provided that she's good to go by the morning. Ugh.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

rannmiller said:


> Looks like fairly severe gastrointestinal inflammation but no obstruction yet. There are a lot of bones, some pretty large pieces, hanging out in her system though. She's pretty dehydrated so she's gonna stay there on IV fluids overnight to help move things through as well as some intestinal antibiotics to protect her digestive system. Theyre not sure of the cause yet thoug
> 
> Literally nothing has changed in her diet in months. Anyone have any ideas? I think I'm gonna either try doing smaller, more frequent meals and holding the food for her to chew thoroughly or just put her on kibble. I'm already at $600+ provided that she's good to go by the morning. Ugh.


what kind of bones are you feeding?

because of some of these threads, there are only certain bony foods i feed now.....and they belong to the softer, kinder bones...

i don't feed turkey necks anymore....and i don't feed turkey legs...

but quail, rabbit, if i fed chicken....things like that...

i wonder why she's not fully digesting and passing. is there something else going on?

is she maybe getting too much bone?

i can really understand your frustration...especially since she hurts and it's a financial drain for the diet that is supposed to stop vet visits....but if there is any way we can help not put her back onto kibble....which can also drain you with irritable bowel and gastroenteritis.....we're here for you. 

and no matter what you decide, you're the one who has to sleep at night....so full support here.

are there digestive aids that would be suitable for dogs? that wouldn't get destroyed?


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## rannmiller (Jun 27, 2008)

Why don't you feed turkey necks? She got those yesterday for breakfast and a chicken leg quarter for dinner. She usually doesn't have the most solid stools so more bone content is usually beneficial to her and she's never had an issue with turkey necks before. Plus I just got 120 lbs of them so I really hope that isn't the problem! 

I know she was definitely pooping fine on tuesday and seemed fine wednesday before I went to work. I just have no idea why she suddenly stopped passing. It was a good 14 hours between meals and now it seems like its all stuck for no reason. I can't really think of any digestive aids besides probiotics I guess. The vet doesn't want to put anything else in her system right now though and I tend to agree with her.


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

I'm sorry to hear about all these problems. Have you tried smaller, more frequent meals in the past? I have had two Chows with problems digesting large amounts of food, where it would just get 'stuck' if they ate too much at once. They had no apparent abnormalities and they were actually kibble fed dogs, so going to kibble may not solve the problem for you. 

It is one reason that I keep Rocky on two small meals a day, since I had two dogs with the problem already and he tends to get stomach upsets easily as it is. It is certainly something to consider trying with Peyton before a complete change in diet.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

rannmiller said:


> Why don't you feed turkey necks? She got those yesterday for breakfast and a chicken leg quarter for dinner. She usually doesn't have the most solid stools so more bone content is usually beneficial to her and she's never had an issue with turkey necks before. Plus I just got 120 lbs of them so I really hope that isn't the problem!
> 
> I know she was definitely pooping fine on tuesday and seemed fine wednesday before I went to work. I just have no idea why she suddenly stopped passing. It was a good 14 hours between meals and now it seems like its all stuck for no reason. I can't really think of any digestive aids besides probiotics I guess. The vet doesn't want to put anything else in her system right now though and I tend to agree with her.


i don't know why maddie isn't acting the way she is supposed to act.....but for me, i have smallish dogs....the heaviest of which is 38 lbs....and turkey necks take up valuable real estate....i don't like feeding pieces, ya know? 

plus, i found them to be denser than other edible bones....

i really like duck necks and softer bones...and even though rabbit and lamb aren't softer....they are smaller and more manageable....at least, they are to me.

i never did feed chicken leg quarters, but i do eat them...when i fed chicken, i was more inclined to feed the back and breast.....they seemed more porous to me...

my kids can eat llama and emu and venison and they gnaw on lamb necks, so it's not a teeth issue.....they power through pork ribs, another favourite because they are more porous to me.....i just don't mess with thick hard bone....

i guess i have a better than healthy respect for bone.....


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## lovemydogsalways (Mar 4, 2012)

THis is just a question from a newb in the raw world.
If you fed her one meal a day wouldn't it be easier on her to digest that until you feed her again say 24 hours later the next day? Or is that what you do?
Or is that not how raw digests? 
In my mind I would think that more smaller meals would get all bunched up and taker longer to digest.
Sorry just curious
Really hope she passes it all with no trouble.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

maybe a silly moo point, but the bones hanging out in her system...are they just part of her normal digestion and she's coincidentally got a severe belly ache?

the last thing i want to do when i have a belly ache is drink....and she's a dog so would get dehydrated faster..

so maybe some iv fluids and that miracle shot they give for an inflamed belly?


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## rannmiller (Jun 27, 2008)

Well she was drinking a bunch of water all night last night so it was really weird that she was so dehydrated when I took her in. I'm really hoping the fluids and miracle shot work though. Let's all send happy healing vibes to her now!

To answe the other question about smaller more frequent meals, I guess it could go either way. Either she gets a larger meal and it's a lot for her system to digest all at once but it has more time, or it's a few smaller meals so they're easier to digest but may tend to get backed up if they're too close together. I would think that a smaller meal every 8 hours wouldn't be too close together though so that might just be the ticket. The trick is working that into my schedule on days that I work and am gone for 11+ hours at a time


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## lovemydogsalways (Mar 4, 2012)

Mucho healing vibes coming her way.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

i hope she heals up really quickly and I'm glad it's not an obstruction. It is curious that there is no real obvious cause for this. Please let us know - whatever you decide to feed her will have full support here.


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

rannmiller said:


> Well she was drinking a bunch of water all night last night so it was really weird that she was so dehydrated when I took her in. I'm really hoping the fluids and miracle shot work though. Let's all send happy healing vibes to her now!
> 
> To answe the other question about smaller more frequent meals, I guess it could go either way. Either she gets a larger meal and it's a lot for her system to digest all at once but it has more time, or it's a few smaller meals so they're easier to digest but may tend to get backed up if they're too close together. I would think that a smaller meal every 8 hours wouldn't be too close together though so that might just be the ticket. The trick is working that into my schedule on days that I work and am gone for 11+ hours at a time


I don't know how often she eats now, but I feed two small meals about 12 hours apart (6 am and 6 pm). Then one meal has plenty of time to digest before the other meal is fed. Rocky poops twice a day so I'm pretty sure one is digested before the other one gets there. He's not a real big eater though, and in fact will REFUSE to eat a big meal at one time, so two small meals work well for him.

It is weird about the dehydration. Healing vibes being sent your way. Let us know how she is after tonight.


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## Chocx2 (Nov 16, 2009)

I always worry about mine when I'm gone for 12 hours at a time, but I feed twice a day at 330 or 4 am and then again at 5 to 6 pm and thats the best I can do. One of my dogs once in a while will get a little sick with some extra bone and bio. I give them probiotics every meal. The one that get stomach upset is the one that had parvo when he was a little one. I just watch him he is usually ok and I go easy on the meals when he gets upsets.


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## rannmiller (Jun 27, 2008)

Well she usually eats at about 6:45 am and then 10 pm so plenty of time for digestion in between those meals. I don't know what I'm going to do but I went and visited her tonight and cried all over her. Man I love that dog! She looks like she's feeling a little better and her gums seemed more moist to me. I explained to her that she's not allowed to chew out her IV catheter (she's wearing a cone but you never know with those long dobernoses), vomit, have diarrhea, or not feel 500% better by tomorrow. I told her she is allowed one giant normal stool or two medium normal ones and that she has to be ready to come home tomorrow. She's a pretty smart girl so I'm hoping she listens to me.


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## CavePaws (Jan 25, 2011)

I know how much it sucks worrying about your pup. Indi has surgery tomorrow and I'm flipping out. I'm sorry you have to go through this and all the questioning of how to feed her after she comes home. I do think raw is the best way to go for her. I also think smaller meals will be better.

Sending her lots of healing vibes and she will be in my prayers tonight. Stay strong for your baby girl!


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## CorgiPaws (Mar 31, 2009)

Oh man, that all sucks. I don't really have anything to add to what has been said, but hope she is feeling much, much better by tomorrow!! Poor girl.


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## rannmiller (Jun 27, 2008)

The part of my day that's the worst so far was not when the vet assistant asked if I'd had enough time with her after having her to myself for 15 minutes in an exam room alone and having to choke back tears as I asked for five more minutes, or five minutes later having to say good bye to my little girl for the night because the nice vet assistant told me about how she jumps up to give him kisses every time he takes her out of her kennel. It was when I went to take beef heart out of the freezer for the dogs and found a bag with only three chunks in it and thought "Oh yay, this will be the perfect amount for their breakfast in the morning... oh wait, no... only two of them tomorrow..." And now I'm crying all over again. Yes, I am the pathetic wuss furmommy of the century! 

Thanks for the good vibes and well wishes everyone. Here's a pic of the cutest patient that's every existed:


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## CavePaws (Jan 25, 2011)

She is adorable! At least she has made a new friend at the vet.


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