Dog + Stomache Shaped Hairball = Surgery

Were you aware that dogs can get hairballs? Me neither, until very recently. I also did not know that hair could accumulate over time, in your dogs stomach, until it was dense and the size of a stomach. That is, until it decides to go elsewhere. In this case, traveling down to my dog's intestines.

Course this all started on a Saturday (when else really would something like this start). Well, I mean, unknowing to us this it started long ago, but the dangerous movement of "the hairball" moved into his intestines quite recently. I guess it's lease was up, and it needed roomier accommodations than my poor guy's stomach. Course what happened, was it got lodged there preventing nutrients from entering his body. The little things like water...never mind food.

There was poop and pee, which made us think it was a stomach virus not a blockage. It never ever occurred to us that something could have built up over time and moved. We are the kind of owners who are diligent about our dogs avoiding eating stuff they shouldn't eat. Our red boys are kept busy and active most of the day, which makes boredom behaviors less likely for them. I had not thought they licked excessively unless it was allergy season. I would not have known to be very concerned if they were to pick up lint or something on the floor, which they do not do often, but I don't rush to stop it if it has occurred. I had assumed things like this, if they are small in nature, most likely pass with everything else out of the intestinal track. Apparently, this is not always true!!! It caused quite an emergency situation that brought us to the Port City Veterinary Referral Hospital.

The vets could actually feel the blockage, below his ribs. So next was the xray to try and determine what it was. Other than a C shaped mass, that did not provide us with any clues. Asked to guess, I picked either my husbands socks (as he leaves them on the bedroom floor for me to pick up) or "something dead" that my dog may have snatched in the woods and gobbled before I noticed anything. I guess something dead would have been closer to the hairball that was removed (pictured at the top).

So last weekend, this was our excitement. These sort of things never happen on weekdays when your vet is available and open. It would have never occurred to us that something was lying in wait within our dog to move and block off his ability to absorb water and food. I am hoping now that I have lived the full scope of medical pet emergencies that I can experience. Somehow, I don't thinks so though.

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