Gaia’s Post Surgery, Recovery & Treatment

Our happy little world was turned upside down after our energetic two-year-old Pitt/Staffy mix, Gaia, had to be rushed to urgent care a week ago. After she threw up that morning, she was struggling to breathe and was lethargic. Gaia had an extremely high fever. She received stomach X-rays, fluids, and anti-nausea meds. Our usual vet wasn’t open on the weekend.

It’s now Monday, Gaia isn’t eating or getting any better. I take her to our veterinary hospital. The veterinarian does blood work and this time, takes chest X-rays. To our horror, you can’t see anything in her chest blocked by all the fluid that has built around her lungs. They then have to perform a chest tap to get a culture sample of the fluid in her lungs to send off to get tested. They give me three antibiotics. In the morning, they need to get the fluid out of her lungs. It is most likely a foreign object like a foxtail lodged in her lung that has built up an infection in her lungs as her blood work is normal.

For the last week, Gaia had two tubes inserted into either side of her lungs and every day, I took her to get her lungs drained of the nasty fluid. Gaia has one more draining Monday. Tuesday, she is scheduled for surgery to remove the infected part of her lower lobe where the foxtail is located. Without surgery, the infection is likely to fill up her lungs again. We need to remove the object causing the infection in her lungs. Gaia is only almost two and a half years old, barely a grown dog!

Gaia has been the sweetest soul and lightens up every person’s day who encounters her sweet and goofy demeanor. My brown-eyed girl is a crucial part of our lives, along with her companion schnauzer mix, TarTar. He has basically raised her from the frightened, abandoned 5-month-old puppy we rescued from living in the elements of a backyard. Please help us in our hour of need to gather resources for Gaia to get this life-saving surgery to live the full, long dog life she deserves!