- R
- C
Thank you in advance for taking the time to read this.
The story starts with Jeremy's 40th birthday BBQ. It was the first party we had in our own backyard with our new patio that Jeremy built me for my 40th birthday. Everything was just right. Our friends and neighbors all came together to help set up, cook dishes, and run the bbq pit. There were 3 buffet tables set up with food galore including Ribs, meatballs, hors d'oeuvres, oysters, and sides. We couldn't have wished for better weather or turnout.
A ton of people showed up including a handful of doggies. Everyone was having a great time! The night wound down as the crowd quickly dwindled. I went inside and laid down on the bed, exhausted from the hot sun, the hard work and the socialization. In the meantime, The remaining guests started packing up the leftovers. We decided to save the cleaning for the morning. Unfortunately that would prove to be the worst decision we could have made.
The next morning, I woke up and went to say good morning to my 130 lb mastiff mix mutt, Samson. He's a goofy, loveable, gentle giant we rescued as a puppy from a kill shelter in Violet, La. He is the first dog I've ever had. He wasn't himself on this day though. He was off. He had sad eyes, was listless, and when he stood his back legs were shaky. I tried to give him a treat and he didn't want it. I tried to give him water but he didn't want it. I knew something was wrong so I took him to the vet right away. They examined him and said his vitals were normal, had no fever but was obviously not feeling well. They gave him a shot for upset stomach and IV fluids. The diagnosis was that he probably just ate something he shouldn't have at the party and was feeling nauseous. We took him home and were feeling relieved that he would be ok in a few hours so I went to work as usual.
Three hours later, Jeremy is yelling at me to come outside. He believes we have an emergency. I wrap up what I was doing and go outside to see my giant puppy barely standing, with thick drool pouring from both sides of his mouth, worried eyes, and diarrhea shooting out of his backside. He even pooped on my foot while I was talking to Jeremy about what we should do next. We obviously had to take him back to the vet.
The afterhours Vet decided to do some more tests and everything was coming up normal but he was obviously not well. To satisfy her own curiosity, she put him under the Xray machine (which she didn't even charge us for) and there it was. My dog had apparently eaten about a dozen ribs at the party while we weren't looking!! I should probably also point out that he swallows food whole all the time. This is not hard for me to believe. Now we know the problem and It's way bigger than our vet has the tools for. She explained that she's in not usually an alarmist but we really needed to get our fur baby to the emergency hospital right away. His intestines were bloated and out of place. She was afraid he may have perforation in his digestive system. This is a very frightening revelation.
We then rush him to the ER at Medvet. The Doctor on Duty in triage looked at the X-rays and knew what needed to be done. He came in to go over our options and said he wanted to fast track him, call in a specialist surgeon and get these bones out as soon as possible. He explained that it was exploratory surgery so there could be a few different outcomes, each one worse than the previous. All I could say was, "Do whatever it takes to save my baby!" I would worry about the rest later.
The surgeon was called in from a town 40 miles away. We had to leave him in their hands and just go home to wait until it was over. This was definitley high on the list of the scariest and most stressful four hours of my life.
Around 2am I get a call from the surgeon. She said everything went well and the outcome was the best scenerio we were hoping for. The bones, among other things were taken out of his stomach before any perforation could happen. There were rib bones, toothpicks, eggs, blueberries, and other "unidentifyable things." She said, she'd " never seen anything like it and he was very lucky." She reiterated that we did all the right things. The toothpicks (from the hors d'oeurves were even scarier than the rib bones.) Samson had a taste of pretty much everything on that buffet. Even some birthday cake!! (blueberries)
My baby had to stay in there for a few days which gave us time to clean up from the party and get the house "Samson proofed" before the homecoming.
There was only one minor setback after we picked him up that was remedied by a nausea shot and cutting his pain meds in half. He was just a little too doped up for his liking.
I'm happy to say, a week later, Samson is on the mend and getting back to his normal, happy self. He's almost back on his regular diet and his staples come out in a few days. I've never been so happy to see a poop pile after he didn't have a BM for 5 days!!! Apparently this is normal after surgery. Who knew?!
So that is the story of what happened to Samson.
What I'm asking for now is a little help with the obvious emergency medical bills. Samson is a giant breed dog so his bills will always be more than a normal sized dog because he requires more medicine, more supplies, more staff and bigger equipment. I've gotten used to this already and I'm so happy to have him in my life, I will do whatever I can to take the best care of my loveable doofus. This is a breakdown of his bills.
1st visit: $209.00
2nd visit: $133.00
ER: $3,809.70
Taking him back that next day: $118.51
Prescription canned food: $52.83
Follow-up/staple removal: Unkown at this point
In addition to making a gofundme page, I am hosting a benefit during my shift at the sports bar where I work on April 20th. I am expecting to raise a few hundred dollars on that day by a 50/50 pool tournament, "dogs for dogs" hot dog stand among other fun and games that are currently in the works.
I don't take this business of asking people for help lightly. I actually haven't had to ask for help in years. I want you to know that I really appreciate your generosity and your donation will be going to a great cause-Keeping my best friend alive. Samson is well known in this community and always puts a smile on people's faces. I'm sure he would put a smile on your face too! :-D
The story starts with Jeremy's 40th birthday BBQ. It was the first party we had in our own backyard with our new patio that Jeremy built me for my 40th birthday. Everything was just right. Our friends and neighbors all came together to help set up, cook dishes, and run the bbq pit. There were 3 buffet tables set up with food galore including Ribs, meatballs, hors d'oeuvres, oysters, and sides. We couldn't have wished for better weather or turnout.
A ton of people showed up including a handful of doggies. Everyone was having a great time! The night wound down as the crowd quickly dwindled. I went inside and laid down on the bed, exhausted from the hot sun, the hard work and the socialization. In the meantime, The remaining guests started packing up the leftovers. We decided to save the cleaning for the morning. Unfortunately that would prove to be the worst decision we could have made.
The next morning, I woke up and went to say good morning to my 130 lb mastiff mix mutt, Samson. He's a goofy, loveable, gentle giant we rescued as a puppy from a kill shelter in Violet, La. He is the first dog I've ever had. He wasn't himself on this day though. He was off. He had sad eyes, was listless, and when he stood his back legs were shaky. I tried to give him a treat and he didn't want it. I tried to give him water but he didn't want it. I knew something was wrong so I took him to the vet right away. They examined him and said his vitals were normal, had no fever but was obviously not feeling well. They gave him a shot for upset stomach and IV fluids. The diagnosis was that he probably just ate something he shouldn't have at the party and was feeling nauseous. We took him home and were feeling relieved that he would be ok in a few hours so I went to work as usual.
Three hours later, Jeremy is yelling at me to come outside. He believes we have an emergency. I wrap up what I was doing and go outside to see my giant puppy barely standing, with thick drool pouring from both sides of his mouth, worried eyes, and diarrhea shooting out of his backside. He even pooped on my foot while I was talking to Jeremy about what we should do next. We obviously had to take him back to the vet.
The afterhours Vet decided to do some more tests and everything was coming up normal but he was obviously not well. To satisfy her own curiosity, she put him under the Xray machine (which she didn't even charge us for) and there it was. My dog had apparently eaten about a dozen ribs at the party while we weren't looking!! I should probably also point out that he swallows food whole all the time. This is not hard for me to believe. Now we know the problem and It's way bigger than our vet has the tools for. She explained that she's in not usually an alarmist but we really needed to get our fur baby to the emergency hospital right away. His intestines were bloated and out of place. She was afraid he may have perforation in his digestive system. This is a very frightening revelation.
We then rush him to the ER at Medvet. The Doctor on Duty in triage looked at the X-rays and knew what needed to be done. He came in to go over our options and said he wanted to fast track him, call in a specialist surgeon and get these bones out as soon as possible. He explained that it was exploratory surgery so there could be a few different outcomes, each one worse than the previous. All I could say was, "Do whatever it takes to save my baby!" I would worry about the rest later.
The surgeon was called in from a town 40 miles away. We had to leave him in their hands and just go home to wait until it was over. This was definitley high on the list of the scariest and most stressful four hours of my life.
Around 2am I get a call from the surgeon. She said everything went well and the outcome was the best scenerio we were hoping for. The bones, among other things were taken out of his stomach before any perforation could happen. There were rib bones, toothpicks, eggs, blueberries, and other "unidentifyable things." She said, she'd " never seen anything like it and he was very lucky." She reiterated that we did all the right things. The toothpicks (from the hors d'oeurves were even scarier than the rib bones.) Samson had a taste of pretty much everything on that buffet. Even some birthday cake!! (blueberries)
My baby had to stay in there for a few days which gave us time to clean up from the party and get the house "Samson proofed" before the homecoming.
There was only one minor setback after we picked him up that was remedied by a nausea shot and cutting his pain meds in half. He was just a little too doped up for his liking.
I'm happy to say, a week later, Samson is on the mend and getting back to his normal, happy self. He's almost back on his regular diet and his staples come out in a few days. I've never been so happy to see a poop pile after he didn't have a BM for 5 days!!! Apparently this is normal after surgery. Who knew?!
So that is the story of what happened to Samson.
What I'm asking for now is a little help with the obvious emergency medical bills. Samson is a giant breed dog so his bills will always be more than a normal sized dog because he requires more medicine, more supplies, more staff and bigger equipment. I've gotten used to this already and I'm so happy to have him in my life, I will do whatever I can to take the best care of my loveable doofus. This is a breakdown of his bills.
1st visit: $209.00
2nd visit: $133.00
ER: $3,809.70
Taking him back that next day: $118.51
Prescription canned food: $52.83
Follow-up/staple removal: Unkown at this point
In addition to making a gofundme page, I am hosting a benefit during my shift at the sports bar where I work on April 20th. I am expecting to raise a few hundred dollars on that day by a 50/50 pool tournament, "dogs for dogs" hot dog stand among other fun and games that are currently in the works.
I don't take this business of asking people for help lightly. I actually haven't had to ask for help in years. I want you to know that I really appreciate your generosity and your donation will be going to a great cause-Keeping my best friend alive. Samson is well known in this community and always puts a smile on people's faces. I'm sure he would put a smile on your face too! :-D