Biggie has been my bestfriend for the past six years, and recently, he faced a life-threatening medical emergency. On Tuesday morning, Biggie appeared as if he was unable to pee, so out of concern I took him to his vet, where they discovered he physically could not urinate. A catheter was placed which showed that his bladder was full. The vet drained his bladder and X-rays and a ultrasound were scheduled for the following morning because of the time. Out of concern I asked the vet if it was safe to wait till the next morning given that it was almost 5pm that day. The vet assured me it was but let me know that he appeared in pain or discomfort to rush him to an emergency vet due to concerns of his bladder rupturing or his urine backing up into his kidneys. When we got home, I tried feeding him and took him out to see if he would urinate but when he tried, Biggie cried out in pain, prompting me to rush him to an emergency vet. after hours at the ER vet, X-rays and an ultrasound revealed that biggie had bladder stones, an obstruction in his urethra and an enlarged prostate. This meant that he needed to undergo emergency surgery. The ER vet unfortunately did not perform this type of surgery. They did assist with draining his bladder again and I was able to bring him home for the night with the understanding that he needed to be transferred to a different animal hospital in the morning. After spending the night at home, I took him back to his vet, who drained his bladder for a third time and sent us to another emergency hospital.
There, they told me Biggie needed to be hospitalized, and that he needed emergency surgery. Unfortunately due to his breed he had to placed on medication for 24hrs prior to surgery to prevent him from aspirating while under anesthesia. So I admitted him on Wednesday, and he underwent surgery on Thursday.
The plan was to push the stones back into his bladder and surgically remove them. Unfortunately that was not able to happen and the surgeon had to perform a scrotal urethrostomy (due to the obstruction, Biggie had to be neutered to address his enlarged prostate and the surgeon had to create a new exit point for his urine between his legs, ultimately creating a new pee hole). Additionally three bladder stones were removed from his bladder and sent to pathology. Surgery was a success and after 4 long hours, Biggie refused the intubation and was admitted into the ICU for recover.
On Friday I was able to get him to eat and the ER Vet said he was doing good enough to go home due to him peeing after surgery. Unfortunately, he did not pee once he was home, so I rushed him back to the emergency vet that night to ensure his bladder wasn’t too inflamed. They placed a catheter, drained his bladder, and sent him home again.
While at home, Biggie kept trying to pee but nothing was coming out. Saturday morning, he kept squatting to pee, but only little drips came out. I rushed him back to the vet and he was readmitted into the ICU.
He spent the whole weekend hospitalized, with a catheter in place allowing his body to heal and allowing the inflammation to go down.
On Monday the specialist and surgeon determined that it was time to remove the catheter to see if he was able to pee on his own. Luckily he was, but continued to stay in ICU for monitoring.
After a whole week of being hospitalized Biggie was able to be discharged and is currently home recovering. But the fight is not over.
He still needs to undergo multiple exams, and scans to determine the reason for his stones and prevent another obstruction.
The funds raised will help cover Biggie’s vet bills, surgery, medications, and ongoing care. I am doing everything I can to help him recover and continue living a happy life. Biggie has so much more loving to do and so many more places to see. For any donation, I am deeply thankful, and so is Biggie.