Brody Bear

Hey everyone, some of you may have seen but Nathan and I’s sweet Brody Bear has had a rough three days. Tuesday night Brody had thrown up and pooped everywhere and was unable to walk straight or sit up without falling over. The first diagnosis came back positive for pancreatitis in which we were told to get him to the ER for treatment. At the ER Brody went through his second round of X-Rays due to the fear of there being blockage in his intestines. However, just as the first round showed there was no visible blockage however noticeable gas bubbles raised more suspicion of a block. He was given pain medicine and was able to come home after showing signs of liveliness along with a subcutaneous fluid pack inserted into his back. 

The next morning it was back to the vet with Brody as he was showing intense signs of nausea after being given a very strong anti nausea medicine. He was hooked up to IV’s with pain medicine and fluids pumping to try and flush out his system as a counter to the pancreatitis. They encouraged us to do a third round of X-Rays as all the signs were pointing to there being a a blockage, the results showed the gas bubbles had cleared some but there was still no visible blockage. It was after this that the vet was stumped and recommended an ultrasound. This was when we went to the third vet in the last 36 hours. The ultrasound left us with no answers and a dog who was throwing up while on medicine that was sure-fire supposed to prevent that. He would not eat and continued to throw up fluids. 

Next came Brody’s surgery. Since nothing was showing up on the ultrasounds or X-rays but there was significant signs of blockage in his system it was imperative that it be resolved as the pancreatitis was unable to be flushed out. The results of the surgery showed no signs of any foreign body or mass obstructing his stomach or intestines. It did however give us the answer which was actually his stomach and intestines shutting down in order to resist digesting some bacteria he had consumed. His body just was not digesting anything. This condition is called ileus. 

The good thing is we finally knew what was going on but that was just the start. After being poked and prodded by 4 different vets, multiple X-Rays, blood work, an ultrasound and a full on surgery he is finishing this fight off tonight in an overnight ER stay in order to treat ileus. This is done through a continuous injection which will help encourage the intestines and the stomach into doing their jobs again. He has been through so much in the last three days and still has some more to go. 

Nathan and I absolutely love Brody as he is our “first born”, and throughout all this we have done our best to provide him with answers after days of being in limbo with deteriorating conditions. We both go to school and work jobs to support ourselves and our two fur babies. We would give the world for them but we are at a crossroad with the last few days coming with some hefty procedures and we are struggling to get Brody everything he needs as he embarks on his recovery. We appreciate any donation, share, or keeping our Brody bear in your thoughts as he goes through the next few days. Watching our boy so lifeless has been so painful and we are just ready to see him get back to his talkative self again.


-Nathan, Ian, Brody, Cooper