Henry's Emergency Surgery

My name is Heather, and yesterday I had to rush my best friend to the emergency vet for surgery. I've never been a huge fan of Labrador retrievers. I remember arguing with my aunt when she said she wanted one, and I wanted to adopt Nala. In all my years working at dog daycares I found them to be giant, overly-excited bowling balls, with no sense of coordination or spatial awareness. Then I came across a service dog organization and began foster training with them. Henry was the first one I worked with, eventually leading to a job there. Later on, the organization gifted Henry to me and by far he has been the best gift I've ever received. He changed everything for me; he helped me break through the longest depression I've had, he inspired me to change my career path, and he makes it easier for me to go out places, specifically doctor appointments.

I never thought I'd be in a situation where I'd find myself asking for help this way. However, yesterday morning while dog-sitting for a client, I received a text saying that Henry was refusing to eat his breakfast even when she tried to offer chicken, cheese, and treats. Everyone that knows Henry knows he does not turn down food. My coworkers have a game called Feed the Bird where they drop a million treats on the ground and watch him scavenge like pigeons to scarf them all down, timing him in the process. So, when I received this text, I immediately knew something was wrong.

When I arrived home, he was excited to see me, but not in his usual way. Instead, he wiggled around for a couple seconds before laying down again. Upon looking at him I noticed that he was about twice his size in the stomach area. I work really hard to keep him fit despite my coworkers, but this looked as though he had gained 10 lbs since I'd last seen him a couple days before. I started calling several vet offices explaining everything that I was seeing, all of which said they were fully booked and that I should get him to an emergency room as soon as possible. I finally got through to a vet hospital that said they could see him immediately, so I put Henry in the car and headed over.

As soon as I walked into the office with Henry, they looked him over and took him back immediately, asking to run x-rays. When the doctor came back, she informed us that the x-rays showed his stomach was filled with liquid and had twisted on itself. She told us that Henry likely had a false sense of adrenaline upon seeing me come home, but that he was in a lot of discomfort. She told us the condition was called Gastric Dilation-Volvulus and that without immediate surgery he wouldn't make it.

Gastric Dilatation-Volvulus, more commonly known as bloat, is fairly common in larger breed dogs. It is this twisting and flipping of the stomach that creates a life-threatening condition. When the stomach becomes severely distended with gas, fluid or food, it puts pressure on the surrounding organs and decreases blood flow to and from these organs. The twisted stomach completely obstructs blood supply to major organs and impacts blood flow throughout the whole body resulting in shock.

Henrys made it through surgery and I was able to see him when I transferred him to the overnight hospital. Since then, I received the last update at midnight where they informed me that his stomach is still filling up with gas so he has a tube running from his stomach and out his nose to help release the pressure on his stomach. They also informed me he was having tremors when I initially brought him in likely due to the stress of transfer but was starting to settle and rest. They have him on IV fluids but he has yet to take food from them. As of right now the earliest he might be able to come home is this evening, but he may need another night there. As of right now our vet bills are over $12,000 and I have yet to learn the costs for the overnight and today's stay. I never thought I'd be in a situation as such where I'd be asking for help. Truly anything and everything helps and I cannot thank everyone enough in advance for sharing this with others.