last night, as I have done for years, I was out back throwing the different types of balls we have, most of which are the hard rubber type, for Reno, Rocky, and Shelby, our golden retrievers... of course, Keona gets in the act by stealing them now and then and running away with them making the goldens chase her...
Rocky and Reno have a new "game" they play, if they get the chance to get to the other ones ball while they have theirs.. they pick it up also (because of the size its barely in their mouth) and tease eachother by walking around hording both toys and growling but wagging the tail.....
Im sitting there in my plastic lawn chair when i see Rocky, who had a ball in his mouth...get Reno's ball...but he was having a hard time picking it up........... then he began to make weird head motions... i leaped out of the chair to realize the greatest fear...his ball had gone down his throat... it was lodged so far down i could not get to it...... i screamed for mary to get her keys.....
i carried him to the Envoy... and she hauled ass to the vet... i got the dogs at home put away, locked the house and rushed up there.
by the time she got there, he was making wheezing noises and foam had filled his mouth....
he was on the emergency table and we were not allowed in. they kept giving us updates. at one point, they lost him for a few seconds, his heart rate was 40 (normal dog is 120 -135).... he was turning gray. the vet was able to puncture the ball with a scapel and remove it just in time...to open his airway fully... they had him pumped with steroids and on an IV. he made it. heart rate came back to normal and breathing was normal.
we stayed there for an hour... then, to be on the safe side, they had us transport him to an emergency 24 vet clinic to stay the night for observation in case something came up...ie: throat swelled shut, etc.
we just called, he did great, ate two meals already, and is coming home this morning..we are going at 9:30 to pick him up.
word to the wise.... we take so much for granted.. the ball that got lodged was very hard rubber but hollow... it was just squishy enough that when he was trying to force his mouth around Renos toy ball...it pushed it hard enough to compress it and as it passed through the opening behind his toungue, it "popped" back out, propelling it down farther in his throat.
i have thrown all the balls away in the back yard now except the large kongs and solid rubber ones that are way to big to fit down a throat..
thank God..............thats all I can say. We were sooooooo lucky...
the Vet said had we gotten there 4 min's or so later, Rocky would have been dead.
Rocky and Reno have a new "game" they play, if they get the chance to get to the other ones ball while they have theirs.. they pick it up also (because of the size its barely in their mouth) and tease eachother by walking around hording both toys and growling but wagging the tail.....
Im sitting there in my plastic lawn chair when i see Rocky, who had a ball in his mouth...get Reno's ball...but he was having a hard time picking it up........... then he began to make weird head motions... i leaped out of the chair to realize the greatest fear...his ball had gone down his throat... it was lodged so far down i could not get to it...... i screamed for mary to get her keys.....
i carried him to the Envoy... and she hauled ass to the vet... i got the dogs at home put away, locked the house and rushed up there.
by the time she got there, he was making wheezing noises and foam had filled his mouth....
he was on the emergency table and we were not allowed in. they kept giving us updates. at one point, they lost him for a few seconds, his heart rate was 40 (normal dog is 120 -135).... he was turning gray. the vet was able to puncture the ball with a scapel and remove it just in time...to open his airway fully... they had him pumped with steroids and on an IV. he made it. heart rate came back to normal and breathing was normal.
we stayed there for an hour... then, to be on the safe side, they had us transport him to an emergency 24 vet clinic to stay the night for observation in case something came up...ie: throat swelled shut, etc.
we just called, he did great, ate two meals already, and is coming home this morning..we are going at 9:30 to pick him up.
word to the wise.... we take so much for granted.. the ball that got lodged was very hard rubber but hollow... it was just squishy enough that when he was trying to force his mouth around Renos toy ball...it pushed it hard enough to compress it and as it passed through the opening behind his toungue, it "popped" back out, propelling it down farther in his throat.
i have thrown all the balls away in the back yard now except the large kongs and solid rubber ones that are way to big to fit down a throat..
thank God..............thats all I can say. We were sooooooo lucky...
the Vet said had we gotten there 4 min's or so later, Rocky would have been dead.
Comment