Monday, November 24, 2008

Nova's surgery


November 13th Nova had emergency surgery for an intussusception. He ended up having 10 inches of small bowel removed. Sam and I brought him home two days later, this is his first day back home. He had to stay essentially crate bound for 10 days - going out on leash every couple of hours followed by small bland meals. To this day we are not sure what caused his intussusception - the usual causes are 1. chronic diarrhea 2. Parasite infestation 3. Foreign body obstruction. I post this to help anyone else who finds themselves in a simialr postion. Intussusception in when the small "telescopes" on itself. Sometimes it will reduce on its own. If it doesn't and is left untreated - the bowel can lose its blood supply and die, which will kill the puppy. It happens to puppies usually less than a year old. (the same thing can happen to human children usually around 18-24 months).
This is Nova today!! He got his staples removed and is doing great. The vet is now allowing us to start adding his regular food to the bland diet. As noted in his weight chart - he has only gained 0.4 lbs in 2 weeks, but boy has he grown! Now that his bowel has healed sufficiently, time to eat!!

Monday, November 10, 2008

Nova 14 weeks....



14 weeks old and boy am I GROWING!!!! Of course if I lay here in the kitchen - they can't help but feed me - right?