Ernie ER Surgery Update

Thank you to everyone who donated to help our foster Puggle, Ernie.

As many of you know, Ernie did not have any time to wait for us to get him to our vet in NYC.  He had been brought back to the Red Bank Veterinary  in NJ. After checking his vitals & making sure he was fully hydrated, they decided there was no time to wait until morning.  Ernie went into ER surgery that night.

The object that was originally in Ernie's stomach had moved over the course of  a few days. It finally was lodged and no longer able to pass any further than his intestines.

The doctors ended up removing a 3 inch piece of basketball and other debris from his intestine!

We know that Ernie was never exposed to debris and garbage like what was removed from his body.  He came into our care carrying that around for an unknown period of time.  So many dogs don't survive situations like this because owners can't afford ER surgery or even worse, want to but it is often too late because days pass with the dogs vomiting, becoming dehydrated and not absorbing any nutrition.

Luckily, Ernie's foster mom worked very closely with the team at Curly Tail to keep Ernie as healthy as possible while we sorted out his needs.  He is out of a successful surgery and fortunate to have only had one organ opened.  We were concerned that they were going to have to open his stomach in addition to his intestine.  Ernie is currently in recovery at his foster home.

We are all very relieved that Ernie is out of the woods and doing well.  We were told that we got him there just in time!

We initially only posted the vet bills for his pre-op needs.  That was the only information we knew for certain.  Now that Ernie is coming through his medical ER, we are left with quite a hefty bill for the surgery & post-op needs alone!!

We are continuing to raise funds for Ernie’s emergency surgery; the balance of our vet bill (after the first round of donations) is $3,094. 

Since we were not able to bring Ernie to our regular vet in NYC (where we have a payment plan option), his foster mom had to put the entire balance on her personal credit card...all out of love for Ernie & the rescue.  We never leave our foster homes in a lurch covering vet bills.  They are the life line to our organization and therefore, to our rescue dogs.

Please help us continue to keep pups like Ernie alive even when the medical costs far exceed what normal rescue financial limitations are.  Ernie and all of us at Curly Tail are incredibly grateful for all of your support.

http://curlytailpugrescue.chipin.com/ernie-er-surgery

We also wanted to remind you that our Basketball superstar himself, Ernie is available for adoption!

Surviving this ordeal just proves how ready the sweet boy is to find his forever home.

If you are interested in adopting Ernie, please visit his Adoption Bio here: http://www.curlytailpugrescue.org/adopt4/ernie-1

THANK YOU!!

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Ernie ER

Last Thursday Ernie's personality seemed ok but we can't say the same for his tummy.  He vomited all of his food both times after he ate.  Ernie typically eats a lot of grass outside even though his foster mom always tries to stop him, so she initially thought it had irritated his stomach.  She contacted her foster coordinator with the behavior update & we decided to take a wait and see approach.

 On Friday however, Ernie continued to throw up after he ate his regular food, so we switched over to a bland diet of rice, chicken and broth to see if he would be able to keep that down.  Ernie seemed to mildly improve throughout the day but that night, he vomited again. 

We were watching cautiously b/c of the ER we just had with Bella.  Ernie's foster mom kept in contact hourly with progress & updates.  As a rescue, we want to keep our pups safe but also have to manage cases like these closely so as to balance our appropriation of funds. However, with these symptoms, we could have been looking at anything from a stomach bug, to an obstruction, to a case of lepto or lyme etc. 

 By Saturday Ernie seemed to take a turn for the worse.  He lost all interest in food and water, and was very lethargic.  He wouldn't go out on his own when he's usually the first one out the door.  He would not jump up on the couch or follow his foster people to the stairs, he would not even take a treat or any other food offered.  At this point we had Ernie’s foster mom started giving him Pedialyte and water in a baby syringe to make sure he stayed hydrated.  There is a fine line between dehydration b/c of a stomach bug and dehydration that's a result of larger problems.  Once again, on the coat tails of Bella's ER, we became increasingly more concerned and started gathering information about local ER locations, hours & rates of service.  We often get a POA (plan of action) in place, b/c we need to be ready to go and know what our options are ahead of time.

 

Working diligently on Ernie's gradual food & water intake, by Sunday, he seemed to be feeling a lot better.  He still wouldn't eat his regular food, but he would eat rice and broth if it was put it in front of him and he was sitting up. moving around, and overall seemed more active and alert.  Ernie was hopping back up on the couch to cuddle with his foster people, following them around the house, etc.  Needless to say, we were quite happy and thought a crisis had been averted.  His foster mom, Alison has been amazing in providing at home care while keeping us closely updated!

 Then, on Monday poor Ernie went downhill really quickly.   He vomited twice as soon as he woke up, and then vomited immediately every time he was given water or Pedialyte!!   It was a significant turn for the worse.  It wasn't consistent with symptoms resulting in a regular tummy bug or other infections like Lepto or Lyme.   This lead us to think that there was something in there, that was moving around but that he wasn't able to pass, causing some sort of blockage.

Ernie’s foster mom scheduled him for an ER vet visit that day.  For the 1st wave of conservative medical investigation, we ordered a round of bloodwork and x-rays immediately.  The nurse said he vomited several times while he was in the back room.  In the course about 8 hrs, poor Ernie vomited about 8x and he needed fluids.

 

His bloods came back right away & looked fairly normal.  The x-rays however showed a mass in his intestines, above his bowels.  This all made sense based on the up & down pattern of his last few days.  The mass most likely was small enough to be able to move from his stomach but was too large to move any further causing the acute vomiting & severity of his symptoms. 

Ernie was started on fluids and recommended he be hospitalized for surgery asap.

We thought about rushing him to NYC for ER surgery.  However, being a couple of hours into NJ where he is fostered, we ran the #s & lines up the severity of his symptoms and knew it wasn't worth the risk.  Within 2 hours, ER surgery was performed, where the vet removed what looks like a piece of basketball and some sponge like materials from his intestines!

Ernie’s foster mom is baffled by this, since they do not own a basketball and Ernie is a very mellow and laid back gent. Not usually the mischievous type.  It is HIGHLY possible that Ernie has this basketball piece floating around in his stomach for a long time, prior to coming into Curly Care.

 Ernie’s initial ER visit (prior to surgery) for the blood work and x-rays cost $487.00.

We have started a chip in to help raise fund for Ernie - please consider a donation of any size!