Wednesday, April 2, 2003: We took Cyke to the vet because he'd been throwing up for over 24 hours and nothing was coming out the other end. X-Rays showed that his intestines were distended with gas, but there was no visible blockage so I okayed exploratory surgery. They found a clump of unidentifiable stuck matter in his small intestine which had caused swelling, infection, and the death of some of the intestinal tissue which they removed (10 inches). The blockage could have been carpet, stuffed animal innards, rope toy leavings, or some other weird fabric-like material -- we'll never know.
That night, we picked him up at 6pm and took him down to the emergency vet clinic where he spent the night hooked up to IV antibiotics and fluids with people monitoring his vitals.
Thursday, April 3, 2003: In the morning we transported him back to the regular vets' office where he spent the day. When we went to pick him up we found out that he had yanked out his IV catheter and had led the vet and vet techs a merry chase around their office. At that point we knew that he was definitely feeling better and we breathed a sigh of relief.
Friday, April 4, 2003: Cyke spent the day hooked up to IV fluids and antibiotics, but at 5pm he came home!
Dog toy: $2.00
Cost of removing what was probably a dog toy from dog's stomach: $1800.00
Post-op dog with wagging tail: Priceless