I am hoping someone out there has an idea that can help my poor dog.
Six months ago, she got out of the yard and was hit by a car. Her hip
was shattered in three places. It took us a day to realize what had
happened and the seriousness of her injury. It was Sunday and she had
a cut on her foot and we thought that was why she wasn't using that
leg. She stayed in bed that day, but we fed her and she seemed OK. The
next morning, we took her to the vet. He was able to put her hip back
together with surgery. She lost most of the muscle in that leg and
thigh, and there was a lot of bruising. After the surgery she perked
up quite a bit and seemed much happier. It must have really hurt.
This isn't the problem. The problem is that immediately after getting
her home from the surgery, she started vomiting. Any food we give her
she throws up. After much experimentation we found that a mixture of
meat, starch and vegetables pureed to a creamy consistency, and then
heavily watered down is all she can eat. At the vets recommendation,
we feed her on an elevated surface, which also seems to help. The vet
says he thinks it is some kind of nerve damage that is preventing her
from swallowing correctly. I cannot spell the words he used. After our
last visit he seems to have lost interest in this case since the dog
isn't in immediate danger. Essentially he said that the series of
muscle contractions in her esophagus that cause swallowing is getting
interrupted at some point. I find that I don't agree with this
analysis because her vomiting doesn't seem to follow that pattern, and
the injury was to her hip, nowhere near the digestive system or spine.
Her food is really sticky once you add enough starch (rice, barley
etc). It seems that would be harder to swallow. Also, she doesn't
always throw up right away. Sometimes she seems fine for 5-10 minutes
and then she suddenly throws up. Also, sometimes just thinking about
eating can make her throw up about a half cup of slime. It seems
almost like mucus. No blood. We had a Barium x-ray and could see no
obstructions, and the vet recommended we seek alternative treatment.
We found a licensed Veterinarian in our area who is also a doggy
acupuncturist and Homeopathic doctor. For the past 4 months Kira (the
dog) has been getting weekly acupuncture treatments, Homeopathic herbs
and a specially designed eastern "anti-vomit" diet. This has helped a
little. We can control her vomiting only with the very strict diet and
careful timing. She sometimes goes days without vomiting, but she will
sit there and convulse after eating, she is just now finally able
(with tremendous effort)to hold it down. She is obviously fighting it
with every ounce of her being, sometimes she wins. This new
veterinarian is trying to tell me this was a pre-existing condition
and that it was just made worse by the accident. I just can't accept
that. She never in her life had a problem until she was hit by a car.
Seems like they are connected to me. She was 85 lbs, and now she is
55. We feed her 2 cups of food 4 times a day and she is barely holding
on. Her body isn't absorbing it even when she keeps it down. I am not
sure she is going to make it. Any advice would be appreciated
immensely.