Still a Sick Puppy

It is amazing how "healthy" Dakota looks on the outside. A bundle of joy, happiness and a willingness to play until she cannot catch her breath.

However, on the inside still lurks a very sick and very slowly healing stomach after her Canine Stomach Obstruction Surgery.

In the middle of Friday night, we awoke to Dakota scratching on her crate. She had vomited once again. Immediately I felt bad as I realized that I must have fed her a little too much of the bland beef/rice and bit of kibble mixture. I thought her stomach could tolerate her normal amount of food (broken up into 3 small meals 30 minutes apart) but I was wrong. So, back to the drawing board.

Then this morning we were greeted again by the same site inside her crate. This time it was dry as a bone and just the leftovers of last night's dinner. Sure, I gave her half of her normal amount of food (broken up again) but it seems the rice expanding in her stomach was too much for her. How do I know it was the rice? Simply because it was bone dry which means the rice soaked up all the moisture in her stomach.

So, this morning is it still half of her normal amount of food (broken up of course) but less rice/beef mixture and more kibble and baby food. I also plan on giving her a very small meal is afternoon so that she is getting the nutrients she needs but not overloading the stomach. In essence, we are back to the days of puppies - 3 small meals a day - breakfast being the largest and dinner being the smallest to allow for proper nutritional intake while being easy on the stomach.

The vet told us this may happen and that it is nothing to worry about as long as it is not continuous. She had a lot of damage to her stomach and even though she may want to eat the whole bin of dog food, we must do what is best for her and limit her intake - giving her stomach time to heal properly... even if she makes it the most difficult thing to do when she turns on those sad puppy dog eyes...

Puppy prayers are still most welcome.