Gunner!
The owner of a one year old male Dobe named Gunner contacted us on August 23rd, 2002 about her very sick pup. He had eaten a towel three days prior and his condition was getting worse with every passing hour. After several phone conversations with the owner and the vets at Middletown Animal Hospital in Middletown, CA, it became very apparent that Gunner's life was in immediate danger. SND authorized an emergency operation for Gunner. He was in surgery an hour later.
The surgery went well, but his condition is still guarded. As with any gastrointestinal trauma of this nature, the blood supply can be cut off to the stomach and/or intestines. If the blood supply is cut off for too long, the organs will begin to die. When the doctors got to Gunner's abdominal cavity, there was a lot of dark fluid (expired blood cells) and the tissue was discolored. The intestine had 'accordioned' in on itself trying to digest the towel. This compression makes the intestine pull together into a ball. The vets removed the towel and flushed the abdominal cavity thoroughly to prevent infection. They then stretched the intestines out to return it to the elongated tube shape that it normally has. Only time will tell if the damage to the intestine was catastrophic.
We're glad to report that the surgery went very well and all indications are that Gunner's system will recover! It was close though, any further delay might have been disastrous. He is being kept at the hospital for a few days for observation. As is standard procedure, the vets kept the incision open so they could flush his abdominal cavity out. Opening up the intestines floods the cavity with parasites, and a deadly infection can set in. Gunner is also receiving constant observation and fluids.
Now we are asking the SND and Doberman community to help us with his surgery bills. Given the severity of his condition and the emergency nature of the surgery, the costs were too much for the owner to assume. The vets did what they could to contain the costs, but the bill still came to $1,369. We need your help to raise this money. This was a large hit to the SND reserves, and we need to recover the cost so our future Dobes with special needs will have a place to come for help.
Please do what you can to help this young boy! We are asking for monetary donations, auction items, and any other assistance you can offer! If you would like to make a donation towards Gunners hospital bill, you can use the PayPal buttons on this page, or you can mail us a donation. Also remember to check our Current Auctions page to see items we're auctioning off on eBay to raise money for Gunner and our other Dobes with special needs. As always, no donation is too small! Please oh please don't sit on five dollars because you think it is too small, it isn't! Thank you!
Updates
08/28/02: Gunner went home today, a day early! He's doing very well considering what he's been through. If only we could all be as resilient as a Dobe puppy! His bill isn't doing as well though, so please help us any way you can. Thank you! Some post-op pictures have been added to Gunner's Photo Gallery. We'll post more updates here as we get them. Look for Gunner auctions starting this coming weekend, August 31st. Thanks in advance for your help!
