Last Monday morning (May 12th) Anya woke up not feeling well. She wasn't interested in food and seemed kind of down in the dumps. I luckily had a vet appointment already scheduled for her to do a routine check-up in preparation for a hopeful breeding next month. The vet couldn't really see anything specific that was wrong but told us to keep an eye on her and let him know about her progress. As the week went on she continued to not feel well and started to get really lethargic. We continued to communicate with the vet. Her personality went from her regular super happy, spunky, energetic self to completely lethargic and dazed. She wasn't eating and only wanted to sleep. Thursday evening she started vomiting. So, Friday morning we knew we needed to get her to the vet again before the weekend.
Friday the vet checked her out and wondered if perhaps she had a bowel obstruction. (She has had 2 previous bowel obstruction surgeries because she is a typical doberman and eats stuff she's not supposed to.) An x-ray was performed and all the vet could see was that there was gassy build-up in her gut. So, he went in for exploratory surgery. What he found was a little more than we all bargained for. He discovered that part of her intestinal wall had become weakened by scar tissue from the past surgeries and had formed a baseball sized lump off to the side that was full of fluid and gunk. When he went to lift it out for examination it burst. The vet ended up having to remove about a 6" section of her intestine and patch her back together. She stayed at the vet all weekend. I picked her up Monday mid-morning thinking that with rest and a soft diet for the next couple weeks she'd mend just fine. That's what we all thought.
However, by Monday evening I could tell she was not perking up. She
still wasn't interested in food (although we did get her to eat a very
small amount of rice and chicken) and she was just laying around in a
kind of half dazed state. She had a really rough night Monday and was up every hour guzzling water and going potty. She was really confused and weak. First thing Tuesday (yesterday) morning I rushed her back to the vet and he put her right back in to surgery. He discovered that a couple of the stitches on her intestines had pulled loose. So, her intestines had been leaking blood and all the water she'd been guzzling out into her gut. Also, a section of her intestines had died and needed to be removed. He cleaned her up and stitched her back together, leaving a drain coming out of her belly so the fluids could continue to drain as needed.
The vet said her situation was very grave and that she was weak, had lost a lot of blood and fluids, and that it would be a miracle if she could make it through the night. He put 4 bags of IV fluids through her. We, along with all our family and hosts of others (including the vet staff), began praying earnestly for a miracle. Several vet techs were in checking on Anya throughout the night and sent text updates as possible.
Miraculously, Anya being the strong little fighter that she is, pulled through the night. We are so completely grateful for that miracle and know that it is because of so many prayers in her behalf. She is still not out of the woods yet, however. She is alert and quietly resting at the office. The drainage has slowed down. She will drink a little and they even managed to get her to eat a small amount of very soft food. They just did a blood test to check her hydration levels. They are also considering a transfusion.
So many people love Anya! She really has gotten into the hearts of everyone she meets. She is such a sweetheart and a huge part of our family. She's only 4 years old and we are not ready to let her go yet. She has the potential for a wonderful life yet ahead of her. We are continuing to pray for her and asking anyone and everyone who feels so inclined to join us.
At this point, as you can imagine, all breeding thoughts are completely on hold. Our #1 priority is to get Anya well and do what is best for her. The vet feels that if she pulls through this as we are all praying for then she will need to give her body a bit of a rest. So, if she comes into heat in June or July we will definitely skip that heat. However, if she pulls through okay and gets healthy and strong again we will consider our breeding options. But, we will first and foremost always choose to do what is best for our little Anya girl. We are in a wait and see holding pattern. I know there are those of you who are hoping for an Anya puppy soon. I'm sorry to share this disappointing news. We are doing everything in our power to help Anya pull through right now.
If the number of people who love this girl, her ultra sweetness, plus a whole lot of doberman stubbornness count for anything in heaven we are really hoping that she is able to fight through and beat this thing. We are praying for healing and health, as well as for all those who are laboring so diligently to care for her. We invite you to please join us in prayers for Anya.
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