02/10/2024
Today was definitely a day of panic, all thanks to little Miss Chelsea.
She had been intermittently vomiting since Saturday, and last night she vomited six times, leaving me really worried. So, I brought her into work this morning, and we took some x-rays right away. On all the x-ray views, it looked like there were stones in her stomach. The sight filled me with dread, as it reminded me of what happened to Moon last year. I was terrified we were going down the same path again.
On Friday, I had accidentally dropped a chicken egg in the garden, and Chelsea immediately rushed over to lick it up. Seeing the stones on the x-ray, I assumed she had swallowed some stones while snacking on the egg.
I called multiple clinics, trying to get her in for an endoscopy to remove the stones from her stomach before they could cause a blockage in her intestines. Unfortunately, none of the clinics had availability for today. That’s when I reached out to the wonderful Dr. Lou from ImagingFirst who kindly squeezed us in.
During the ultrasound, no stones were found in her stomach. Instead, the stones were actually located in her gallbladder, thankfully not causing a blockage just yet. What a relief! While it’s still a concern for Chelsea, this news was so much better than needing an exploratory surgery.
Today really highlighted the importance of performing an ultrasound after x-rays to confirm if something truly is a foreign body. I’m incredibly grateful to Dr. Lou and my team at Warwick Vet for supporting Chelsea and me through this stressful day.
We’ve started Chelsea on some additional medication to help manage her gallstones. As long as they aren’t causing an obstruction, we should be able to manage her condition medically. If they do cause a blockage, surgery might be necessary to remove the stones or the entire gallbladder, but for Chelsea, surgery is not an ideal option given her other health issues. For now, I’m focusing on keeping her comfortable for as long as possible.
Chelsea, you’re so lucky to be in the hands of our amazing team at Warwick Vet!
P.S for funnies swipe to the last video of me trying to remove Chelsea’s IV cathater. She is so sassy 😂
