Scary Morning with Oscar

Oscar is usually a real chow hound, but this morning while eating his breakfast, he threw up everything he'd just eaten and was totally disinterested in trying to finish. This is the 2nd time in his life he hasn't finished a meal. The first time he ended up having an intestinal blockage. That time, however, he didn't just throw up his meal, but a whole lot more and the frequency was every 10 minutes.

Oscar's energy level is normal, he's pooped on his regular schedule and everything else has been absolutely normal. Its Sunday, so his regular vet's office is closed. I took the first available appt. at 5pm today at a VCA pet hospital 15 minutes away. I'm not taking chances with this.

The only other thing (besides an intestinal blockage) that this may be is a reaction to the 60 mg. of fexofenadine I started him on this past week for his itching. His last dose was 20 hrs ago and it seems improbable that he's having a reaction to it now, but its possible I guess. He didn't have any inappetence or nausea until today and he's been getting fexofenadine since last Sunday or Monday (I've forgotten now when we started it).

Am I overreacting? I'm just going with my gut knowing Oscar and his ferocious appetite, and his history of eating things he shouldn't. And this being Sunday, I'm afraid to wait until dinner time to find out we need to make an emergency run.

Yesterday I did several loads of laundry and Oscar never had access to the laundry room. Still, I wonder if something may have dropped onto the floor on the way to the laundry room. I am so conscious of that possibiity I'm constantly looking behind me as I take dirty clothes from place to place, but I know accidents happen and I can't discount it.

I'll keep you all up-to-date once we see the vet. Thanks for your support.

Update: We were able to get in to see the vet 30 min. early. X-rays showed a mass of something non metallic, probably fabric. They've sent the X-rays off to a radiologist to confirm and should hear back shortly. In the meantime, Oscar is getting fluids and is being kept comfortable. If the diagnosis is confirmed, we'll be heading to Dove Lewis Emergency Pet Hospital downtown for an endoscopy procedure. The good news in all of this is the mass appears to be in the stomach and not the intestine, so surgery is unlikely. This is all dependent on the radiologist's confirmation, of course. Will keep you all updated as I learn more. Thank you, everyone, for your positive thoughts and wishes!

UPDATE:

Sorry its taken me a while to get back with the latest, but I wanted to wait until I actually had some news. Last night we ended up going to the ER vet downtown and they looked Oscar's X-Rays over and everyone who saw the films thought he had food in his stomach, not a foreign mass. So they kept him overnight with the plan to give him another set of X-Rays in the morning to check to see if the "food" moved into the small intestine. They called this morning saying it appeared the food had moved, and then they followed with an ultra sound. They said everything looks good. No blockages. Next, they're going to give Oscar a food trial, which should be at noon today, to see if he keeps it down. If he does they'll give him the go ahead to go home.

I can't tell you just how scared I am over this whole thing, after what Ellie went through last November after losing Lucy. This is her story:

http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/healthandmedicalissues/forum/topi...

But, what can you do? This ER hospital is one of the best in the state and both Lucy and Oscar have had emergency care there, with excellent outcomes. I wasn't always happy with what they did as opposed to what I thought they should do and it turned out, in the end, they were right in their diagnosis and treatment. So, I've just got to trust them and try to be comfortable with it. I've got to stop worrying about what might happen a week from now.

I'll update again later. Thanks everyone again, for all your support. I so appreciate it! I'm so thankful to have this group and DoodleKisses here, especially for times like this when I need it.

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Permalink Reply by Debb, Lucy & Oscar on January 12, 2015 at 7:04pm

LATEST UPDATE:
The second Oacar walked into the exam room I was sitting in, he ran over, greeted me, and started eating his food that I'd had waiting for him in a bowl on the floor. He gobbled it up! And kept it down! So he's home, but he still has the saddest look on his face. :( I suppose it will take a while for him to get back to his regular self. He really was so unhappy to be at the pet hospital. He never once peed for the technicians while there, but once I had him outside, he really let it rip! He's resting now and we're so happy he's home! I'll be keeping a close eye on him for the next few days. Thanks everyone for being here for me during this trying and frustrating time. You guys are awesome!

Permalink Reply by F, Calla & Luca on January 12, 2015 at 7:14pm