Intussusception of the cecum

[Allison and Archie]

Hello! What a wild ride it's been the last few weeks for my pup Archie & our family. I did a search for "Intussusception" on this blog and I only saw one post, so I figured I would start a new thread in case anyone else is dealing with what we just went through. 

Archie is 5 month old toy goldendoodle and he had intermittent diarrhea for the last few months. We took him to the vet a few times but all the blood tests/stool tests came back fine. They figured he had a food allergy, maybe he was overeating, or he wasn't digesting some rawhides he had come across. Antibiotics seemed to solve the problem, so we thought everything was solved. He had normal energy, had a normal appetite, wasn't lethargic, etc. 

Two weeks ago, my mom was watching my dog since I was heading out of town for a wedding. She called me and said Archie had diarrhea again, but with a lot of blood. She's had 3 dogs and she had never seen anything like it before. She said she had a bad gut feeling and said she was taking him to the vet. Still- no other signs besides that. He was playful and hungry. They ran the blood test, stool test, and everything came back fine. She pushed for more. She asked for an abdominal ultrasound and it showed some abnormalities in his colon. They wouldn't know more until they opened him up for an exploratory laparotomy. They warned me it could be a range of things (like inflammation, or maybe even cancer). They said they had never seen anything like it before. I approved the surgery (total costs around $3k) and they did the procedure that night. I was stressing out all day since there was so many uncertainties.

The surgeon called me after the surgery and said it was an "Intussusception of the cecum" (pronounced see-k**). I am not a medical professional, so these terms were all very new to me. In my understanding, it's basically a tunneling of the intestines over eachother. They removed his cecum during the surgery.  (According to google, "The main functions of the cecum are to absorb fluids and salts that remain after completion of intestinal digestion and absorption and to mix its contents with a lubricating substance, mucus.").  They said he doesn't "need" his cecum, and that it's like a person having their appendix removed. 

They also biopsied the area & said it would take 5-7 business days to get those results back. They were pretty certain the removal of the cecum would solve the problem, but they wanted to make sure he didn't have a rare case of puppy cancer.   A few days ago, we learned the biopsy showed NO disease, which is such a relief.

The incision is extremely long and I cried the first time I saw it. They had to cut more than half his belly open. They also fixed him while they had him down. Vet said NO playing, NO jumping, NO walking while he heals. He needed a couple of meds every few hours and constant attention to make sure he wasn't getting to his wounds. We ended up getting a bigger cone since he was able to reach part of the cut, but for the most part everything is healing just fine. We had the staples removed yesterday and they said to leave the cone on until all the scabs are gone. The doctor is confident he will make a full recovery & live a healthy/happy life, which is such good news. These last few weeks are such a blur. 

My next hurdle is hoping that my pet insurance covers most of the bills. Anyone have any experience with Nationwide? The reviews online aren't too favorable-- saying they deny basically everything.

They also had to cut all the hair down on his leg for his IV, which I've seen a few threads on here about that. It looks like it will take a long time to grow back. But at least I still have my furry best friend. <3 

[Laurie, Wally & Charlotte]

Hi Allison, First, what an ordeal, but thankfully one with a happy ending. One of my dogs has recently recovered from abdominal surgury (for a completely different issue), and Nationwide covered almost all of the costs. Just make sure that all of Archie's doctors use the proper codes and if the insurance company ends up denying any of the charges, remember that you can always appeal. (By the way, If he ever needs an IV again, ask them to comb up and tape his leg hair before clipping the area for the IV. That way, afterwards, you can barely see the shaved part.)

[Allison and Archie]

What does proper codes mean? Will they know what I mean when I ask for that? (I've already submitted my claim with all the vet paperwork, but I will probably need that during the appeal process?) I am so glad to hear they covered almost all your costs!!!!!! And thanks for the IV tip.. I had no idea!! So glad your dog is healed, too! 

[Laurie, Wally & Charlotte]

Once your deductible is reached, they should cover the rest. I wouldn't worry about appealing anything, as it probably won't be an issue at all. I shouldn't have mentioned it!

[Allison and Archie]

Fingers crossed that's the case! So glad yo hear your had a good experience with them. The reviews online are horrendous! 

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy &amp; Pippa]

Annie had a very long incision as well, but today, if you didn't know what you were looking for, you can't tell at all. I will see if I can find a picture. Annie is a standard size so Im sure that the scar looks much large on Archie since he's so small. I promise it will get better!

[Allison and Archie]

That makes me so happy to hear!!!! I am so glad she pulled through and made such a good recovery. 

[Allison and Archie]

Looks just like Archie's! I think you're right, it seems so much bigger on him since he's only ~15 pounds.  We took the staples out yesterday and there's still scabbing. It snowed here recently so I'm trying to avoid him getting the wound wet. How long until you gave Annie a bath? Archie is starting to get a little stinky, lol

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy &amp; Pippa]

I don't really remember but I do know that she is a roller so once she started to feel better, she would rolll on her back in the dirt or grass. We kept her on a leash until the staples came out. If Archie's staples are out, it should be fine to give him a bath. We actually had to wash Annie's little bottom several times when she still had the staples. She still had some really runny diarrhea that she couldn't control for about a week. It left her rear end raw so we had to wash her off and then pat dry before applying some spray that really helped her heal.

[Ginny Nightingale]

Wow--thank goodness your mom was pushy at the vet's office! Glad he is doing well!! I have no doggie experience with this, but my husband had this issue as a baby--and has the scar to prove it! He never had another problem and is now 66! So, I think Archie is good to go!!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Poor puppy, poor you.  Thanks to your mom's pushiness, Archie is cured and won't have these problems again.

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

We had our standard poodle insured under VPI (which is now Nationwide) which was one of the few insurance companies for pets in 2005.  As it turned out he had several health issues and then at 6 six year old got IMHA and could not respond to treatments.  He had 3 transfusions and finally went over the Rainbow Bridge.  Nationwide covered everything except the $100 deductible that we had on him.  they even paid for the cremation, etc. I think you will find they will cover most everything.  Good luck with Archie's recovery and I hope you will be posting soon that he is recouping very quickly.