[Dailydrool] Enlarged Spleen

[Esther Strom]

My Basil was a rescue; he needed an emergency spleenectomy about 6 months
after I adopted him. He was about 8 at the time (we think.) Assuming the
surgery goes well, expect about a week of rest - our vet wanted Basil to be
crated to prevent activity, but he got so upset in the crate that I ended
up just confining him to the bedroom. He was so tired that I didn't really
have to worry about him being overly active. He was on painkillers and
antibiotics for about a week after the surgery. He never seemed to be in
any pain after we discontinued the meds.

One thing we did find was that Basil did not want to eat while at the
hospital, which meant they had to continue IV antibiotics for longer than
planned (because he wouldn't take anything orally.) We tried everything,
even McDonald's, and he just refused. They told me after 3 days of this
that I could take a chance and take him home and see if he'd eat there, and
if there was a problem I could bring him back. As soon as we walked into
the house, Basil was looking for his food bowl, and ate right away. So just
be aware that some dogs will not eat while at the vet's. You'll also want
to feed very small meals for a few days, as the heavy-duty antibiotics and
painkillers can cause nausea.

Once we got past that, there were never any problems. This was three years
ago this month.

Good luck to you and to Dexter.

-Esther, Basil, and Waldo ATB

On Tue, Oct 16, 2012 at 8:57 AM, Sherry Carreon <sherry.carreon at gmail.com>wrote:

>
> I have been reading and lurking the daily drool for years, but have never
> posted.
>
> First, heart healing drool to all those in need and especially to Debbie
> and her family over the loss of Sister Daisy. Debbie and Elder Clara have
> gotten me thru some rough times and losses.
>
> My question is has anyone on the drool had experience with one of their
> babies needing to have a spleen removed? Our Dexter was just diagnosed with
> an enlarged spleen and it will probably have to be removed. We are waiting
> for his blood work results. Dexter is our senior rescue, and best guess of
> age is 9-10 years old. What will he require after the surgery? We have an
> excellent vet, but I wanted to see if any of you have had a baby with this
> problem and how is life after the surgery going to be for our Dexter.
>
> Thank you, Sherry
>
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