First let me just say that this story does in fact have a very happy ending! Also, if you are squeamish, perhaps you might want to skip reading it.

Over the years, we’ve had a lot of dogs. We’ve had a lot of dogs that have been spayed, and since starting our Midwoofing, quite a few C-Sections. There is always a big risk when they cut open a dog’s abdomen. If you have your dog spayed, then they’ll be living in a cone for two weeks to protect them from hurting themselves. When you have a C-section, the mom has a job to do and a cone would keep her from caring for her puppies. Usually, the dog is so busy with her pups that she doesn’t have time to worry at the stitches in her abdomen. We watch them like a hawk and make sure they don’t run or jump. They have always healed up perfectly. Until River….

River had to have a C-section this last litter. She only had three babies and they grew too big for her to push out. The C-section went well and she was home and taking care of her two babies (one was stillborn) just like she should. We checked her incision regularly to look for signs of infection or of her licking herself. She was great! Sunday morning, just three days after her surgery, she threw up. Nothing to stress about, usually, but we had that feeling. Parents know that feeling – something is wrong with your kid but you don’t know what it is, just that it’s there.

We kept checking on her as we did morning chores – about every 15 minutes. I was filling up water when Liz yelled. I couldn’t hear the words, but I recognized the tone – it was bad, very bad! There’s blood all over the whelping box and River’s intestines are hanging out of her incision! We had no time to spare – her life was in serious jeopardy and we had to get her to the vet right NOW!

It was Sunday and the vet’s office was closed. We called the on-call vet – thankfully the vet we trust more than anyone else – but he was 40 minutes out on another emergency. Do you know how long 40 minutes is when you are sitting there holding your dog’s life in your hands? Literally? We’ve dealt with plenty of emergencies in our life, and aren’t prone to panic or to getting emotionally involved at the time. Crying is for later, after you’ve done everything possible. But I have to say – I was so scared! I was sitting in the dog hammock in the back seat of the Explorer with River’s back cradled against my legs and chest. One arm was holding her head and neck, the other hand was holding her intestines.

Clarity is an amazing advantage of adrenaline. What do we know about this sort of injury? The intestines need to be kept moist, clean, and as undisturbed as possible. Shock is a likely and life threatening. What can we do to minimize the trauma? A plastic bag and saline for the injury – yes, we put her guts in a plastic bag. And we started fluids for the shock. Subcutaneous, not IV. Liz does know how to set an IV and we have the necessary equipment, but she’s out of practice and didn’t want to blow a vein.

There we were, parked outside the vet clinic with poor River holding on. She was pretty out of it and we were so afraid she’d pass before the vet even arrived. Luckily, one of the vet tech’s arrived ahead of the vet and we were able to get her inside and prepped for surgery.

River came through surgery surprisingly well. The vet said we probably saved her life by our actions before he arrived. Normally they would want the dog under 24 hours of observation, but the closest clinic offering that service was a long ways off. We brought her home and took turns staying up with her all night. She was still on fluids and lots of drugs. And she was in a cone, of course. We felt so very lucky in so many ways! She could have died – would have died – if we hadn’t caught it so quick! Chanel only had the two puppies and she had plenty of milk to share with River’s two boys. And we have a really awesome vet!

It’s been two weeks now. River had to wear the cone and be on very limited activity, which drove her nuts after just a few days! She’s officially cone-less today and feeling great! We’ll slowly increase her activity level, but she’s out of the woods and ready to play!

There is no such thing as too much stuff in your first aid/trauma kit! Remember that and don’t skimp on the plastic wrap! (which is what we’d have used instead of a bag if we had had any!)