Emergency Life-Saving Surgery for Teddy (GDV)

Hello!

My name is Sydni. My husband Zach and I am the proud pup parents of Teddy, an energetic, ball loving, goofy goldendoodle. We took Teddy in when he was 2 years old. In his short 2 years, we were Teddy's fourth home, which was shocking to us as Teddy has never done anything wrong, except love a tennis ball too much. Teddy will never know another home, our pets are our family.

Fast forward 3 years, Teddy has thrived with us. He has two fenced acres to run in and is best friends with our most recent rescue, Peach. Our son Oliver loves to throw the ball for Teddy and even our 10 month old daughter Lottie is learning to toss the ball for him.

On Monday, May 6th, Zach was doing bedtime routine when he noticed that something was wrong with Teddy. Teddy was laying on the floor, lethargic, and his stomach was extremely distended. We were aware that larger dogs are susceptible to bloat and knew that Teddy immediately needed vet care. There were no warning signs or abnormalities during our evening routine, this seemed to happen out of nowhere. Zach frantically loaded Teddy and took him to BluePearl Pet Hospital in Murfreesboro. Teddy could not walk and had to be carried.

Our worst fears were confirmed, Teddy had extreme bloat and looked like his stomach was twisted, signifying Gastric-Dilatation Volvulus (GDV). The vets worked to stabilize Teddy, but he was not doing good. They were able to somehow reach a feeding tube into his stomach and release 2 liters of air, which allowed his stomach to untwist and they saw this on the next xray. We were told it is very rare that the stomach is unable to untwist. They were able to stabilize him for the night.

Teddy had to be transferred to the BluePearl Franklin location, where they continued to monitor him overnight. The vets were concerned as they continued to release air and liquid from Teddy's stomach. An ultrasound was performed, which showed that he had splenic torsion and damage to his stomach. Teddy needed urgent surgery to remove his spleen, which was dying, and to possibly remove part of his stomach. Teddy's spleen was also siphoning his platelets, causing him to have an extremely low platelet count and be at risk for a bleed during surgery.

Teddy underwent surgery on the evening of Tuesday, May 7th. They were able to remove his spleen and it is being sent for histopathology to confirm no cancer is present. The surgeon also noted that his stomach was extremely bruised and inflamed, but did not require any removal. Teddy remained stable through surgery and has been in good spirits when conscious, which is a testament to his strong, loving nature. Due to Teddy's low platelet counts, the surgeon was unable to perform a gastroplexy, to staple Teddy's stomach in place to prevent it twisting in the future.

Our initial bill at BluePearl Murfreesboro was $1800 and the bill at BluePearl Franklin was just over $10,000 - meaning the total cost for Teddy's life saving care is around $11,800. We will also need to work towards saving for Teddy's gastroplexy surgery within this next year as well. Obviously, our family was unprepared for this unexpected situation and the costs are extremely high, above our current means. Any support for our family would be so incredibly appreciated, so we can ensure Teddy has many more years of fetching tennis balls with us. ❤️