Phighting Phineus

I am devastated to share the news that Phineus began showing signs of another GI attack on the evening of May 1, 2021. What I thought would be just another day or two of an upset belly turned into yet another trip to PVSEC, the emergency vet clinic. A place we, unfortunately, know all too well. Phin was horrifically nauseous, but initially unable to vomit which typically indicates “Bloat”. After a set of xrays in the early morning hours, it was determined that Phin was not torsioning, but his GI tract looked totally abnormal and severely dilated. Indicating another potential intestinal blockage. His daily GI motility meds could not safely be administered if a blockage was present, so he was admitted to the hospital in the early morning hours of today, May 2, 2021 and kept on fluids for hours, hoping to encourage the intestines to do their job. Unfortunately there was no improvement and an ultrasound needed to be done to rule out a blockage. The ultrasound showed what appeared to be a foreign object blocking his small intestine right at his old major intestinal resection repair site. The vets were fairly confident walking into the surgery. Unfortunately, after opening him up, they called me from the operating table and advised that, aside from a piece of feces, there was no foreign object located. And his intestines, though severely dilated, appeared open all the way through. What sounded like GOOD news quickly turned to heartbreak when they advised that the problem is that his guts stopped working altogether.

I am currently camping out in the clinic parking lot awaiting more news on possibly when Phin might be stable enough to get home and to keep him comfortable until he cannot fight anymore. His surgery resulted in the placement of a feeding tube, which will be in place for the coming weeks, should he manage to recover for that long. I am just beside myself as this special soul has been through entirely too much in his short and wonderful life. The current estimate for yesterday and today is $6,000- $8,000. Unfortunately for me, the ultrasound had to be done to ruleout blockage, which delayed his very much needed motility meds as they could not be given had there been a blockage as it can kill the affected patient quicker. Then the resulting surgery was necessary because the images indicated what they were quite certain was a foreign body obstruction. The ultrasound and surgery have overwhelmed my already depleted credit cards from his past life-saving efforts to an extent that I am sucking up my pride and  reaching out for help for any Phin Fan Club Members who might like to, and are financially in a position, to donate to his vet bills. 

 Unless they can get his intestines to start working again, the prognosis is extremely poor. And even if medications can help jump start, this is likely the time we will be facing end-of-life reality which is such a devastating blow considering how much he has fought through already. It is just beyond unfair. Thank you, everyone for your support and encouragement throughout all of his setbacks. I just want to get him stable enough to get him home where he belongs and keep him as comfortable as possible. 

I will post updates when I know more. 

Thank you,
Sarah and the Phighting Phineus