On Wednesday morning 30th Jan 2008, Elmo showed signs of discomfort, was gagging, and began to bloat around his abdomen. Sometimes, due to his list of allergies, he experiences strange symptoms- and so we tried to calm him and let it pass, but to no avail. We took him to the vets expecting to hear that he had colic or a similar condition, to be told emergency surgery needed to take place, his stomach had twisted under the weight of the gas in his stomach. Surgery on Elmo is very dangerous as his server allergic reactions do not allow anything to be injected into his body. The surgery on a normal dog has a 50/50% chance of survival. Elmo was given 20% chance of pulling through. We were devastated. Elmo has quite a history. He is 9. At 18 months old he was completely disabled in all legs due to over stretched ligaments, thought to be the result of poor breeding. He cannot be inoculated due to his allergies and so does not have any protection against usual doggy disease. He can only eat organic chicken legs, and drink mineral water. (We found this through trial and error.) Elmo is so allergic, he has been diagnosed as being allergic to himself- the yeast his skin produces in excess. He has two back discs about to pop out. His trachea is collapsing, causing a strange bark. He has a tail bent in two points at a 90 degree angle. 2 years ago he has an emergency castration due to a torsion, which he, due to an excellent vet, managed to pull through. He is a delightful, extremely happy and active dog, despite all of this. But now this. He pulled through the surgery which saved his life. Yet he was going into shock, which could cause complications. The toxins that had been trapped could have caused heart problems- and because of the pressure of the bloat against his veins, vital organs were not getting the blood supply they needed. Amazingly lucky- we were told the torsion was serve, but had only happened recently. He was transferred to another vet for that night. He remained stable. He was transferred to an intensive care surgery when he showed no sign of improvement. Soon after, thinking it was less stressful we took him home. He since perked up, and had a stomach tube in which we fed him antibiotics and painkillers, which we could not inject, due to the allergies. Elmo has now made a full recovery, although his scars remain. He is such a strong little character that has been through so much in his lifetime. He promised us he will stay around being a 'puppy' for as long as he can, and we promise to continue to carry him to work every morning, and home every evening. Our little Elmo. "This condition in the dog has a sudden onset, usually within one to two hours of eating a large meal. The dog is first breathless and, if examined closely, the abdomen is excessively large. The dog will stand, lie still, or move only with caution. He will generally pass feces and gas so that eventually the entire gut with the exception of the stomach has been emptied. There are often attempts at vomiting although these attempts are rarely successful. In a period varying from one-half to three hours, the stomach becomes grossly distended, and there is severe dyspnea, or difficulty in breathing. The dog may live up to 36 hours but many will die within one to two hours. "

I was trying to think of an idea for the 2nd week since we're still on introductions a little bit, so I thought I'd share where Nova spends a lot of her time. This is my office at the veterinary clinic I work at. She often comes along and hangs out with me for the day, staying in my office when I'm seeing appointments or doing surgery. There is a window between the surgery room and my office, so I can look in on her now and then. This picture is taken on the blanket that she sleeps on most of the time there. I placed my stethoscope on the blanket next to her - she wasn't having it when I tried to place it in her ears! Should've seen the look on her face! I brought my DVM degree down and placed it on the floor for the background. I graduated in May 2010 :) I told myself I worked dang hard to earn that degree and have oodles in loans so I was going to make sure I displayed it. I got Nova my second year of veterinary school - just before the most difficult semester of the whole program. She is the first dog that is truly mine, that I've trained, etc. We learned a lot from each other. I use this direct experience everyday in coaching my clients on puppy training, socialization, etc. She is true example of what consistent positive training can do for a shy, submissive wetter. She is now confident enough that she is outgoing, training to be a therapy dog (she failed her first test because she was too friendly and would greet a stranger every time), and was used for practice on my ultrasound rotation (she was willing to just lay there quietly, even falling asleep, for an hour while we ran a probe around on her abdomen and heart, once a day for 3 weeks!), for bandage practice on my orthopedics rotation, for socialization for other dogs (including shy dogs at the clinic I work at now), etc. I count myself truly lucky that I can bring my dog to work with me. She is my ambassador to the dog world :)