Hard and expensive lesson learned

[sfmini]

I want to share this information with as many people as possible in the hopes of preventing anybody else having to go through this.

Lily, my 4 year old Cardigan Welsh Corgi had emergency surgery last night. Her stomach is full of gorilla glue. She got into it over a week ago and nothing happened so we thought we were safe. Turns out it expands and it doesn't take much to cause trouble. Her stomach is stuffed tight and it has to come out now. She only got a tiny bit of it so it took two weeks to start causing trouble. I guess it expands when it gets wet, and keeps expanding so even a tiny amount can grow to a huge size. It was the size of a soccer ball according to the vet who just called to tell me it was out and she was fine. They had a hard time getting her stomach lifted out so they could remove it. Her gallbladder is very inflamed so we will have to worry for a week or so to hope that it settles down.

I am just glad we got her there and treated before it killed her!!

No more gorilla glue in our house. I learned that it tastes like maple syrup and peanuts so is very attractive to pets.

I asked the vet to keep the mass so we could see it. I'll take pictures and share with you guys. I am supposed to call later this morning for an update and might get to bring her home. The fantastic news is I will be bringing home a live dog and not one to bury.

The symptoms were very subtle, enough that if we hadn't known about the glue (if she had hidden it somewhere), we would have just thought she had a bit of a belly ache. She was playing, happy, acting normal except she wouldn't eat (only in the last 2 days) and would barf anything she did eat, look sad for a while, and then back to herself. I am so glad I googled it and learned what can happen and we called the vet and got in right away. They performed the surgery around 7pm and called me as soon as she was awake.

 

[Field-of-Dreams]

SCARY!!! Glad she's OK, though.

There will be no Gorilla Glue in my house, that's for sure!

 

[laughingllama75]

WOW! I am so glad you little one is going to be OK. It is amazing at what they find to eat, things we would never think of. Thanks for posting this, I never would have known. We use gorrilla glue too-not anymore! I will pass this on to my friends also.

 

[Genie]

Scary. I will have to google "gorilla glue" as it might be called something else here in Canada, at least I haven't heard of it?

 

[REO]

Dear God Jody! How awful! Who knew? Thanks for warning others! I'll be sending prayers to your girls recovery!

 

[anoki]

Genie, no it is available as 'Gorilla Glue' here in Canada as well. It is a 'super glue' that sticks EVERYTHING, and it expands to fill cracks and such.

http://www.gorillatough.com/

I am sooo soooo relieved to hear that she will be ok, Jody!!!! When I saw your post on FB last night, my heart dropped.....I was worrying about her all night, even though you said she had made it through the surgery ok. That is VERY scary......and I am unbelievably happy that you caught it in time. Lily may not have 'belonged' to me for the last 4 years, but as her breeder, she will always be part of my family!

Lots of hugs to you and Lily from me and many goober kisses from her mom and sisters (and grandpa and nephews).

~kathryn

 

[Sonya]

oh my, the size of soccer ball? Holy crap! So glad she is going to be ok. We also use gorilla glue (the stuff works great), who would of ever thought that it would be appetizing to a dog, probably a toddler too. Do you know how much she ate?

On a side note: once I was visiting my parents and I followed my father up to the pole barn, his lab followed us. First thing I said when he opened the door and we went in...is there any mice/rat poison in here? My Dad said yes but it was where the dog couldn't get to it. It wasn't 5 minutes and I go looking for the dog and there he is munching down on a container of dcon pellets. I rushed to the house and called a vet and they said get as much peroxide in him as you can...just dump it down his throat if you don't have any type of syringe and hurry. So I did, I held him down and dumped about 1/4-1/2 bottle down his throat...he was not happy with me. Took about 3 minutes and it all came up...even his lunch he had eaten a couple hours before. He was fine, thank heavens. Since then, I always make sure I have peroxide in both our houses, our rv, and even our boat...if we are ever out and my dogs eat something suspicious, they are getting it. My dogs are pretty good about not eating strange things so I never had to use it...my father's lab will eat anything, from gloves to rocks, I can't believe he is still alive after all the strange things he will eat.

 

[chandab]

So glad your dog is ok.

I had read several years ago about Gorilla Glue and pets, so I refuse to buy it. They also have Gorilla tape (similar to duct tape, but with the gorilla glue for adhesive), and I don't buy that either.

 

[mini horse mania]

Wow,i sure hope she does well for you!! Its a good thing you caught it,and caught the "off" behavior.

Sonya,i will keep the peroxide idea in mind just in case...you learn something new everyday

 

[HGFarm]

Wow!! Thanks for the warning! This is important for pet owners for sure! Hope she will be ok.

 

[sfmini]

I just called and so far, so good but they hadn't fed her yet. They want to do that and then watch 24 hours to make sure it goes through.

Not out of the woods yet, but we are getting there.

 

[Mona]

OMG!! How scary!! It sounds like your vets have her on the right track and you'll be able to enjoy a live, healthy dog once again, thanks to your fast acting on the glue thing. Best wishes for her full recovery!

 

[Reble]

Thank goodness your dog is Ok.

Thanks for the heads up, I know dogs do eat things they should not..

So glad you noticed what she got into, and glad you acting fast..

 

[Helicopter]

Wow!

What I'm wondering is how on earth did they get it out?

Hoping for a full and speedy recovery.

 

[anoki]

I just called and so far, so good but they hadn't fed her yet. They want to do that and then watch 24 hours to make sure it goes through.

Not out of the woods yet, but we are getting there.

Hoping for nothing but the best news tomorrow!!!!!

~kathryn

 

[eagles ring farm]

wow how scary- sure hope she's back to her healthy self real soon

 

[mini horse mania]

Is she doing any better today? And eating?

 

[sfmini]

The vet called and told me that Lily is bouncing and really wants to get out of there as soon as I can get there. Food is going in the right end with gusto and a small amount has passed out the other end with no barfing. Happy, happy day! We still have to worry another week about the gallbladder calming down but it is sounding good.

 

[REO]

I'm SO happy to hear that!!!!!!!!

WHOOO HOOOO!!!!!!!

 

[anoki]

:yeah

:yeah

:yeah

~kathryn