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Lost to mesenteric torsion

2K views 19 replies 17 participants last post by  TwoBigEars 
#1 ·
Hope this okay here as I'd rather not mar my dog's memorial post with this, but if there is a more appropriate section please let me know.

On Friday, four days ago, I lost my beautiful girl Solstice to mesenteric torsion. I'd heard of bloat/GDV of course, but never this until it took my girl and of course now I'm reading all I can about it though that may not be the best idea right now as I sort through the grief. I've read so much about the high fatality rate, but it seems the more I read the more I come across dogs who have survived. I keep wavering between accepting that there was nothing to do, and second-guessing that we still could have saved her.

In short: we were out of town at an agility trial. Solstice was happy and normal in the morning, in the hours and days before we hadn't done anything unusual, nothing unusual happened at the trial. Sometime between 1-1:30pm was when she first started displaying symptoms, which began with "normal" vomit and diarrhea (happens to every dog now and then, right?). Cutting to the chase, over time she got worse and we arrived at a vet clinic just before 3:30pm. They did xrays, said something was wrong with her small intestine, top theories were foreign body or volvulus but couldn't tell for sure what it was without opening her up. They could do it, but wouldn't be equipped for any after care or complications and really recommended we get to a larger university hospital 1.5 hours away. This is what I keep questioning. We were in a small-ish town in a large state with long distances between vets. If we'd been home we'd have been a lot closer to more vets.

In a foggy haze and with my dog getting worse, we went to the hospital. Arrived there around 5:30pm, around 6:30 they had her in surgery. 8pm the surgeon came out to say her entire intestine was dead, there was nothing to do.

This dog was my everything, she was so special to me, and it destroys me to think I may have made the wrong decision by taking all that extra time leaving the first vet. With what I know now I would have insisted they try. If they suspected volvulus I question why they sent me away when they should have known how serious that was.

I wish I would have called a friend to help me think through the decision instead of going it alone but I was just so hazy by what was happening to my dog, I didn't think of it at the time. I keep telling myself that it was already too late anyway, because my dog is still gone and nothing can be changed about it. Sometimes I believe it but sometimes I doubt, especially with the stories I keep finding of dogs that survive this despite the high mortality rate.

I don't know if I'm looking for reassurance here or what. Just had to put our story out there now that my special dog is another sad statistic of mesenteric torsion.
 
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#4 ·
What a heartbreaking story! I am so very sorry for your loss. Please, please, please don't blame yourself. You did the best you could under the circumstances. You were a quarter back calling the plays in a Monday night game. You cannot go back and do Tuesday morning quarter-backing at the coffee station at the office. May your memories of Solstice sustain you in your grief. Take care.
 
#6 ·
Thanks everyone. I'm trying really really hard not second-guess, but you know how it is, we do it anyway. Really the first three days afterwards I was able to push these thoughts away easier. Today not so much. Maybe just a new stage of grief.
 
#7 ·
I can identify so much. I have lost 2 dogs in the past two years and I know exactly what you are going through. I was calling and texting people in hysterics that there must have been something else I should have done. I even recently broke down on my current vet when my old girl was very sick because she reminded me of the other one when she was dying, so i was waiting at his office when the doors opened with her and I said to him, "if only I had moved a little FASTER maybe I could have saved her". He looked at me and simply said, "when they are crashing that hard, they can't be saved" (that one was in organ failure).

You know your loved your dog and would have done anything for her and that is all you need to know. It does get better, hang in there.
 
#8 ·
So sorry for the loss of your beloved Solstice.

Please don't be so hard on yourself. Mesenteric torsion is deadly stuff and it happens fast. My cousin lost his beloved young GSD to it and they were able to rush him to their regular vet.

When you feel up to it, please post some pics of Solstice.
 
#10 ·
Solstice, may you be running free waiting for your human ... I wish we had a magic ball that would alert us to every possibility .... doesn't exist --- instead we keep second guessing ourselves until we weep blood --- go easy dear one - you did the best you could.

In time the memories will take over your thoughts and you will find a smile or a chuckle - blessings and may this time hurry.
 
#12 ·
I am so sorry for this terrible tragedy. I too had a similar experience. My precious Kane passed away on the way to the vet. As I am typing this I am breaking down and that was over 4 years ago. They just capture our hearts!! You really did the best you could. You were trying to get your love to the best possible care. Do not blame yourself. I hope that you can find peace.:crying:
 
#16 ·
I am sorry that this happened.

I think the first vet was not equipped to handle the situation and sent you to a bigger facility. If the first vet went in, and did what he could do, and your dog did not survive the surgery, you would be second guessing the decision to have him try.

We really cannot go 4 hours ahead, and find out the outcome, come back, and use the information to make our decision. We have to make the best decision for our dog that we can with the resources available at the time. You did.

Unfortunately, your dog did not make it. And that is beyond awful. But she had a good life. You did not let her suffer. You got her to the vet. You listened and took her to where they thought she would have the best chance. It was not for lack of love, lack of care, lack of responsible ownership, or even lack of knowledge, that you lost your buddy. You lost your best friend because we live in a world where we are mortal creatures and there are conditions and diseases that cause life to cease.

It is hard to take when you have a healthy vibrant critter at the beginning of the day and she is gone at the end of the day. Terrible. I lost my Arwen to hemangiosarcoma. She was running around that morning, and I thought, "she runs just like the puppy." That night I came home from the meeting and she was on her cot, dead. She had bled out. No warning beyond leaving a little kibble in her dish that morning. I had to grab onto the fact that she did not linger, suffer for weeks or months before dying, because she was my heart dog, and losing her was like splintering my soul. They make us so very attached that losing them is so difficult. We cannot replace them. But, the building up of our heart that they undertook in the time they were with us is far greater than the chasm left by their loss. They make us better people. They leave a hole in our life.

I hope that in time, you can remember her beyond her passing, and remember her without the pain. With a lingering death, you prepare yourself for it, and can even come to a resolution of not wanting her to suffer. When it is sudden like this, you have to swallow it whole. But it does get better. You don't forget, and you don't replace, but you can let another critter fill that hole in your life, when you are ready. And more and more you remember the good stuff.

Again, I'm sorry. Don't beat yourself up, there is no fault on this one. She was loved. Her life was short, but you made it good for her.
 
#18 ·
even when I had my little Bailey girl PTS, I was second guessing myself afterwards. I wanted to rush to the vet and take it back, but I couldn't. It was the right thing to do but I still had that drive, thinking there might have been another way, did I do the right thing by her, I want my baby home. But there was no going back. If we hadn't let her go she would have died in a few days anyhow. I just had to remember her face looking at me as if to say, "mom, fix this for me".

I think it is part of the grieving process. It hurts like **** but we all go through it. My thoughts and prayers go with you.
 
#19 ·
I am just so very sorry for your loss. My heart aches for you. In times, when I have guilt over a 'woulda, coulda, shoulda,' I look at it like this:

There is no way to know, if the outcome would have been different, had I done things differently. If I could have prevented this, would I have? Of course I would. If I could have corrected it, would I have? Of course I would. But I went forward with the best information I had at the time and did the best I could. This is NOT your fault.

Hugs!
 
#20 ·
Thanks everyone. I know there is no use questioning and second-guessing after it's already done, but you know the grief causes us to do it anyway.

I just wish I had known about this. It's not nearly as well publicized as bloat/GDV, and German Shepherds are the most common victim. I would have insisted the first vet try. Yes if I had insisted the first vet try and she still didn't make it (which I keep telling myself is what would have happened), I would have questioned not getting to the larger hospital. But if I had known about it, then I would have known how fast it kills and that she simply did not have the time to get to another clinic. Maybe if it was only a few minutes away, but not the long distance it was for us.
 
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