Ruger01 Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 Good Evening everybody... as I am a relative New comer to this forum I am not sure if I have submitted this to the right area - if not please forgive me - I thought I would share the above topic so as people out there are better informed & may be able to pass on any info they have on the topic of Liver Torsion. Approx 2 weeks ago my German Shephered was put in his kennel overnight as he is every night - when my husband went to let him out early the next morning he noticed "Ruger" 5 yrs was not himself, he normally bounds out of the kennel down the back yard empties out - races for his football and looks for a game. My husband called out to me that something was wrong.. I took one look at "Ruger" and said get him in the car this is not good. . first vet stop Mmm Can't help you we are busy... Grrr. . ok lets try to get to our own Vet approx another 2 klm away (I knew time was precious here, so I called into the closest Vet from home first up) I had rung our own vet on leaving the 1st Vet hoping they could help.. we arrived there.. examination done, bloods done.. X-ray of stomach done... Conclusion.. well there is some type of mass there in his stomach but we are just not real sure of what it is.. We can get Ruger an appointment at the big animal hospital tomorrow at 1400hrs if you like.. I said you are kidding me this is well over another 24hrs away.. I said are you sure that is the earliest they can fit him in.. anyway not taking any chances I went outside and rang the BVSC myself.. same place as the Vets had rung.. I described symptoms over the phone, they said how long before you can be here.. I said I will put Ruger straight in the car from this Vets and make my way straight there.. long story short.. "RUGER" admitted ASAP - Ultrasound done - diagnosis not good - mass could not be identified - they needed to operate ASAP - to see what was happening inside as it had come on so quickly and he was in such acute pain. He was operated on - as we all in the Dog World are aware of Gastic Torsion in our larger Breeds - has anybody actually been involved with "LIVER TORSION" well after being involved in the training and working of German Shepherds for over 20yrs - I had no experience in it either - but I now know that Ruger's Liver had turned over on itself and was starting to die off - he had the bottom lobe of his Liver removed & stapled - his Gall Bladder removed and approx 400mls of blood which had leaked into his stomach - he was critical - but he was a very strong boy fit and healthy - the day before he had played and run as normal, this came as a complete shock to us. Today Ruger is still in recovery mode after a massive operation to save his life - but we are doing extremely well considering what has happened - he needs to be crated for another week or so and then back to light exercise - BUT Hey we still have our Boy - My absolute 100% Thank you to the whole team at Brisbane Veterinary Specialist Clinic for saving our boy - you are an absolute credit to the veterinarian world. PS: Ruger thinks it is pretty good though as he has now become an inside G/Shepherd for the time being. With his mattress and Tontine pillow so he has all the comforts for a speedy recovery. By the way he was cut from his sternam to just under neath his penis - approx 168 staples... Mmmm. It was a huge op just keeping our fingers crossed that he keeps going forward at the rate he is with no set backs.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninahartland Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 OMG ! How awful for you {and poor Ruger}. No,I've never heard of liver torsion either. What a good thing you decided to ring the other vet, thank God you did. Give Ruger big hugs, oh and welcome to DOL Nina Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruger01 Posted June 8, 2009 Author Share Posted June 8, 2009 OMG ! How awful for you {and poor Ruger}. No,I've never heard of liver torsion either. What a good thing you decided to ring the other vet, thank God you did. Give Ruger big hugs, oh and welcome to DOL Nina Thanks Nina - for the kind thoughts and the welcome to DOL - Yes trust me with the price of the vet bill - Ruger is getting lots of kisses / hugs and when he is well enough - he needs to go out and get himself a job. ( A Very well paying job ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erny Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 (edited) Ruger01 .... you did well to know your dog well enough to insist on an urgent consultation . No - I've not heard of Liver Torsion (although the more I read the more I realise there are a lot of medical conditions that I have never heard of which affect our dogs). Did the Vets indicate the cause of liver torsion? Are there things that can be done to avoid it or to reduce the chance of it? Or is it 'one of those things'? Glad Ruger is ok and that you got him some help soon enough. Best wishes to him for a speedy recovery. ETA: I've told my current boy he needs to get a job to help pay his Vet bills, but the lazy, irresponsible young lad that he is ...... he's not even bothering to read the "Jobs Vacant" section of the paper . He'll chew and shred it up, yes. But read it? Nup. Edited June 8, 2009 by Erny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
springdog Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 What a terrible thing to happen to both of you. Wishing Ruger a full recovery and hugs for you too and a big welcome to DOL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruger01 Posted June 8, 2009 Author Share Posted June 8, 2009 Ruger01 .... you did well to know your dog well enough to insist on an urgent consultation . No - I've not heard of Liver Torsion (although the more I read the more I realise there are a lot of medical conditions that I have never heard of which affect our dogs). Did the Vets indicate the cause of liver torsion? Are there things that can be done to avoid it or to reduce the chance of it? Or is it 'one of those things'? Glad Ruger is ok and that you got him some help soon enough. Best wishes to him for a speedy recovery. ETA: I've told my current boy he needs to get a job to help pay his Vet bills, but the lazy, irresponsible young lad that he is ...... he's not even bothering to read the "Jobs Vacant" section of the paper . He'll chew and shred it up, yes. But read it? Nup. Hi! Erny once I am a little more up to date with this modern technology - I will down load a picture of the boy - pre and post op - he was a very sad sight - basically the Liver Torsion is compared to Gastric Torsion which I have had alot of experience with in my 16yrs as a Services dog Handler - but never have struck this. The vet who operated had not ever had just the Liver Torsion it had always gone right into the whole deal of Gastric Torsion which we know is an extemely painful death - they could not pin point a specific reason - Ruger has always been fed up high - eg up on a stand which is approx masonary block height / fed a high quality dog food - never excercised leading into or after feed time and no agility / jumping or playing the fool at least 2 hrs prior to feeding.. I have done some research myself with American websites / Universities- but each dog that presented with a "Liver Torsion " was not operated on and was euthanased due to the cost of the operation..(owners choice I gather) but I am going to keep on hunting as I hate anything to beat me when it comes to dog health / welfare.. if I have any luck I will advise of same on the forum.. I have also made enquiries with interstate vets and they also have not had to deal with this - so it was very much a new thing.. but Ruger now also has had his stomach stitched so as to to never suffer the full Gastric Torsion / bloat.. he can still get a distended stomach which could fill with gas but there is no chance of Torsion occuring.. Thank God... PS - Ruger appears quite happy at the moment in his Crate with his little tontine pillow under his head.. Not Anthrapamorphic.. just a sucker for a sick dog. Cheers Rugers Mum.. or was that Servant.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlibud Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 Hi Ruger Do you think maybe that alot of vets might just put the condition down to Gastric Torsion ? especially if the dog dies for instance? I mean they sound similar dont they?In symptoms I mean. I dont mean that they would just say it was gastric torsion, I mean that they might not look further into it if the dog has died I mean. Some of these things happen so quickly .losing my Buddy as quickly as I did still upsets me that within a few days he had gone from a happy,healthy 9 year old boy to a desperatly ill dog, and within 3 days, of tests and trying everything , having to be PTS. Thanks for this post as it helps to have this in the back of our minds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirislin Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 (edited) I've never heard of such a thing. Hope he makes a full recovery. I just thought you might like to know, your posts are quite hard to read without paragraphs. Could you please put a few gaps in them in the future. Oh and welcome to DOL. Edited June 8, 2009 by Kirislin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staranais Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 first vet stop Mmm Can't help you we are busy... Grrr. . ok lets try to get to our own Vet approx another 2 klm away (I knew time was precious here, so I called into the closest Vet from home first up) I had rung our own vet on leaving the 1st Vet hoping they could help.. we arrived there.. examination done, bloods done.. X-ray of stomach done... Conclusion.. well there is some type of mass there in his stomach but we are just not real sure of what it is.. We can get Ruger an appointment at the big animal hospital tomorrow at 1400hrs if you like.. I said you are kidding me this is well over another 24hrs away.. That's not a good response from either vet IMO, because the symptoms do sound similar to GDV, which is a medical emergency - they should have referred you straight away if they had any suspicion it could be that serious. Sounds like the specialist clinic did a good job, though. I too have never heard of liver torsion before. Would be interested to hear what you find out from your research! Good luck to Ruger for his recovery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puggy_puggy Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 So glad that your boy is ok. I'm shocked that the vets would not see your dog immediatley. Sounds to me like everything would have indicated it as an emergency case. I've heard of stomach torsion but never liver. Do they have any idea of what causes it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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