This sweet pup is Bella, an almost nine-year-old French Bulldog! Bella came into her forever families lives after they noticed their daughter’s Boston Terrier, Abigail, began to show signs that she was lonely, so they decided to get a playmate for her. One of their neighbors posted an ad on their private community website to re-home their one-year-old French Bulldog. After seeing the picture of this adorable pup in the ad, they set-up a doggie meet-up. Abigail and Bella got along great and were sisters from another mother almost immediately. They enjoyed every day together until Abigail became very sick and crossed the rainbow bridge. Bella missed Abigail very much but adapted to being a very pampered and loved only dog.
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Bella loves going for walks and is the neighborhood watch dog. If your garage door is open, she’ll be there to investigate because she’s a little detective and has to sniff everything. She loves to be with her people and go for car rides. Bella also loves to eat just about anything, which takes us to the summer of 2021. Bella was walking with her family at a park in Sammamish, went under a bush, and when she came out, began smacking her lips. By the time they got back to the car she started drooling. The drooling eventually stopped, but a few weeks later she stopped eating well. She also started drooling again, this time to the point where her family had to use many bath towels to keep her little mouth dry.
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After months of veterinary appointments, medications, and radiographs, she didn’t get any better. In October of 2021, Bella’s family veterinarian took a radiograph of her abdomen and discovered a foreign body in her stomach, but they were unable to identify what it was. They referred Bella to the Animal Medical Center of Seattle’s internal medicine service to see our internist, Dr. Katherine Spry, and discuss options for removal. After some additional tests and diagnostic imaging, Dr. Spry called Bella’s owners and told them she thought the blockage looked like a pit of some sort. She discussed options and decided to remove it via an upper GI endoscopy. A peach pit was successfully removed endoscopically from Bella’s stomach, and we were able to avoid an invasive abdominal exploratory surgery. Bella was able to go home with her family the same day after she recovered from the anesthesia, but it took her close to a year to stop having drooling episodes, and her family is very careful to watch what she eats to make sure there are no issues.
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Bella’s family saved the recovered peach pit and made a necklace out of it! She will be nine in November 2023 and she naps everyday now. Her little sweet face has become gray and she has ramps for her to get up to the bed and stairs to get to the couch. She has car beds, a stroller, and whatever else she needs as she is one pampered, loved, and lucky little Frenchie. Bella’s family will forever be grateful for the wonderful care she received here by the Animal Medical Center of Seattle team, and we are all so happy she continues to do well!
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