Lily, or as she is known at home as “The Princess,” is a five-year-old Bernese Mountain Dog. Lily’s family brought her home to provide companionship for their male Bernese Mountain Dog, Luigi. Luigi was not happy at first but grew to love her. Lily loves to go for walks and car rides. She happily barks at dogs, children, and adults when driving around with her family.
Lily never complains about broken toes and has pulled three nails off and keeps going. You can set your clock for meal time as she loves breakfast, lunch, and dinner too. On weekends her dad always does a special BBQ for her.
She didn’t want to eat her breakfast on Labor Day weekend, and when she was offered lunch, there was still no interest. Finally, at dinner time, she ate and then proceeded to be sick for six hours. Lily’s family put her in the car and began calling emergency veterinary hospitals trying to find one that would admit her. Thankfully, the Animal Medical Center of Seattle was able to get her as we saved her life.
Abdominal ultrasound and radiographs were concerning for either a partial or complete obstruction in her intestines. Emergency abdominal exploratory surgery was performed, and our doctors found that Lily had ileojejunal intestinal volvulus (twisted intestines). Three feet of her small intestine were necrotic and black as no blood was able to go through. This required a vast and scary surgery called resection and anastomosis (R&A). In this procedure, the section of Lily’s necrotic intestine was removed, and the remaining healthy parts were surgically connected. Lily’s family prayed that she would pull through the surgery, and their prayers were answered. And after five days of recovery and excellent care at our hospital, Lily was finally able to come home!
One week after the surgery, she was back to her old self. Riding in the car, barking at everyone to let them know she is back. Her appetite is back to normal, and she has the energy to play and keep up with her one-year-old Berner Brother Leo.
Lily’s family is grateful for the care, constant communication, and dedication of our staff that saved their sweet Lily. Having everything in one building and a team of veterinary specialists was priceless to them. Lily was lucky that her family had pet insurance for her because it covered up to 90% of her medical bills. Having pet insurance for your furry family members is so important because you never know when they might need critical or specialty care.
We are so happy Lily is back to her old self and that her family was able to bring her home.