We are grateful to the staff at Gahanna Hospital for caring so gently and
lovingly for Abbott.
We are also grateful to
Heidi Earl,
Ryan & Amy Waring,
Julie Roberts,
Brenda Mears,
Diana Spiers,
Pat Basham,
Meredith & Sam Jones and Nancy & Arthur Huston
for their
generous donations to help with Abbott's vet expenses.
Abbot was tested and diagnosed for every possible disease. All the tests returned back
normal, but it was quite evident that there was something wrong with him, the last option was
to do exploratory surgery.
The exploratory surgery revealed the following:
There was a linear stricture (which looked like a string) which started in his upper small
intestine and ran all the way through his colon. This resulted in his bowel being tortous. The blood
vessels and ligaments shrank down and made a tortous route throughout his bowel, making it difficult
for food to pass and caused vomiting. There was no physical blockage at the time of the exploratory
surgery, it appeared as though a string of some sort was ingested months ago and rotted, leaving a
linear scar the length of his gut, thus a scar stricture.
The pathology report was inconclusive, it did confirm that the adhesion was very old, the foreign body,
if any, had resolved and dissolved, and the gut could not absorb well. There was the possibility that the
scar could have been a result of a disease but none was found at this time.
Because his bowel could not be removed, we decided to have poor Abbot put to sleep so
he would no longer suffer.
Update April 21, 2008
Sadly, Abbott's condition is not improving. We have tested him for
everything.
Our last effort is to do exploratory surgery. We are hoping it is a
foreign object,
tumor or anomaly.
Initial Story
Abbott is a sweet dog, even in this condition, he is wagging his tail with staff
who are treating him.
Capital Area Humane Society investigated a
complaint of a dog that appeared thin.
Experienced investigators were
shocked to see the
extreme case of neglect.
His owner claimed that Abbott had been losing weight for the last two
years. The only vet record that they could
provide was from 2004 when they dog weighed 60 pounds. Abbott weighed
28 when he was taken by the humane society. Due to his
emaciated state, he would need more extensive care and he was released
to Columbus Dog Connection. Our vets have performed several
tests and so far, the results have been normal. Other tests
will be
performed in the effort to find the cause of his weight loss. Right now, it appears that the poor boy was just starved. It is beyond
comprehension how a human could allow a dog to get to this state.
Abbott's recovery will be slow and we are cautiously optimistic about
his future.
If you would like to donate for his vet expenses, we would be very
grateful.