Partial Obstruction... Passed!

[SheltieChe]

Glad you had it resolved.
We have been in similar boat too. My observation and decisions were- if the dog still active, take him to dog park and let run his head off for good chunk of the time. Because digestive tract is stimulated by activity it will either move things around and speed it alone or we will know it is not coming and we need surgery. So far has worked well for us.

[mcemily]

Originally Posted by SheltieChe

Glad you had it resolved.
We have been in similar boat too. My observation and decisions were- if the dog still active, take him to dog park and let run his head off for good chunk of the time. Because digestive tract is stimulated by activity it will either move things around and speed it alone or we will know it is not coming and we need surgery. So far has worked well for us.

Hopefully I will never have to put this good advice to use in the future ... but if this should happen again, I will definitely try that!

When we brought him to the e-vet, he was still defecating. Clearly, not enough, but he hadn't stopped altogether. By the next morning, the works had pretty much stopped, by the vet's account. When I started replaying the last few days, I realized that Lerwick's toilet routine had changed, slightly, a couple days before we took him in. Instead of two larger bowel movements, he was having several smaller ones. I had taken note of that, and I do pay close attention to his toilet habits, but it seemed like the same volume of waste moving through when you added them all up, so I didn't really think it cause for alarm.

The change in potty habits also happened the day after our in-laws went home after their week-long visit. Now, Lerwick always changes his toilet routine slightly when we have company... so many new people to pay attention to him! He likes everybody to have a turn taking him outside (weirdo), so he tends to ask to go out more often when we have company over (taking lots of small pee trips instead of 3 larger ones like usual). So, he had already been toileting more often for a few days because of that.

Then, when company leaves, Lerwick is a little bummed for a day or two, since his new minions aren't around to lavish him with attention anymore, and he demands lots of extra attention from us, in any way he can get it... a favorite method being to ask to go outside repeatedly. So, the extra potty trips continue for a few days because of that, so the increase in extra mini-poo trips didn't really stand out as unusual behavior to me, at the time. Seemed like his typical after-company attention-getting ploy.

[Emmasmom]

It also depends on the type of blockage there is. Liam was still running around, eating etc. However, his blockage was caused by the small bowel wrapping around the colon, not by something actually blocking the intestine itself from the inside. It is so important to know our dogs, observe them closely and realize something is wrong. I just knew Liam wasn't right, just didn't know what it was.

Glad Lerwick is better.