Not the night we planned

I'm writing this as we sit waiting in the Veterinary ER clinic at UF. Let me start from the beginning.

Last Sunday Darwin who usually sleeps in bed with us, woke us up at 5:00am crying for help to get in the bed. When Ian went to pick him up he cried a little and Ian felt a lump on his chest.

We determined that he needed to be seen that day so we took him to the local veterinary ER clinic. The vet there diagnosed him with a bite of unknown origin and prescribed steroids and antibiotics.

As the swelling went down we could feel what felt like a long hard thin mass under his skin. I took him to see his regular vet on Wed as a follow up. I showed the vet the long hard spot on his chest, she told me it was a floating rib and said he had a spider bite, like the ER vet said. I explained that is had Darwin for almost 7 years and had never felt a floating rib on him like that. My concerns were dismissed and we were sent home.

Later that afternoon I gave Darwin a haircut and as I was shaving lower on his chest I found another spot under all his fur, I barely touched it and it started oozing puss. I called his vet and told her what I'd discovered and that I was afraid he had an abscess, she agreed and told me to come pick up a stronger antibiotic.

So, for a week Darwin has been on antibiotic and steroids and this weird hard long lump has been there. In my gut I wasn't buying the floating rib excuse I'd been sold. I've spooned at night with this dog for 7 years and I knew something wasn't right, but when multiple vets tell you it's just a bite, he's just anatomically different in regards to this "floating rib" what can you do?

I should have bitched more, louder and demanded an x-ray.

So tonight Taylor was petting Darwin and felt the spot and asked what it was. I told her what the vet said and she said "mom, that's never been there". At that point I knew I was right, that something more was wrong. I started thinking about the second spot and how the top spot on his chest felt pointy (part of the rib theory) and started thinking somethings in there. He's been impaled with something.

So here we sit at the UF ER for pets. The first tech that saw Darwin, listened to me and agreed something was in there, it's not a floating rib.

Now we're in a room and they've taken my baby back to see the vet for exam and decide what needs to be done.

I'm beyond frustrated with the Lakeland ER vet and even more with our normal vet for not taking my concerns more seriously.

Stay tuned for status update on Darwin.

Update: Darwin is in surgery to remove a foreign body from his chest wall. The Dr thinks it's mostly likely a stick. He has a massive infection from the stick being in there for a week. The Dr is hopeful the surgery will be simple, with her making an incision the length of the stick (about 5 inches), removing it, cleaning the wound and making sure it hasn't caused organ damage. If everything looks okay she'll place a drain, sew him up and we can pick him up. He'll have the drain removed in 3 days and stitches removed in 10 days. He's going to be in a cone the entire time.

We're going to have to find vets along the way to treat him.

We're back at the camper after making a stop at Wal-mart to get a cage for Darwin to stay in when we're not with him.

Hopefully the vet will call soon with news.