Rolling Dog Farm Blog

Not content with being the World's-Most-Expensive-Chihuahua, Wilbur continued to run up the score just in case any other Chihuahuas out there were coveting his title. (If necessary, we can always amend it to the World's-Most-Expensive-One-Eyed-Chihuahua.)

Early Friday morning, as I was preparing to leave for Burlington to take another dog for a specialist appointment, Alayne had just put Wilbur outside when she saw him throw up three times in rapid succession – projectile vomiting, just clear liquid. Then she noticed his abdomen seemed a bit distended, and he was walking with a slight hunch. The clinic, Peak Veterinary Referral Center, wasn't open at that hour, so we loaded him on the van and I called them from the road to let them know we had a problem with Wilbur.

When I got there, one of our internal medicine specialists, Dr. Dani Rondeau, was soon able to examine Wilbur. She had done a work-up on Wilbur a month ago and thus was already familiar with the little tyke. During her physical exam Friday morning she noticed his bladder was very full, and then she felt a stone in his urinary tract. Off he went to radiology for X-rays and ultrasound. Sure enough, he had multiple stones — one in his urethra and two in his bladder.

Late Friday, the board-certified surgeon at Peak, Dr. Kurt Schulz, took Wilbur into surgery to remove the stones. We were, of course, nervous wrecks at that point. We just adore the munchkin, and he has been through so much already (in the past two years, three different surgeries and chronic blood pressure issues). We were so relieved when Kurt called about 6:30 p.m. Friday evening to say Wilbur had come through surgery in great shape.

The doctors have sent Wilbur's stones to a lab for an analysis and culture. Depending on the type of stone, we may need to modify his diet to prevent a recurrence. He's also on antibiotics in case there was a bacterial cause of the stones.

Alayne headed to Burlington on Saturday morning to pick him up. Wilbur did well all weekend, recuperating slowly but surely. And he definitely feels a lot better!

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