Scampi was signed over to the rescue after he’d been rehomed privately and the family who adopted him were having a few problems with him regarding his housetraining as they worked long hours and were unable to get him to be clean indoors.
Scampi is a gorgeous fella with a lovely temperament, but was really not happy being left for long periods of time, so he was fostered by one of our lovely foster mums who is home all day. From the day he came into rescue Scampi was ravenous and would bolt down his favourite dried food (James Well-beloved), but almost immediately after eating he would be sick. We advised the locum vet during his vet check who felt his tummy and said just to keep an eye on him and that he may have picked up a bug. Over the next few days Scampi became very lethargic and really not himself, so we booked to take him down to see our trusted vet.
On feeling Scampi’s tummy the vet said that his abdomen felt distended which would make him think that there could be an obstruction and asked his foster mum Debbie if he could have swallowed anything small, like a toy. Debbie was sure that he hadn’t swallowed anything whilst in her care as she is usually very careful not to leave anything potentially dangerous around. The vet admitted Scampi for an x-ray and said that he would call us with the results. About an hour later, we were told that the x-ray showed a mass in his small intestine and a build-up of gasses in his abdomen, but it didn’t appear to be a foreign object and looked like it could be organic matter and could be a growth of some kind. Our vet performed emergency surgery that evening and discovered the blockage was caused by a conker… and judging by the condition of it, it may have been in his stomach for around a month or so…. he had to remove part of Scampi’s small intestine and do a graft to ensure there were no leaks from the wound.
Scampi was hospitalised for observation and intravenous therapy until he was able to eat very soft food. For the next week he had to be fed on liquidised chicken and rice, while his internal wounds healed and his stitches dissolved. We are very happy to say that Scampi made a fabulous recovery and was able to be rehomed with a wonderful new family in Kent.
Next ……. Daisy’s Story