Blackberry and Bonsai. Friends forever.

Here is the x ray of Bonsai soon after surgery. They gave him a barium slurry to highlight the constriction. Is this amazing or what??? The large “bulb” is where food would get packed up and then regurgitated. There is just a very small opening where fluid could get through to his stomach. No wonder he was so malnourished and his bloodwork was bad.

We did get good news today though. Looks like he doesn’t have a liver shunt! His liver bile enzyme test came back perfectly normal. Whew! Now we can put him on some higher powered food and get some weight on the boy. We were worried about stressing his liver if he did have a shunt so we were staying with a lower protein food.
The vet figures that all his abnormal bloodwork and liver tests were because of malnutrition.

Over time we are hoping that his esophagus will shrink back to a normal size and he will be able to eat normally.

We are very thankful for the Fairbanks Animal Shelter Fund that continues to care for Bonsai financially. Please think of giving a donation. The Shelter Fund cares for 100′s of animals from our Fairbanks borough shelter. If it wasn’t for the fund, many animals would not be alive today.
Their address is P O Box 71267 Fairbanks, AK 99707

The puppy is growing up. His permanent teeth are coming in. Top and bottom incisors are here.

Tomorrow he goes in for another bile acid test to see where his liver functions stand. Hoping for the best.

Rest in Peace our dear Raja. After several weeks of trying all kinds of pain meds, shots and laser therapy nothing was alleviating her painful arthritis. I was out of town when Don had her sent over the bridge. It was very odd to come home to not having her here. We guessed she was somewhere around 14 years old.

Bonsai is doing well although he is growing up and not out. He has long legs and a very skinny body. We will get his liver checked again this next week.
He has 2 new permanent teeth.

Bonsai loves his ball! He also loves to sleep with covers on.

He got a great report today at the vets. They did another blood panel and his values that were low when he first went in, especially his red blood count and his HCT, are now in the perfect normal range. Dr. Cole figures that he was probably malnourished before from his lack of food and able to keep things down. Now that he is getting steady food (even if it IS still in liquid form) his body is responding and recovering wonderfully.

We all have big smiles on our faces.

He will get his bile acids tested again in a couple of weeks and see where we stand with his liver problems.

He is one lucky puppy.

Overnight…things just happen. Bonsai went from having these cute little flipped down ears to this!

His vet visit ended with a conclusion of “inconclusive”. He had a barium test and x rays. There is a huge bulge above where the constriction was and the constricted area is still tight. This was of course only 2 days after surgery. We are all hoping that given time things will relax and his esophagus will be more normal. He has another appointment in 2 weeks.

His attitude is great. Typical puppy. He doesn’t know he had surgery or anything is wrong with him. Just accepts and enjoys his day to day life. He loves his ball. Plays fetch and left to his own devices will roll, toss, bat and pounce by himself.

We are upping his food a little more. His stools are great. He is so thin but hard to say how much he is actually processing with his liver problems.

This is one special boy.