Chase buddy, our dog, needs all your good wishes. He’s just been diagnosed with a Diaphragmatic Hernia. There are two types of diaphragmatic hernias, one you are born with and one that is caused by some type of trauma. In either case, it means there’s a hole in your diaphragm and your intestines come up into your chest interfering with your lungs and heart. (It can happen to people as well as dogs.)
Symptoms we noticed were that Chase would not move, not lie down and not eat. He would sit rigidly for hours with a very curved back and he drank a little bit of water. He also lost 12 pounds (20% of his body weight) in four days! He still wanted to cuddle but he wouldn’t come to you. He threw up all day on the 3rd day.
We have no idea what happened to Chase. We know it happened sometime Saturday while we were camping. The vet and the internet say a diaphragmatic hernia is usually caused by a car, a blow to the stomach or a fall out the window. As far as we know none of these happened but he was tied up at our campground during the day without us. (He was tied to a post in our campground while we were on the boat.)
He’s going in for surgery right now and we should if he’s going to be ok in about 24 hours.
[3:24pm] Followup: The vet said the trauma could have happened a long time ago. Since Chase routinely jumps the fence, I’m guessing it happened on one of those excursions.