Tessa: On Wednesday Dave and I brought Reub to the vet to find out what was wrong with our fella. Sad, droopy, drooling, barely able to walk, not having eaten in two days and trying to drown his sorrows in the tall grass outside of our house, we were understandably very concerned. So we go in and the stunningly beautiful vet (Dave keeps mentioning that maybe we should invite her out dancing??) feels Reub’s belly and says she definitely feels an obstruction of some kind. Either that or it’s inflamed which apparently is something the raw food diet, we so feverishly embraced, can sometimes cause. We left him there while they tried to get to the root of the problem while we went off worried that we actually might have almost killed our dog with love.
In the meantime Reub was busy having his stomach pumped with berium so they could track where the obstruction was. Over the next two days they flushed him, x-rayed him, flushed him some more in the vain hope that whatever was in their would make its exit through the old poophole.
Well, no such luck. His vital signs were in distress and they had to operate. A few hours later we heard the news. Apparently Reub has not only been chewing the sticks he likes to play with he’s been eating them as well and there was the equivalent of a log jam inside his belly. Nice. The vet said she has seen a lot of things but she’s never, ever seen so much wood inside of a dog before.
It’s day 6 and Reub has barely eaten. Our vet has asked us not to feed him raw meat as the Canadian Veterinarian Association does not endorse it and she said that she sees alot of dogs with health problems who are on the raw diet. Now Dave is in kitchen cooking up some rice and lamb and sweet potato. He just came into announce that Reub is now eating bits of cooked lamb.
So for those of you who want to spare your pooch a near fatal mishap, I’d suggest keeping wood chewing to a minimum. You will also save yourself three thousand dollars while you’re at it.
Right now I’m just happy that Reub is on the mend again!
Condofire 
Well, it’s good he’ll be OK. Yes, eating wood is bad. Your dog is not a beaver.
Good luck in the future. Make sure you pay attention to his diet and that he’s eating food approved specifically by the vet.
Yeah, we didn’t know Reub was disguising himself as a beaver either. We’re going to have a talk with him about that. The raw food diet was a crazy knee jerk reaction to him getting sick from his regular food and then the pet food recall notice came and WE FREAKED OUT. We researched it by going to pet food stores but we didn’t go to a vet which in retrospect was a bit crrrrraaaaazzzzzzzyyyyy. Today he’s all hopped up on heavy meds and looking a bit like he’s living on an alien planet BUT I think he’s doing better. Last night we cautiously celebrated. Thanks again D. Peace.
Yeah, the pet food recall was really scary. I have a cat, so I had to pay close attention.
However, I didn’t bother changing his diet or switching over to raw food. I just continued giving him Hill’s Science Diet, which, first of all, came recommended from the vet, and secondly, was NOT affected in any way by the pet food recall.
Since his regular diet was fine, the pet food recall didn’t affect us one iota.
I don’t know if my particular pet food brand is good for your dog or not. But I’m just letting you know what’s working for me.
Definitely check with the vet when deciding what to feed him.
I’m sure he’ll get better and the meds will wear off. Good luck and stay positive.