Meet Toby…
Wow! What a week it was at our house…
One I hope we don’t have to repeat anytime soon.
It had nearly everything to do with our schnauzer Toby…
…out sweet little fella we are kind of crazy about.
The other morning I noticed he didn’t seem quite right.
His tail wagged then faded fast when I met him at the bottom of the staircase.
So, my husband took him outside and within seconds he yelled to me that something was terribly wrong….
…Toby threw up, fell over and couldn’t move.
We got him to our vet who determined he had a blockage in his urethra.
He made Toby more comfortable and sent us to a specialty hospital an hour-and-a-half away.
We had been there several times before.
Once we arrived at the facility, they quickly determined he needed emergency surgery to remove a stone.
This was his third surgery and he isn’t even three-years-old — all stemming from a liver shunt he was born with.
An anomaly.
An “oddity, peculiarity, abnormality” that developed while in his mother’s womb.
Something that took more than a year and many vet appointments, medicines and a second surgery to figure out.
A total bummer.
Welcome this week…
Toby had his surgery and we are happy to have him home.
Was it successful?
Only time will tell.
We thought his first two surgeries would do the trick, yet that was not the case.
Today he is wearing a toddler’s pull-up until the incisions heal … and occasionally paddles to the kitchen for a treat.
He’s slowly recovering.
He’s even back to wagging his tail.
His body is weak, but his spirit is willing.
He’s our trooper.
And we thank The Lord.
There is much more to Toby’s story — it has been a rough journey for our little guy — and I plan to share more details soon.
In the meantime, if your dog is going through this, please feel free to ask me any questions. I am happy to try and help.
Modern Hen home 
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Hi Lisa,
Your story sounds similar to mine ☹️my yorkie is three years and he had to have Urethrostomy a year ago because he had stone in his little peepee he couldn’t pass and they couldn’t get it out. Well a year later we woke up from a nap and Max was shaking uncontrollably so I scooped him up and took him back to the ER . After a few different tests and few different Dr visits we were told he had more stones that needed to be removed and a liver shunt. So another surgery it is to fix his shunt. The Dr called and said he had a hard time finding Max’s shunt because it was in a very unusual place so he put what they call a circle to fix the shunt but the next morning I received a call saying Max health was descending! I was so upset, they suggested another surgery to remove the circle because he wasn’t able to digest his food … I was in disbelief this surgery was supposed to fix him and it nearly killed him so now you are telling me you have to take it out? So we did all this for nothing? I was devastated, so now they are suggesting him to be on medicine(which the dr said wasn’t really an option) and of course a special diet for the rest of his life because they couldn’t fix his shunt. I hope your baby’s worked for him….I’m going to pick Max up tmrw and we will see how he does..I need all the prayers for my little Maxi!!
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Hi Catherine,
Thank you for commenting about our Toby. Sadly, he lived a few more years after the surgery I wrote about and passed away at only 7 years old. The liver issues began to affect his kidneys and they began to shut down. Unfortunately prior to his final sickness, we had a distant family member feed him pure chicken and that lead to his death within a few weeks. We were devastated. We still are to be honest and it’s been gosh 5 years. It was a very difficult goodbye to that little love of our lives.
But for your Max, it sounds like you are on the right track with all the treatments and special foods he needs. Keep doing all you can for as long as you can and he may be able to live a long and happy life. I will pray for your special fur baby. Please let me know how things go for him. I really want to know. You are both in my prayers! 🙏🏻
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