Further Adventures of Spot the Dog -- Spot Dodges a Bullet

Spot the Dog came home from the Beer-Sheva Animal Hospital yesterday. He had vomited almost continuously on Shavuot, eventually having dry heaves.  His vet, Dr. Marganit Yaffah, diagnosed an enlarged and partially blocked gall bladder that had to come out if Spot was to survive more than a few weeks. Spot's gall bladder was removed on Monday by a colleague and friend of Dr. Marganit, an Israeli veterinary surgeon who specializes in abdominal surgery. Dr. Marganit didn't tell us that there was a 40% mortality risk from the surgery, which was probably just as well. But that risk mostly applies if there has been leakage into the abdominal cavity or if peritonitis has developed. Fortunately, we caught Spot's condition early, so he had none of these complications.

Spot the Dog recuperates at home from gall bladder surgery. (Click photos for full-size images)

We were surprised at how perky he was at the hospital, and at home he shows almost no ill effects from the surgery and is back to eating and drinking without any problems. The recuperative powers of animals are quite impressive. It looks like Spot the Dog dodged a bullet.

Beer-Sheva Animal Hospital

Coming out of the hospital we encountered a sheep that had lost its way, with no Abu BoPeep in sight. The hospital is situated all alone on a hill near Tel Sheva, the real original site of the biblical Beer-Sheva, surrounded by acres and acres of fields empty of everything except wild flowers. Tel Sheva itself is just visible from the hospital in the distance.

The Beer-Sheva Animal Hospital at the top of a hill surrounded by fields and wadis.

In the early spring the fields are full of beautiful wild flowers with large blooms, but latter in the season those wild flowers give way to weedy wild flowers which still have their own rugged beauty.

Early spring wild flowers surround the animal hospital

Late Spring weedy flowers surround the animal hospital, seen in the distance at the top of the hill.

The hospital was originally built in 1973, according to a man I talked to at the CafeNeto this week. At one time research on veterinary health was conducted there, but I do not know if that continues today. Although some of the buildings are starting to show their age, especially the outdoor pens that are no longer used, the building is well maintained. The staff is extremely pleasant and helpful, and almost all of them speak English, some fluently, including Dr. Marganit herself. If you need anything more than routine veterinary care in the south of Israel, this is the place to go.

Beer-Sheva Veterinary Hospital on Google Earth

Spot the Dog is Sick

Spot the Dog took ill on Erev Shavuot. He got a very upset tummy, such as he has never had before, and threw up all night and day during the holiday, until his poor tummy was empty and then he had the dry heaves. We took him to see his vet in Beer-Sheva on Thursday at the Beer-Sheva Veterinary Hospital at the Tel Sheva junction.

All the trees and bougainvillea were in bloom in the city, making for a colorful sight. The animal hospital stands outside Beer-Sheva at the top of a hill near open fields about a mile from Tel Sheva, the archeological site that marks the real ancient location of Beer-Sheva, not the tourist trap concocted in the Old City. It is a very pretty and bucolic place.




Spot sees Dr. Marganit (Daisy) Yaffa there. Dr. Marganit is a younger, tom-boyish version of Sigourney Weaver with her brunette hair pulled back in a no-nonsense pony-tail, green eyes, and sun-flecked complexion. She is also the best vet Spot has ever had. Spot has been here alot since we came to Israel, because he had an ulcerated cornea that Dr. Marganit had to operate on. Sometimes I can't tell if he's really sick or is just suffering from Münchausen syndrome by proxy.

In any case, this time Spot was really sick, although when we first arrived Dr. Marganit thought he was just suffering from "Garbageitis", the intestinal illness dogs sometimes get from picking up random scraps of food from off the ground. A blood test showed that some of his liver enzymes were 1000x higher than normal. An ultrasound scan of his tummy showed that his gall bladder, already somewhat enlarged in an earlier visit, was grossly distended with some kind of mucosy substance partially blocking the bile duct. Surgery to remove the gall bladder was called for if Spot is to survive. So, Dr. Marganit called a friend who is a specialist doggy abdominal surgeon. He is scheduled to remove Spot's gall bladder next Wednesday.

Spot's earlier ultrasound with enlarged gall bladder (center shadow)

Spot's ultrasound from Thursday, showing a grossly distended gall bladder (large, dark shadow in center).