Latte’s Very Bad Day

The evening of April 15, Latte was in distress. She was panting, bloated, and lying on her side in the dog run, in pain, and needing immediate medical help. Camille called our vet tech, Tabby, who rushed to the dog den.

Tabby recognized that Latte had GDV, or Gastric Dilatation-Volvulus, a life-threatening condition where the stomach fills with gas and twists, cutting off blood flow. It is often referred to as “bloat” and requires immediate veterinary attention. With Latte, stress likely played a part. She gets nervous, stressed, and anxious. In a home, we believe she’ll thrive, but here at the shelter, she struggles. On this day, her anxiety threatened her life.

At Ridgway Animal Hospital, Dr. Justin Green performed emergency surgery.

After surgery, Tabby and Camille drove Latte to Animal ER of the Western Slope in Grand Junction for overnight observation. That’s almost 4 hours of driving. Tabby and Camille got home at 1:00 in the morning.

Latte is back at the shelter, recovering well with the care and attention from our staff.

Latte is a two-year-old mixed-breed black dog who has been with us for 18 months. She came from a backyard where she was not given attention, love, or care. We’ve worked so hard to teach her to trust and love.

Her story was not going to end because she needed costly emergency surgery.

Donations will cover this emergency and replenish our veterinary fund for future emergencies.