Dash is my first dog as an adult. He is a 10yr old black and tan mini short haired Dachshund. I always felt there was something special about Dash. He is very vocal and has a way of easily communicating with anyone. He is so easy to read and has a unique, quirky character haha!
Everyone who meets him instantly falls in love with him and despite the rough times he has gone through medically, especially this year, he has shown and incredible amount of resilience which is something we all love about dogs… their zest for life as well as their unconditional love.
Dash vomited about 10times throughout the morning which included small vomits of some stomach bile and white foam. He was not himself and refused to eat. He experienced this a couple times before and usually a course of antibiotics fixes it. He had some and was good for a couple of days but then went off his food again and was off personality wise for a day or so.
He an ultrasound and it was assumed he had a UTI. He was placed on IV fluids and an anti-nausea. He perked up again for a couple days and was eating and himself but then for a third time stopped eating and again was not himself and looking off and couldnt sit still for long. I was emotionally drained and the vet bills were piling up at the local vet with no real answer. THANK GOD I decided it was time to take him to SASH to get real answers, and I got him there just in time before things could have become fatal.
He had an ultrasound within a few hours which revealed a foreign object lodged in his intestine and had begun to rupture and cause blood poisoning. SASH saved his life for the 4th time in his entire life.
Sometimes it just takes specialists to really get to the bottom of potentially life threatening situations. Dash was just extremely lucky to have survived so long with an obstruction until he got to SASH. He recovered remarkably well for 4 days but I was aware the risk period post intestinal surgery was day 3-5 so I request he stay for full 5 days VS picking him up on day 3. On the 4th day he had to go back in for his second intestinal surgery due to leakage at the original surgery site. SASH saved his life AGAIN. and thankfully… the second time around he made a full recovery and we just celebrated his 10th Christmas and it will certainly be a happy new year 🙂
I am happy to report the entire SASH hospital was behind little Dash. Little did I know, everyone else also thinks there’s something special about Dash and he certainly is unique! Because Dash unfortunately spent around 2 whole weeks at SASH, he got to know the amazing staff very well. He had 3 lovely ICU specialist vets Amy, Adelina and I think it was Erin who looked after him during their shifts and they did so well to inform each other of his current status. Erin of course was very sad to see Dash still in ICU when she returned for her shift the following week when he was supposed to have gone home! But she showed him extra love and care <3
Vet surgeon Tristram has a big soft spot for Dash. He performed 2 liver surgeries on Dash within 24hrs back in June and within 4 days performed 2 emergency intestinal surgeries. Tristram cares for Dash so much, that he insisted on coming in at 10pm on a Friday night on his day off work to perform the second surgery. Tristram mentioned the anaesthetist Emma has a dachshund and she absolutely loves spending time with Dash and has a soft spot for him.
Adelina also secretly mentioned he was a favourite among the ICU nurses!
When I brought Dash in for his follow up 2 weeks post surgery the receptionist yelled out “Dash! Its so good to see you!” And when Dash was discharged a different receptionist said “It wont be the same without him… he’s like a part of the furniture”. And Tristram said at his post surgery check that everyone knows Dash at SASH and you dont even have to mention his last name… just say Dash and everyone knows who your talking about.
I’m so glad he was able to touch so many hearts and cannot thank the staff enough for making him feel at home during such a tough time for him. He means the world to me and my husband. SASH has saved Dash’s life so many times. We live around 2hrs away from SASH and we are moving back to Sydney in 2024 and one of the top reasons why, is because of the high level of care we know SASH can provide Dash as he gets older and how being closer to SASH in an emergency could be the different between life and death moving forward. It would be amazing if SASH could open a hospital in the Illawarra as I think we only currently have 1 emergency vet hospital 🙂
