Once Bear was in our care, we rushed him into our vet - as it was quite apparent this little guy was in a extraordinary amount of pain.

We did further x-rays and an ultra sound to try to determine where, if any the blockage was. His little tummy was so full of gas, and was rock hard. He had bloated, and while he had waited for help to come, his stomach torsed (twisted out of place).

In an adult dog, this would surely be a death sentence, and a very painful one at that. But puppies are more resilient, their intestines are still developing, and because of that Bear lived, though with a great deal of pain.

An exploratory surgery was done immediately, and after working out all the gas and flipping the stomach the right way, a procedure was preformed called "belt loop gastropexi - gold standard", which basically means that they have stitched the stomach to the abdominal wall.

While it would be pretty impossible for his stomach to ever torse again, Bear could (like all dogs) still suffer from bloat in the future. So it will be imperative to keep Bear dewormed on a regular basis, and always, always be cautious of exercise before or after meals. Something that we should ALL be aware of with larger dogs.

While the vet was in there, he was able to take a look at Bear's pancreas, and was surprised to see the size of it. In fact, he said it was the smallest pancreas he had ever seen. This means that Bear will need added digestive enzymes added to his diet.

Because we feed a raw diet, and always tend to err more on the holistic side of things, we have chosen to supplement with pork pancreas. While not cheap, a very little bit goes a long way.

Bear was SO emaciated when he came into our care, his bones jutted out everywhere. With a new and healthy diet, excellent medical care, and a ton of love, Bear is well on his way to a very healthy boy!