When dogs’ stomachs or intestinal tracts flip over, they suffer from a serious condition commonly referred to as bloat. These dogs have a short timeline before permanent and irreversible damage sets in, resulting in euthanasia. One week after recovering from bloat, K9 Ike was rushed to the MSU Veterinary Medical Center, where clinicians discovered his condition had gotten worse.

Ike began his journey to MSU while on assignment with Jeff Perryman in Georgia. Perryman is the program manager for the Special Response Team K9 Program of the US Department of Justice Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Special Operations Division. When he isn’t handling day-to-day operations and paperwork, Perryman and Ike will train or deploy with one of their five teams throughout the country to arrest violent criminals. Ike is 1 of only 10 dogs trained for this program throughout the United States.

In Georgia, Ike exhibited symptoms of gastric dilatation-volvulus, or “bloat.” This meant that Ike’s stomach had twisted, causing the organ to expand and build up pressure. Bloat is a life-threatening condition for dogs with serious complications such as shock, loss of blood flow, and rupture of the stomach wall.

Perryman was trained to relieve bloat by inserting a 14-gauge needle into Ike’s stomach to relieve the gas, but it was not effective. Perryman knew if Ike’s stomach had twisted, the blood supply was being cut off to Ike’s other organs, causing them to shut down. Perryman rushed Ike to a 24-hour clinic and a veterinary team corrected the torsion and secured it to help prevent future twisting. Perryman and Ike were able to return home to Michigan.

About one week later, Ike began vomiting at four o’clock in the morning. Perryman took Ike outside and found that Ike’s stool was full of blood, so he rushed Ike to the MSU Veterinary Medical Center’s Emergency and Critical Care Medicine team.

While Perryman was waiting for test results, Dr. Ari Jutkowitz happened to walk by. Perryman had worked with Dr. Jutkowitz when his first working dog named Boomer came into MSU with an auto-immune disease.

“I hadn’t seen Ari in 12 years, but we recognized each other quickly,” Perryman said. “Ari looked Ike over and immediately ordered an ultrasound.”

The ultrasound revealed that Ike’s entire digestive tract lacked blood flow, and Ike was diagnosed with mesenteric volvulus, which meant Ike’s entire intestinal tract had twisted. According to Dr. Jutkowitz, successful surgical management of this diagnosis is no guarantee. Many dogs are brought in too late and must be euthanized on the table as a result of non-viable (dead) bowel.  

“(Dr. Jutkowitz) knew what to do immediately,” Perryman said. “They rushed (Ike) into surgery.”

Perryman said Dr. Jutkowitz explaining that due to the severity of Ike’s condition, Ike did not have a good chance of survival.

“(I) just asked him to do what he could,” Perryman said.

Resident surgeons Dr. Andrew Armstrong and Dr. Krista Gazzola began operating on Ike while Dr. Jutkowitz and anesthetist Jennifer DeVoe worked to keep him alive. Against the odds, Ike pulled through and was admitted to the ICU for several days.

“The ICU people let me stay in his cage with him as much as I wanted, and sometimes through the night,” Perryman said. “It made us both feel better.”

Ike recovered slowly and was allowed to go home after a few days. One week later, Ike and Perryman returned to have Ike’s staples removed–and to drop off a special award.

“The award given to Ari and the staff is something our director, Tom Brandon, prepares for individuals who go above and beyond to help an agent,” Perryman explained. “They fly a full-sized flag at our headquarters in DC for a day in honor of the MSU vet personnel. Then they take down the flag, fold it neatly, and send it with a certificate of appreciation to the appropriate people. Our director also wrote Ari and the staff a very nice thank you note, thanking them for their help in saving Ike’s life.”