Labrador Puppy with swollen belly

Question
Yesterday our 15 week old chocolate lab developed a swollen hard belly.

The vet stuck a tube down her throat and pumped her stomach, nothing to exciting.

Overnight she didnt improve and the vet felt she may have a twisted stomach that needed to be turned back. So he operated. Her stomach wasnt twisted (but the spleen had moved) but her stomach and bowel were both "not working"

He is suggesting Botulism (we live on a farm) or Ileus

My ignorant research suggests this is unlikely (she had no other symptoms that we observed)

What do you think?

Answer
Pretty hard for me to have any kind of opinion on this James. I sure hope that she survived. In any case, I think your vet did the right thing, however, it's a tough call when you get a case in like this and nothing seems to work right.

Botulism is a concern, as is clostridium bacteria which can make them bloat up like that really fast and is very common on farms. Botulism is a form of clostridium.

Here is an article on it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clostridium

There are not always a lot of symptoms with this type of bacteria until the dog reaches the critical state your dog is in.

I hope she is okay- you didn't say whether or not she made it. Please let me know and have some faith in your vet- he sounds like he is on the right track here.