“Scruffy" is an adorable, 6 year old mixed breed dog. He presented to our hospital late in the day with a 48 hour history of vomiting and diarrhea with mucus in the stool. He was shaking and obviously not himself. In addition, he was fairly dehydrated and had a high fever of 105.2 ( A normal for dogs is up to 102.5). Abdominal x-rays showed excess gas in the intestines, upon running blood work we were able to see that  he had a high white blood cell count. (fighting infection or disease) Based on these findings, we were concerned that Scruffy had either severe gastroenteritis (GI upset, inflammation of the stomach and intestines), or possibly a foreign body obstruction. Because he was so ill, we needed hospitalized him and placed him on antibiotics, pain medication, and a balanced intravenous electrolyte solution.

The next day “Scruffy” was much improved clinically--he was better hydrated, much more himself, and his fever was almost gone. However, he did not have much of an appetite. Unfortunately, on the following day, “Scruffy” continued to refuse to eat, and his fever began to climb again. Though we continued to be worried about a foreign body, the repeated x-rays did not show a definitive object, so we then performed a contrast study of the GI tract that we hoped would outline any areas of concern or possible obstruction. These results were, in fact, suspicious for a possible foreign body, so the decision was made to perform an exploratory surgery. Upon opening “Scruffy's" abdomen, we were shocked to find a broken wooden shish kabob skewer poking through his stomach and out into his abdominal cavity. It was protruding approximately 3 inches from his stomach wall and also piercing his upper intestines! 

Secondary to the punctures of the GI tract, we also found significant adhesions and peritonitis in the abdominal cavity. We flushed his abdomen repeatedly throughout the surgery using sterile saline laced with a cocktail of antibiotics, and we began the arduous task of repairing the rents in the stomach and intestine and breaking down the adhesions. The surgery was difficult on “Scruffy,” and we fought to maintain his blood pressure, tissue perfusion, blood oxygenation, and temperature throughout the procedure. He came off the table pale and weak, but we felt confident that we had done our very best with his surgery, and that the next challenge would be to successfully manage his post-operative period. We continued to closely monitor his vital signs, and when he failed to improve after recovering from anesthesia, we adjusted his IV fluid type and rate to support his pressure, and we later had to transfuse him with plasma to correct for protein loss that had occurred through his GI tract. After his surgery and subsequent transfusion, "Scruffy" began to slowly improve. In the following days, we were able to get his fever under control, and we continued to treat his pain and infection. Before long he was up and about and eating up a storm! “Scruffy” is now home with his owners, where they are keeping him far out of reach of the garbage can!

Getting into the garbage or eating inappropriate items is a common reason why dogs and cats present to the animal hospital for gastrointestinal upset. At Princeton Animal Hospital and Carnegie Cat Clinic, we see several cases of GI upset a day. While some cases can respond to symptomatic treatment, Scruffy's case illustrates that some may require aggressive intervention to return the pet to good health. Feel free to call us anytime regarding your pet’s health. See our web site for hours and more information: www.princetonvet.com