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Considering how bad Charlie was feeling,
we suggested and exploratory surgery as soon possible.
The owners authorized the surgery and we prepared Charlie by
inserting an IV catheter, giving fluids, antibiotics and pain
medications. We did routine pre op blood tests which
showed an elevated white blood count compatible with stress or
infection. At this point, we were worried about a possible
perforation of the intestines.
We placed Charlie under
anesthesia, prepped him for surgery and began our exploratory.
As we opened the abdomen,
we could see that the intestines were bunched up close to the
stomach. We could feel something in the stomach and when
we opened it, we found a large piece of a towel.
When we tried to extract it from the stomach, we found that part
of the towel had entered the intestine, and was stuck there.
This thin piece of the towel acted as a "linear foreign body".
As it moved down the intestines, the intestines, because of
their constant peristaltic motion, "climbed" up the string.
As this continues, the string cuts into the intestine, much in
the way a piece of wire can be used to cut cheese.
You can see how thightly compressed the intestines were in the
photo below.
Since this had been going
on for a number of days, the intestines, which were bunched up
on the string appeared non viable. As a result, we had to
excise that piece of intestine and reattach (anastamose) the
healthy intestine back to the stomach. Fortunately,
we did not have to sacrifice the portion of the intestine which
contains the pancreatic and bile ducts. The surgery went
smoothly and Charlie recovered steadily over the next few days.
Despite losing 2 feet of intestines, Charlie has every
expectation of living a normal life.
Cloth, string, carpet,
thread, fishing line, tinsel and ribbons are some of the
most dangerous foreign bodies that pets can swallow. The
action of the intestines bunching up on the string frequently
leads to perforations and peritonitis. Charlie is 6
years old and had no history of every swallowing things around
the house. This shows us that any pet is liable to ingest
things regardless of their history. So we must always be
vigilant about leaving things around the house.
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Charlie is a 6 year old terrier mix who presented to us with a 3
day history of not eating, drooling and vomiting. According to his
owners, Charlie had had no exposure to any drugs or toxins that they
knew of. He is a predominantly indoor dog and has had no history
of digestive problems. He is fed a commercial diet and no treats
or human food. Because of the three day history, the owners had
taken him to the emergency clinic to be evaluated. Radiographs
were taken there and deemed to be normal. Charlie was given
symptomatic care consisting of anti-vomiting medication and stomach acid
reducers.
