THEY ATE WHAT?

Editor's note: Eklin, is a high-technology company in digital radiography for the veterinary care market. The following x-rays are the winners of their "They Ate What?" contest. The contestants were not the pet owners themselves but the veterinary clinics and doctors who successfully treated the animals.

Reprinted with permission from the December 2005 issue of Veterinary Practice News.

Sent by: Robert Caliguiri, DVM, LaCrosse, Fla.

In 1986, a farmer approached Dr. Caliguiri with a pine snake that had two large lumps in it. “The farmer stated he routinely tossed old burned-out light bulbs from his chicken coop into his yard,” Caliguiri said. “The confused snake may have thought the bulbs were chicken eggs.” Caliguiri performed surgery to remove the bulbs. The snake recovered uneventfully and was released back into the wild.

Sent by: Rick Axelson, DVM, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

This pet toad presented after not eating for one week. A firm object was palpated. X-rays showed it to be a 7/8 inch-long bolt. “The owner was not aware of a missing bolt or how the toad would have got it—let alone why it would try to eat it in the first place,” Dr. Axelson said. Under general anesthetic, the mouth was opened and a hemostat was guided into the stomach with relative ease, Axelson said, and the bolt was carefully removed.

Sent by: Joan M. Schaeffler, DVM, Orinda, Calif.

Whitey, an 8-year-old neutered cat, was presented by owners as acting “strange”: he didn’t want to curl up on their laps and would hide under their bed. However, his appetite was normal and he otherwise seemed fine. Upon physical examination, Whitey was shown to resist extension of his neck. A radiograph of the ventral dorsal views was taken. “‘What is that?’ was the question I put to the owners,” Dr. Schaeffler said. “They recognized their wire candle lighter that had been missing.” A routine gastrotomy was performed and Whitey made an uneventful recovery. The owners framed the candle lighter, Schaeffler said.

Sent by: Raj Singh, DVM, Sunnyvale Veterinary Clinic Inc., Sunnyvale, Calif.

“A 7-year-old female domestic shorthair cat presented for anorexia, lethargy, falling over, running into walls toward her right side and tilting her head to the right for two days,” Dr. Singh said. Radiographs revealed a 3 cm sewing needle in the caudal oral pharynx penetrating the left bulla. The patient was anesthetized and the needle was exteriorized from the granuloma and removed. On examination 12 days later, the patient had completely recovered, Singh said.

Sent by: Melanie J. Prewett, DVM, Rogers Ave. Animal Clinic Inc., Fort Smith, Ariz.

After presenting with 18 hours of lethargy and a distended abdomen, a radiograph showed that Sampson, a 1-year-old neutered Labrador, had ingested 14 golf balls. A gastrotomy was performed and Sampson made an uneventful recovery.

Sent by: Heidi Britt-Sherrock, DVM, Indianapolis Veterinary Emergency Center

After vomiting 16 pounds of rocks, Sam, a 1-year-old boxer who was kept in a rock-floored kennel during daytime, was brought to the Indianapolis Veterinary Emergency Center. After palpation and radiographs, the owner consented to surgery, which resulting in the removal of 208 1-to-3 inch rocks. Today, Sam is reportedly doing fine.

Sent by: William J. Edkin, VMD, Hempfield Animal Hospital, Lancaster, Pa.

An anxious owner brought in Chloe, a 7-month-old pug, after suspecting the dog had eaten her 2-carat diamond. Radiographs revealed a gem-shaped foreign body in Cloe’s stomach. The stone was recovered after several attempts to induce vomiting with apomorphine in the conjunctival sac.

Sent by: Karen J. Griffis, DVM, High Springs, Fla.

A 27-pound pitbull-mix puppy presented with lethargy, anorexia and vomiting. A radiograph revealed an 11-inch steak knife spanning the length of the dog’s abdomen and thorax. The knife was gently negotiated out of the esophagus via a gastrotomy incision. The dog wanted to eat and play the next day.

Sent by: Eric Christensen, DVM, Nancy Darby, DVM, Murray Hill Veterinary Associates, New Providence, New Jersey

Cooper, a 135-pound 8-year-old Chesapeake Bay retriever, presented with 36 to 48 hours of innappatence and watery, black stool. Radiographs showed a “markedly distended stomach filled with radio-opague debris.” A gastronomy was performed and 17 brillo pad, remnants of an Asian stir fry, several wine corks and a variety of candy wrappers were removed.

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Reprinted with permission from the December 2005 issue of Veterinary
Practice News. www.vetpracticenews.com