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Foreign Body Friday: Edith’s Story

Posted on by Fenton River Veterinary Hospital

Edith is an 8-year-old cat that presented for vomiting the weekend before Christmas. She had gotten into the owner’s craft room and possibly may have gotten into some yarn. Upon physical exam a yarn string was found stuck around her tongue. Dr. Brown took x-rays and confirmed a linear foreign body. A linear foreign body is different than a regular object that gets stuck in the intestines.

If a string gets caught in the intestines, it causes the intestines to “bunch up” and as it gets tighter it starts to actually saw through the intestinal lining causing perforations. If you can, imagine a drawstring on a pair of shorts being pulled really tight and the waist band becomes bunched up. This was evident on the x-rays, where you can see a “string of pearls” appearance to the intestines, which is often diagnostic of a linear foreign body. The string was present through the entire GI tract, all the way from the tongue to the colon. Based on the x-rays and finding the string on exam Dr. Morey performed emergency surgery. In the video, it’s evident how tightly bunched the intestines were during surgery. In order to get it out safely, multiple enterotomies had to be made into the intestines. If you just pull it out through 1 hole, it will slice right through the inside of the intestines.

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What we do is thread a red rubber catheter and slide it over the thread and down to the next location to cut open. This allows us to safely slide the thread out without causing more damage. Fortunately, there were no perforations through the intestines, but it was very close!

Edith recovered very well from surgery, although she did stay with us through Christmas until she was eating well on her own again. She’s doing very well and hopefully she learned to not play with yarn!!

Fenton River Surgical Procedures

Our animal hospital provides the following surgical procedures at our hospital for small animals:

  • General Surgery:  General (or soft tissue) surgery is associated with the skin and tissue. Soft tissue surgery includes tumor removal, cystotomy, intestinal foreign body removal, splenectomy, C-section, spay/neuter, and more.
  • Orthopedic Surgery:  Surgery for a variety of orthopedic surgeries for various injuries and musculoskeletal conditions, including cruciate ligament surgery, meniscus repair, hip surgery (FHO), fracture repair, amputation, patella luxations, oral mandibulofacial surgery.
  • Dental Surgery: We perform some types of dental surgery such as tooth extraction, oral tumor removal, and fracture repair.
  • Ophthalmic (eye) surgery
  • Emergency Surgery: Typical emergency surgeries we perform are wound repair, laceration repair, and foreign object removal.
  • Biopsies

If you have any specific questions regarding our surgical procedures, please call us at 860-870-8701.

Fenton River Veterinary Hospital
9 Fieldstone Commons, Tolland, CT 06084
(860) 870-8701

Foreign Body Friday: Axel’s Story

Posted on by Fenton River Veterinary Hospital

Foreign Body Friday Episode 2

Axel is a 9-month old English Bulldog who presented to Dr. Brown on emergency one night for vomiting.  Dr. Brown performed a physical exam and decided to take x-rays.  He found a small wire in the colon along with a possible gastric foreign body in the stomach.  He was treated medically with the intention to perform a barium series the next morning.  Axel came back the next day for re-evaluation by Dr. Schlecker for the potential gastric foreign body.  Dr. Schlecker administered barium, a bright, contrast agent that we use to help determine flow through the GI tract and also to highlight foreign bodies.  In the first set of x-rays taken after the barium was administered, nothing obvious is seen.  However, we take x-rays every 15-30 minutes after the barium is given to see how things are moving.  At 1 hour and 15 minutes into the barium, a circular foreign body is evident on the x-ray in the stomach.  Based on these findings, Dr. Scott Morey performed an exploratory surgery.

After a complete exam of the entire abdominal cavity he only found foreign bodies in the stomach.  The stomach was exteriorized and packed off, an incision was made and multiple objects were removed, including a water bottle cap, which is what was seen in the x-rays.  The stomach was closed, the abdomen was flushed and Axel was treated medically following surgery.  Since we were also still concerned about the wire we found the night before, we took x-rays of Axel’s feces and were able to confirm that he passed the wire!

This case involved teamwork between 3 of our Doctors and a series of diagnostics to confirm that surgery was in fact indicated.  Kudos to Dr. Brown for sensing that something wasn’t right with his stomach in the original x-rays.  Axel recovered well and is doing great!

Fenton River Surgical Procedures

Our animal hospital provides the following surgical procedures at our hospital for small animals:

  • General Surgery:  General (or soft tissue) surgery is associated with the skin and tissue. Soft tissue surgery includes tumor removal, cystotomy, intestinal foreign body removal, splenectomy, C-section, spay/neuter, and more.
  • Orthopedic Surgery:  Surgery for a variety of orthopedic surgeries for various injuries and musculoskeletal conditions, including cruciate ligament surgery, meniscus repair, hip surgery (FHO), fracture repair, amputation, patella luxations, oral mandibulofacial surgery.
  • Dental Surgery: We perform some types of dental surgery such as tooth extraction, oral tumor removal, and fracture repair.
  • Ophthalmic (eye) surgery
  • Emergency Surgery: Typical emergency surgeries we perform are wound repair, laceration repair, and foreign object removal.
  • Biopsies

If you have any specific questions regarding our surgical procedures, please call us at 860-870-8701.

Fenton River Veterinary Hospital
9 Fieldstone Commons, Tolland, CT 06084
(860) 870-8701

Foreign Body Friday: Bodi’s Story

Posted on by Fenton River Veterinary Hospital

Foreign Body Friday Episode 1

Bodi is a sweet, 7 month-old American Pit Bull Terrier who presented to Dr. Schlecker for acute onset of vomiting and pain. Now, Bodi has 5 young human siblings at home, so he has plenty of opportunities to get into mischief. Based on his history and exam findings, an x-ray was ordered.

We immediately found significant gas distention of the small intestine and multiple visible foreign bodies. Dr. Scott Morey performed emergency surgery and during the exploratory we found a single gastric (stomach) foreign body along with an obstructive foreign body in the small intestines.

A gastrotomy revealed a Mickey Mouse shaped object which was too large to move any further in his GI tract. The stomach was then closed and flushed and the intestine was then exteriorized and an enterotomy was performed revealing a very unique “duck unicorn”! The intestines were closed, flushed and Bodi was treated medically following the surgery.

He recovered well and we hope learned his lesson on what not to eat!

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Fenton River Surgical Procedures

Our animal hospital provides the following surgical procedures at our hospital for small animals:

  • General Surgery:  General (or soft tissue) surgery is associated with the skin and tissue. Soft tissue surgery includes tumor removal, cystotomy, intestinal foreign body removal, splenectomy, C-section, spay/neuter, and more.
  • Orthopedic Surgery:  Surgery for a variety of orthopedic surgeries for various injuries and musculoskeletal conditions, including cruciate ligament surgery, meniscus repair, hip surgery (FHO), fracture repair, amputation, patella luxations, oral mandibulofacial surgery.
  • Dental Surgery: We perform some types of dental surgery such as tooth extraction, oral tumor removal, and fracture repair.
  • Ophthalmic (eye) surgery
  • Emergency Surgery: Typical emergency surgeries we perform are wound repair, laceration repair, and foreign object removal.
  • Biopsies

If you have any specific questions regarding our surgical procedures, please call us at 860-870-8701.

Fenton River Veterinary Hospital
9 Fieldstone Commons, Tolland, CT 06084
(860) 870-8701