Occasionally, working here at the vets, we come
across unusal illnesses and problems. We would like to share with you
one particluar case that we saw recently here at Purton. George
is 4yr old Boxer who has been a regular visitor to our practice since 2005.
Most of his visits are for routine treatment as he is a fun loving,
bouncy dog. His endless energy is not reduced by a few small problems like itchy
skin, for which he needs regular injections to control his allergies, or high
blood pressure needing regular checks and blood pressure pills.
One
of the recurring worries George has caused his owners over the years has been
having a dodgy stomach. He would come
into the surgery and they would report that George would vomit from time to time,
especially in the mornings.
As this has been a recurring problem for George, he
has had many investigations to try to resolve the problem but just when we thought
we had reached the stage where he might need to have x-rays taken or more
invasive investigation like endoscopy (putting a camera in his stomach) the
vomiting would stop for a while. This has caused the vet and his owners to rub
their heads and put the intermittent problem down to Dad spoiling George by
slipping him the odd treat that did not agree with him!
As this has been a recurring problem for George, he
has had many investigations to try to resolve the problem but just when we thought
we had reached the stage where he might need to have x-rays taken or more
invasive investigation like endoscopy (putting a camera in his stomach) the
vomiting would stop for a while. This has caused the vet and his owners to rub
their heads and put the intermittent problem down to Dad spoiling George by
slipping him the odd treat that did not agree with him!
Unexpectedly
George developed a lump on his chest. This concerned is owners who brought him
into the surgery to have it checked out. During his visit the vet took a small
sample of cells from the lump using a small needle. This enabled the vet to
look at the cells through a microscope and diagnose what might be causing the
lump. These results meant that the lump needed removal.
Georges'
worried owners brought him in to the surgery for his operation. Due to the type
of lump that George had, once he had been aneasthetised, we took an x-ray of his
chest to check for any further lumps that might be causing George a problem
that we didn't know about. The good news was that the xrays all look fine and
healthy, but imagine our surprise when we spotted something odd in his stomach that
caught the eye of the nurses and vets. It
was obvious from the xray that George had an object in his stomach that needed removing.
A phone call was made to his owner, who agreed to the surgery being performed
to remove the object from Georges' stomach. We were unsure of what it was right
up until the moment we removed during surgery. Much to the amazement of the
clinical staff a plastic toy hammer head was removed! It was about 3 or 4inches
across!
We knew George had a healthy appetite, but this was a surprise!
Georges'
worried owners brought him in to the surgery for his operation. Due to the type
of lump that George had, once he had been aneasthetised, we took an x-ray of his
chest to check for any further lumps that might be causing George a problem
that we didn't know about. The good news was that the xrays all look fine and
healthy, but imagine our surprise when we spotted something odd in his stomach that
caught the eye of the nurses and vets. It
was obvious from the xray that George had an object in his stomach that needed removing.
A phone call was made to his owner, who agreed to the surgery being performed
to remove the object from Georges' stomach. We were unsure of what it was right
up until the moment we removed during surgery. Much to the amazement of the
clinical staff a plastic toy hammer head was removed! It was about 3 or 4inches
across!
We knew George had a healthy appetite, but this was a surprise!
His
owners think that George must have swallowed the object before they got him 3
yrs ago as they do not let him chew objects like this one. That explains
Georges' intermittent vomiting!!
Map