This is Otto, a four year old Golden Doodle. Otto was brought to Sault Ste. Marie Animal Clinic when his owners noticed he wasn’t acting like his normal, happy, doodle self. He had no interest in eating, he was vomiting and he was acting very lethargic. On physical exam, Otto was clearly not himself; he was dehydrated and there was an abnormal area on abdominal palpation. He was admitted to the hospital to be started on IV fluids and to have blood tests and x-rays performed to try and determine the cause of his tummy ache. We suspected that Otto had eaten something that he shouldn’t have so we were concerned that he could have a foreign body (something causing an intestinal blockage), an intussusception (when a section of bowel telescopes on itself) or pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas) – all of which are potentially very serious and need medical or surgical treatment.
The initial blood work confirmed that Otto was dehydrated and that he had lost electrolytes from vomiting. The x-rays did not show an obvious foreign body such as a coin, stone or ball but there was a questionable area in the region where the small intestine meets the large intestine. After discussing the results with Otto’s owners, we recommended that Otto undergo exploratory surgery.
Otto was given an anesthetic, his abdomen was clipped then scrubbed with antiseptic and he was taken into surgery. Dr. Palmer made a 15cm long incision into Otto’s abdomen and from there it didn’t take long to find a very abnormal area of intestine – the last 20 cm of the small intestine and first 20 cm of the large intestine were swollen and inflamed.
An incision was made into the large intestine and a cloth like material was found inside – it turns out Otto had swallowed a large piece of a terry cloth towel! Otto sxThe towel was successfully removed and the incisions were sutured (sewn) closed. Otto was given antibiotics and pain killers then woken up from the anesthetic.
By the next day, Otto was up and around and clearly feeling better – he even ate the small meals he was offered throughout the day. By two days later, Otto was feeling well enough to go home. He was sent with medications and a special diet to help calm his stomach and digestive tract.
By the time Otto came back to have his stitches removed two weeks later, his owners reported that he was back to his normal, happy go lucky doodle self!
Find more stories about patients treated at Sault Ste. Marie Animal Clinic by reading Oscar’s Success Stories.