Recently, however, I was presented with Monty who appeared
to fall into the category of "obstruction" since
he was very miserable, had been vomiting and was only 2
years old. Unfortunately, the radiograph did not demonstrate
any build up of gas and I began to wonder whether I was
"barking up the wrong tree"!
Careful palpation of "Monty's" abdomen whilst
sedated continued to suggest to me that there was an abnormal
swelling present. This can however be very subjective as
the abdomen contains many structures which can easily be
misinterpreted as abnormal. It then becomes a judgement
call, "to explore or not to explore" that is the
question!
Whilst the weight of evidence was not overwhelming I decided
to rely on my "gut" instincts and open "Monty"
up and take a look inside. Fortunately, for "Monty"
this was the right option for sure enough there was a foreign
body causing a considerable amount of bruising and damage
which I was able to remove successfully. And the reason
why the gas was not building up behind the obstruction was
because it was a hollow piece of tubing..........through
which the gas escaped!
Terry
Dunne BVMS, Cert SAO, MRCVS
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