Animal Victims of the Coronavirus Pandemic

Jun 7

Blog post by Dr. Paulina Czerska:

Although there is no medical evidence that pets and other animals can be infected by Covid- 19, they can still end up being victims of the pandemic.

For our own safety we cover our faces and hands with disposable masks and gloves but unfortunately not all of them go directly to the trash. Some end up lying on the streets and in our parks and can be easily picked up and even swallowed by our loved furry friends.

That's what happened to our patient Dobby. He is an older pug who has never been interested in biting or swallowing foreign objects in the past. When he started to have abdominal pain and severe vomiting, we didn't take ingested foreign body as first on the differential diagnosis list. However, when all blood parameters were normal, and Dobby was feeling worse and worse, we decided to perform a diagnostic imaging test. We started with an ultrasound which showed all organs in perfect shape (which was in line with what blood results told us), but in the cranial part of the duodenum we found something. This ‘something’ was blocking the ultrasound beam and gave us what is called an acoustics shadow. This is significant as it is what happens with all animals that have ingested a foreign body. Before the object, the duodenum lumen was dilated but behind it, was back to normal dimension. This is how we know a blockage has occurred.

To confirm our suspicions, we conducted an x-ray of Dobby's abdomen which didn't show any abnormalities in the bowels but when we sent Barium through him, we were left with no doubts that there was a partial blockage of the cranial part of the duodenum.

We performed a surgery called Enterotomy where we removed the foreign body from the duodenum. Upon closer inspection we found that what Dobby had ingested was a disposable glove.

Dobby's case teach us a few things. Firstly, that we have to take more responsibility of our waste, and how we dispose of it. In the process of protecting ourselves we can end up making our world more contaminated with plastic and other non-biodegradable materials when our planet is already struggling. Secondly, it teaches us about our diagnostic tools and how important is to combine them. It shows us how ultrasonography and x-rays compliment each other and how extremely lucky we are to be able to offer this service to our patients, therefore ensuring that we reach a diagnosis quicker.