.png)
Pet Imaging Centre (PICs)
.png)
6 BROOKS AVE Wyoming 2250. Ph 4329 0500
MENU
Please consider Pet Insurance while your pet is healthy & phone for advice on your options.
.jpg)
Lucky LOUIE the POODLE - checks himself in for a vet!
Toby the Corgi (Louie's playmate) was going to the vets for his routine annual heartworm injection. Luckily, 9yr old Louie jumped in the car himself, so the Grandma-Taxi service allowed him to accompany Toby to the vets ......Then read about Louie's sudden change of events - EMERGENCY CT, Blood Transfusion, midnight marathon surgery- to remove a 1.5kg abdominal mass the size of a rock melon and his spleen. Louie knew what he was doing when he snuck into the car !!!
Over several months he had a very occassional vomit, otherwise he looked well. He was more quiet recently. The vets could feel a hard mass in the right cranial abdomen. His gums were pale & he had a fever. Blood testing confirmed he was very anaemic. A CT of his abdomen and chest was performed within 2 hours of presentation to the Central Coast Vet Centre-Wyoming. Due to the seriousness, a radiology specialist had already sent through a report within the hour. The CT scan showed a large splenic mass over 20cm in diameter, splenic lymphadenopathy, mild free abdominal fluid, but with no evidence of liver or lung mets (cancer spread) and no evidence of a mass within the right atrium of the heart. Our major concern was that this could be a cancer (hemangiosarcoma), and associated hemoabdomen with possible metastatic spread to regional (splenic) lymph nodes, or seeding of the surrounding peritoneum. We did not have time to sample the lymph nodes & wait for pathology, or sample the splenic mass, as chances of seeding, rupture & sudden death were very likely.
The dedicated owners chose immediate emergency surgery, and understood they would only find out later if it was cancer or not. It was now around 7.30pm. First a blood transfusion was required in order to survive the anaesthetic & surgery. They understood the risk of the mass rupturing at any time, before or during the surgery. The Central Coast Vet Centre's large sister hospital at North Wyong had a perfect donor. Permission to donate blood was obtained to hopefully save a pet's life. They did not know who was to be save, but tonight it was lucky Louie! The blood transfusion was successful, the general anaesthetic proceeded . The surgery took 1 & 1/2 hours just to remove the mass and spleen, a second hour to check, tidy and close. At midnight the owner was informed that the surgery had been a success. Louie moved to ICU for overnight monitoring with one of the vets. The entire mass and spleen were sent for histopathology. Louie remained on a constant rate iv infusion of pain relief / medications & in a serious condition for a further 24 hours. The next morning he was lifting his head ok, by the afternoon he could stand by himself. The next day he could walk without assistance and by the 3 and 4th day he started to be naughty and demanding longer walks & jumping! On the 4th day blood test pathology results returned with a problem. The anaemia was non-regenerative (he body was making no effort in replacing its red blood cells). The white blood cell count (WBC) was still high 33.7 (normal 6-14), it was hoped this would decrease and was just secondary to bone marrow stimulation. The histopathology report on the mass returned - it stated "Please note, specimen fragmented upon removal from jar"- which meant it had ruptured on being touched! Thank goodness that had not happened in surgery.
DIAGNOSIS -SPLENIC NODULAR LYMPHOID HYPERPLASIA WITH HAEMATOMA - which is a benign lesion (non cancer) in the spleen of some dogs. These nodules are usually up to 2 cm but may be 5 cm or more and in rare cases may rupture leading to haemorrhage and in our case a massive haematoma formation. It was just held in by the capsule of the spleen. So this was miracle news for the vets and the owners, after everyone's effort. On the 6th day post surgery, his blood results finally made a drastic change for the better. His aneamia was now strongly regenerative so his body kicked in to make new red blood cells. The white blood cell count dropped back from 33.7 to 11.4 (normal 6-14)
Summary of result- mass was removed and benign, the lymph nodes should settle down and his bloods are correcting themselves. It looks like Louie was cured and currently the owners report a hard time keeping him quiet and he is like a new dog. He will have future blood tests before a final all clear is given, but he is looking bright, and a whole lot lighter!!
Summary of result- mass was removed and benign, the lymph nodes should settle down and his bloods are correcting themselves. It looks like Louie was cured and currently the owners report a hard time keeping him quiet and he is like a new dog. He will have future blood tests before a final all clear is given, but he is looking bright, and a whole lot lighter!!
Louie has a special thanks to his Grandma carer for transport to the vets that day! Pet Imaging Centre (PICS) in conjunction with the official CENTRAL COAST VET CENTRE (North Wyong & Wyoming)
PET IMAGING CENTRE (PICs) / CCVC (02) 43 29 0500PICs CCVC 6 Brooks Avenue, Wyoming, NSW 2250, AUSTRALIA