The patient here is a 3 y.o. FN mini Schnauzer with bilateral ureteral calculi and plasma urea >40 mmol/L, creatinine 500umol/L. This patient very likely had pyelonephritis (UTI is present in something like 80% of dogs with ureteral calculi…much more so than in cats) although she lacked signs of sepsis. The interesting thing is … Continue reading
I am starting to think that examination of the neck might be a useful part of the routine sonographic examination for cats and dogs: especially in complex cases. In addition to those with sepsis, foreign bodies, thyroid disease, lymphadenopathy or salivary gland changes, patients with impaired oesophageal function are sometimes picked up. Some animals with … Continue reading
Sand impaction has been described in a small number of dogs: J Small Anim Pract. 2010 Jan;51(1):29-33Sand impaction of the small intestine in eight dogs.Moles AD1, McGhite A, Schaaf OR, Read R. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20137006 In all of those dogs, impaction in the ileum proximal to the ileo-caeco-colic junction was documented and thought to be the principal … Continue reading
I guess we know that hypoadrenocorticism (both ‘typical’ and ‘atypical’) is associated with gastrointestinal signs including ulceration. I’ve not managed to find a completely convincing pathophysiological explanation of the mechanism for this. However, I just wanted to share a couple of sonographic images of the stomach wall in addisonian dogs. They can be really striking. … Continue reading
Gabepentin is an enormously useful drug to facilitate ultrasonography in cats. I’m sure most of you are aware of this by now but it’s worth publicising a little more because, to get best effect, the use of gabapentin needs to be planned in advance of the day of scanning. J Am Vet Med Assoc. … Continue reading
In human medicine concepts in sepsis have evolved. SIRS: In 2016, a new consensus termed Sepsis-3 removed the concept of SIRS from the sepsis definition and replaced it with the SOFA (Sequential [Sepsis-Related] Organ Failure Assessment) score. The Third International Consensus Definitions for Sepsis and Septic Shock (Sepsis-3). JAMA. 2016; 315(8):801-10 (ISSN: 1538-3598) Singer M; … Continue reading
Almost the most frequent presenting problem we see in our sonography practice is canine acute abdomen. And perhaps, more specifically, acute vomiting which fails to resolve within a couple of days supportive care. The bottom line for these is ‘does this dog need surgery or will it resolve with supportive care’. If you can see … Continue reading
A while ago I wrote a post reporting cases of dogs with a history of pancreatitis who have multiple apparently cystic lesions within their hepatic and pancreatic lymph nodes. Cavitated hepatic lymph nodes associated with previous pancreatitis in dogs Obviously association is not necessarily causation. However, my impression is that the association is strong … Continue reading
Although this may not be a big surprise I can’t find any published accounts specifically documenting this phenomenon. The first case involves a 5 year-old MN Shih-tsu presented on account of haematuria. There was no history of preceding signs suggesting hepatic encephalopathy. No urinary abnormalities were identified on abdominal ultrasound. However, an extra-hepatic shunt vessel … Continue reading
This is poor Paddy: presented with several day hunched attitude, apparent abdominal pain, stiff gait, unwilling to move. His routine haematology and biochemistry are pretty unremarkable. Same goes for thoracic and abdominal ultrasound except that his left adrenal is only 2.5mm wide at maximum. And his heart is looking a little … Continue reading
