The golden retriever
White wispy patches in the ventral lung lobes (air bronchograms}: indicative of bronchopneumonia.
Romeo came in on labour Day as a 3 month young golden retriever puppy. He was extremely lethargic and running a high temperature of 41o C. He had thick green nasal discharge flowing out from his nostrils. Romeo only received his first 2 vaccinations; as such. canine distemper virus is a highly possible suspicion. We tested him negative for distemper. When we
examined him, he had rapid, shallow breathing and his lung sounds were louder than normal. His chest xrays were taken to help us in diagnosis.
Romeo’s outlook did not look favourable. He was hospitalized and treated for 1 week. He bounced back from lateral recumbency to being an active, bouncy puppy once again! He was then sent home to be medicated. Fortnightly rechecks helped us ensure that Romeo was improving in the right direction. Romeo recovered very well. On his 8th week recheck, another xray is taken to determine improvement on his lung lobes. Guess what we found?!?!?!
Metal objects appear white on the x-rays
Upon seeing the xray. his owner then remembered that his rings went missing few weeks ago but he never noticed Romeo eating random objects! A surgery was carried out to make an incision in his stomach. 2 gold rings (can you make out the dragon head in the xray?), medicine foil, plastic plant stalks, metal rods, wire, dried leaves and stalks were retrieved! They were tangled in a mess in the stomach. It is a wonder that this foreign body mass had not caused any obstruction yet! Romeo recovered uneventfully. He even defecated out multiple Styrofoam bits, medicine foil and a metallic rod the next day.
Romeo is truly a GOLDEN RETRIEVER!
Romeo’s story provides a few important lessons:
- Bring your new puppy for a vet check to ensure he is in good health
- Vaccinations are essential to immunise your pets against deadly viruses such as distemper and parvovirus
- Keep foreign objects out of your pet’s reach if they have any tendency to swallow them.
