Dory is a lovely 5 yr old British short haired cat who is normally very chatty and loving; she even follows her owners around the house just to be with them. She has a variety of meows depending on what she wants and will run to the front door like a dog to greet her owners as they arrive home.
She’d had a cough a few years ago which had responded to ongoing medication but essentially, she was a very well cat. However, Dory’s owner became very worried about her breathing recently. She was hiding under a chair and making “painful” noises so was rushed in and to see us .
Dory’s situation was quite critical; some tests were done but there was a high risk of making her worse is she was stressed in any way. She was hospitalised with medical support and made it through the night, however, there was only minimal improvement in her situation.
The decision was made to anaesthetise her so we could control her breathing then perform a CT scan to try to get to the bottom of the breathing issue. A Ct scanner uses x-rays taken 360 degrees around the body to “create slices” of x-ray images which give far more clarity than a plain x-ray image can. Once the data is captured, it can be manipulated to look at areas in all 3 dimensions which greatly enhances the interpretation of the pictures.
We were able to see very quickly that Dory had some major anatomical abnormalities with her chest and abdomen. The stomach, along with the spleen and pancreas, had found their way into the chest cavity through a small defect in the diaphragm.
This was made worse by the air which was being trapped in her stomach which was inflating like a balloon and squashing the lungs into a greatly restricted space. No wonder Dory was struggling to breath!
Vet Sarah Cameron spoke carefully with the owner and recommended emergency surgery to attempt to draw the stomach and associated organs back into the abdomen. We would then attempt to close the defect which had allowed the problem to occur in the first place. We knew there were risks but Dory’s only chance was with surgery. Sarah and I proceeded to open the abdomen where we were able to locate the small intestine emerging through a small hole in middle of the diaphragm. Using gentle traction, slowly but surely, the stomach emerged from the chest through a 15mm hole in the diaphragm. We proceeded to suture the hole before drawing all the air out from around the lungs allowing them to reinflate.
Dory recovered uneventfully and was much more comfortable that afternoon. She could breathe easily again and proceeded to eat and purr, and her “attitude” soon returned. After two nights in hospital with overnight nursing care she was strong enough to go home. Her owner is thrilled with her treatment and recovery as she is back to her chatty ways and “sassy” personality. She will even lie flat out on her back again which is her favourite sleeping position.
A big thankyou to her owners for allowing us to share Dory’s story and to Dory for being a great patient. Well done Dory!
High-tech Anaesthetic Machine at Bicester Vets
We have invested in an advanced anaesthetic machine which will help to make anaesthetising pets even safer
New CT Scanner Installation and Imaging
In February we had our final training ready for any patients needing this amazing form of advanced imaging
Jett’s Fractured Foot
When Jett was brought to the practice one Sunday in late January, his back foot was hugely swollen & painful
