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Scout's Scary Snack

    

Meet Scout!


Scout has always led a charmed life. She loves nothing more than sniffing and tasting almost everything to see what it might be like. Despite the risks she has skated through 8 years with nothing more than the odd tummy upset.

Scout’s owner became worried when she was off her food for a day (very unusual for Scout) and became very slow and lethargic. She went off to the vets at CARE where she was put on supportive fluids and pain control for her very sore tummy. Blood tests immediately revealed that Scout was likely suffering from acute liver damage, with her liver enzyme ALT breaking the machine at over 35,000.

By then, Scout was an unhappy puppy requiring treatment for constant regurgitation and abdominal pain. To make matters worse, Dr Kate noticed that Scout’s blood clotting function was deteriorating rapidly, with severely elevated clotting times. She was on supporting fluids, pain control and Acetylcysteine to help the liver de-toxify as well as lots of anti nausea medication.

Dr Christine our ECC Specialist was in Sweden at the Euro Conference at the time, but on the phone to the owner and the ECC team during this critical time. There are few things that can cause this much hepatic injury this quickly- the list includes Death cap Mushroom toxicity. These mushrooms are usually deadly to dogs. They grow under Oak trees and smell like rotting fish when they are getting old- so attractive to a suck-it-and-see dog like Scout.

Christine and a growing pack of European Specialists felt it was time to act. Death cap toxin concentrates in the gall bladder,  and the only life- saving option in most cases is to drain all the bile from the gall bladder.

This is done by Ultrasound guided centesis, where a needle is guided through the skin and into the gall bladder. Because of her blood clotting problem, Scout had to be given 3 units of Plasma to provide some support and reduce the risk of bleeding post procedure.

Dr Sophie our medicine specialist paid Scout visit late on Saturday evening to perform this life-saving procedure. The procedure went smoothly and over the coming days Scout began to improve.

Within a couple days Scout’s appetite had returned and her liver and clotting parameters were improving. This was evidence that the liver was starting to work again. Transferred to the care of the Medical Specialist team, Scout continued to improve and by day 6 was ready to leave the hospital!

She is now back on track, thanks to an amazing team effort by the dedicated specialist ECC and Medicine teams at CARE.

Know your nearest emergency vet 

Pet emergencies can happen at any time. The Animal Referral & Emergency Network has emergency vets available 365 days a year, including public holidays. Find your nearest location here.