Little Cody came in one day with the chief complaint of not eating and drinking . His owners also thought that his stomach seemed hard and painful. Cody is a little black Shih Tzu with lots of personality and today was no exception even if he wasn't feeling so well. On his exam, he was tense in his cranial abdomen. He also was trembling. It was difficult to isolate the exact area where he was painful though. Radiographs were taken and it was obvious what the issue was. Little Cody had an extremely distended stomach which appeared to be packed with a foreign substance- almost string-like ( see radiographs). The intestines also appeared distended on the radiographs as well. Because of the amount of pain and discomfort this was causing we needed to act quickly to help him out.

Cody
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The next step for Cody was an abdominal exploratory surgery to identify the foreign material and remove it from his system. Cody was admitted to the hospital for surgery. The licensed veterinary technicians (LVT) administered a premedication for pain and sedation and placed an IV catheter and started him on IV fluids to hydrate him and keep him hydrated during surgery and while recovering. Presurgery lab work was evaluated and was within the normal parameters. This meant that he should handle the anesthetic okay.

The LVT's administered the anesthesia induction agent, and once he was asleep, placed a tube in his windpipe. He was then attached to gas anesthesia and oxygen. Cody was carefully monitored not only by the licensed veterinary technician but by a pulse oximeter. This machine monitors heart rate, oxygen saturation, and carbon dioxide levels to insure that the patient is doing well under anesthesia. Cody was shaved and surgically prepared for his procedure. The surgery began and the material was indeed in his stomach- an extremely large volume of material- almost rope-like was removed for later examination. It was the size of a large baseball. There also was a suspicious region in his intestines that was explored. The incisions were sutured closed and he did wonderfully under anesthesia.

Radiograph of Cody's stomach
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Cody was admitted to the hospital for surgery. The licensed veterinary technicians (LVT) administered a premedication for pain and sedation and placed an IV catheter and started him on IV fluids to hydrate him and keep him hydrated during surgery and while recovering. Presurgery lab work was evaluated and was within the normal parameters. This meant that he should handle the anesthetic okay.

While Cody was recovering, we had to investigate his mischief. It appears that the ropelike material also included a little "Polly Pocket" shoe as well. After the owner looked at the material, it consisted of multiple hair ties which apparently were irresistible to Cody.

Cody did well after surgery and just after his incision was newly healed he was on to the next treat -styrofoam peanuts. What a little mischief maker!

Cody's distented stomach
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Cody's stomach contents
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