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Case of the Month In this section we will highlight an interesting case each month that we found to be either very rewarding or very educational. We at Pet Center, Ltd. pride ourselves on not only providing you with top of the line medical services but also on educating our clientele. We have found that the more our client knows about their pets, the better care their pets receive! So, read along as we present this month's case:
Gracie's Lump
Meet Gracie! All 5 pounds of this sweet kitten presented to Pet Center, Ltd. for a lump on her side. She spends a bit of time outside and had to be lured out from under the deck where she had been hanging out (unusual for her.) She was running a slight fever (102.8F) and was tender on manipulation of the lump just behind her left ribcage. Dr. Miller determined that this was an abdominal hernia as he could actually feel the rent in the body wall. Since she needed to be spayed anyway it was decided to fix the hernia at the same time. As the exploratory proceeded, however, we found a one inch hole in her small intestine with some adhesions to surrounding fat (omentum). We removed a 4 inch section of the damaged intestine and "spliced" the remainder back together. She was then spayed and the hernia was repaired. She recovered very quickly and this picture was taken a couple of weeks after surgery. She now sleeps comfortably at the foot of her 8 year old owners bed...purring all of the time! The hernia was probably caused by some sort of blunt trauma that was actually forceful enough to have damaged the small bowel at the same time. The fever (though slight) was likely due to the damaged bowel and some of the leaking that had taken place. Lesson: A case begins as soon as the phone rings at Pet Center, Ltd. Rule-outs in this case included a common cat bite abscess. As you can see from the outcome of this case... a phone diagnosis would have been the wrong diagnosis for Gracie. Fortunately, the owners realized the value of a thorough physical exam and brought her in instead! She may not have made it another 24 to 48 hours with antibiotics alone!
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