Yesterday I saw an elderly dog with recent onset anorexia, apparent abdominal discomfort, bloody diarrhoea, and a single episode of vomiting. On examination this patient also turned out to have loud left- and right-sided systolic murmurs. And on echocardiography he exhibited findings consistent with left-sided congestive failure due to apparent mitral valve disease, secondary pulmonary … Continue reading
In the vast majority of congenital extrahepatic shunts, the portal vein (PV) exists in normal relation to its tributaries and branches but is hypoplastic due to diversion of flow. Just occasionally, one comes across a shunt with complete absence or interruption of the PV. Vet Surg. 1998 May-Jun;27(3):203-15. Congenital interruption of the portal vein and … Continue reading
This is an observation as yet unsubstantiated but interesting nonetheless. This kind of change is only seen regularly in the hepatic nodes. I haven’t yet had the opportunity to do histopath on any but I’m not aware of any published reports of this phenomenon. My personal theory is that these changes are a … Continue reading
This is a radiograph of the stifle of a dog with a two-week history of progressive, severe lameness: What do you think? In fact, whatever you think, I’m betting you’re not 100% certain. Now have a look at the ultrasonographic images: This is the medial aspect of the stifle joint with the tibia … Continue reading
This is really quite a useful thing to be able to do. Imagine you’re presented with a dog, maybe of the brachycephalic variety, with markedly increased upper respiratory noise. OK you could anaesthetise it and examine the pharynx and larynx; but this is not going to be without risk and, ideally, you want to be … Continue reading
The patient, a neutered female adult Bulldog of unknown exact age was presented for investigation of skin problems, keratoconjunctivitis and lethargy. As part of the investigation routine abdominal ultrasonography was performed. However, routine things are not always routine…… The caudal vena cava is…….unusual….. Following the cava forwards things become more bizarre: Flow from the cava … Continue reading
On Friday I saw a pup with a PDA, another slightly older dog with a right gastric-t0-cava portosystemic shunt and a cat with a hairball. Of these, the hairball was the least glamorous but considerably the most challenging. The patient was a 9-year-old Maine Coon with a 6 month history of progressive weight loss and … Continue reading
The unfortunate patient in this case is a 4 y.o. FN German Shepherd. She has a history of chronic gastrointestinal disease. Previous sonography demonstrated severely thickened ileum and colon. TLI was subnormal. Full-thickness gut biopsies yielded a diagnosis of chronic enterocolitis. Subsequently, 6 months prior to the torsion, an apparent ileal impaction necessitated resection of … Continue reading
One of the cardinal rules of serious small animal sonography is ‘don’t forget to scan the ovaries, uterus and testicles’. At least in the UK it’s easy to forget that they’ve not always been removed!. A couple of recent examples: Firstly a young unilaterally-cryptorchid dog presented with acute abdominal pain. Impressively, the first opinion practitioner … Continue reading
Acute severe dyspnoea is a common, life-threatening condition in cats. The principal differentials being: cardiogenic pulmonary oedema asthma/allergic airway disease pleural effusion of various causes pneumothorax ruptured diaphragm Ultrasonography is a useful tool to distinguish between these and offers major advantages in that it can usually be performed quickly, without manual or chemical restraint by … Continue reading
