Buzz

Meet Buzz, a 9 year old Golden Retriever. He arrived at the animal hospital very ill and distressed. He was vomiting up lots of blood and his owners were very worried. At first it was unclear what could have be causing Buzz’s problem.

We were wondering all sorts of things:

Could Buzz have injested Rat poison?

Could Buzz have eaten something he shouldn’t have, and caused trauma?

was there severe ulcers in the stomach?

The first step was making sure that Buzz was comfortable. He was given pain relief, gastro-protecters, antibiotics and was placed on fluid therapy. Luckily his blood levels were not critically low, so he had not lost too much blood, though he must have felt pretty grim.

After most tests gave us no answers we performed a simple test in house for lungworm, which tested positive!! Finally we had an answer and could start the appropriate treatment. It’s not a complicated treatment, it involves a simple drop on treatment onto the back of the neck.

For those who have not heard of lungworm before, it’s a relatively rare parasite that can be picked up from snails and slugs in your garden. It can be fatal, causing blood clotting problems. Sometimes there will be no symptoms, often a cough will be heard.

Buzz went on to make a full recovery and is kept well away from snails and slugs. His lungworm preventative is regularly given to stop this ever happening again!

If you are unsure regarding your pets parasite control contact the clinic to ask for the best protocol.

Buzz has been awarded September Pet of the month!