12 Chronic partial gastric dilatation in a dog
Case history
The dog’s previous history included arthritis, for which he was fed a diet designed for dogs with arthritis and was previously given the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication, meloxicam. He had been off the meloxicam for 3 weeks at admission.
The dog had become lethargic during the past month and was vomiting food and brown foam several times a day. He was also occasionally retching. His faeces were soft to watery. The owner had seen the dog in the ‘praying position’ several times during the last week. In this position the dog’s head is down and front legs stretch forward. This usually occurs during episodes of abdominal pain. Prior to this he had had intermittent episodes of vomiting and diarrhoea every few weeks. He had lost about 3 kg during the past month.
The owner reported that during exercise the dog’s breathing pattern had become more laboured and he was not as willing to exercise as he previously had been.
The dog was de-wormed regularly with fenbendazole, although the owner reported that he was 3 weeks overdue for de-worming. He was vaccinated yearly.
His current medication was cimetidine (200 mg po q 8 hours), which had not improved his condition.
Physical examination
The dog was bright and responsive. His body condition score was 4/9. Hydration appeared to be adequate. Mucous membrane colour was pink and capillary refill time was less than 2 seconds. Peripheral lymph nodes were unremarkable.
Thoracic auscultation revealed normal heart and lung sounds, with a heart rate of 100 beats per minute. The respiratory rate could not be counted as the dog was panting. There was evidence of mild to moderate pain or discomfort on abdominal palpation. While this caused difficulty in performing a thorough abdominal palpation, no other abnormalities were detected. Rectal temperature was 38.9° C.
Problem list and discussion of problems
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