Case of the Month

This month’s case of interest is Fenza, a ten year old Springer Spaniel.  Fenza was initially seen at the practice because her owners had noticed subtle changes in her behaviour over the previous week.  They also explained how she appeared to have stumbled a few times on her front legs but had recovered immediately.  Otherwise she was in good health and eating well.

On examination we noticed she looked even more worried than most dogs entering his consult room and had an almost startled expression!  After questioning, her owners also thought that Fenza’s bark seemed to sound different.  This set alarm bells ringing that she could be suffering from tetanus.

Tetanus is thankfully very rare in dogs as unlike other species such as horses and humans dogs are extremely resistant to it. There is no vaccination available.  It is caused by a bacterium, commonly found in the soil that gets into your dog’s body through a wound.  This bacterium then releases a toxin that travels to your dog’s nerve endings preventing muscle relaxation.   Typically dogs with tetanus are brought in with stiffness, especially of the legs, and the owners often noticed that the dog had a wound within the last few weeks.  In advanced cases the neck can arch backwards and the jaw stays open giving rise to the historic name for the condition – Lockjaw.

In comparison Fenza had very subtle symptoms and no visible wound but the startled expression gave an important clue. Fenza was admitted to the practice and treated with very high doses of tetanus antitoxin to try and stop the toxin from damaging any more nerves. With intensive nursing care to support her body and prevent pressure sores she started to recover and improvements were seen within 48 hours.  After a week Fenza was back to her normal bouncy self and was allowed to go home fully recovered.  As Fenza didn’t have a visible wound we suspect the bacteria got in through a wound in her mouth – a place where neither us nor her owners would have noticed a small cut.