Case of the Month

This month’s case is Tilly, a 3 year old female Springer Spaniel who normally leads a very active life as a working gundog.  Tilly was brought into see us having had a very wobbly episode and then collapsing at home. On arrival she was not aware of our presence while being examined and then started fitting.  We administered a drug called diazepam to control the fitting and admitted her for investigation.

When a dog fits there can be a number of causes from a low blood glucose, to kidney disease, to an abnormality of the brain.  Initially the main concern is to control the fitting to prevent brain damage from occurring but then we must find and treat the underlying cause as without addressing this, the fitting will recur.

Tilly was put on an intravenous fluid drip to support her body and blood samples were taken.  During that first day Tilly fitted several times, usually in response to a noise or movement.  Each time she was treated successfully with diazepam.  As she was comatose and not moving Tilly was at risk of secondary problems such as hypothermia and pressure sores from inactivity.  She was nursed intensively – turned regularly and her vital signs monitored.  She had to be kept on heat pads, under blankets and with hot water bottles to stop her core temperature from dropping dangerously low.

Tilly’s blood results were all normal which ruled out a number of things including diabetes, kidney disease and infection.  Additionally the speed at which she had become ill made other conditions like a brain tumour very unlikely too. We were now suspicious of a toxicity which could be from something she had eaten so we sent away a toxicology screen to the lab.  Unfortunately this can take several weeks to receive results so in the meantime we had to continue treating Tilly’s symptoms.

During that day Tilly’s condition progressed and the diazepam no longer controlled her fits.  Instead we started her on a continuous infusion of a different drug which successfully kept her stable. After 12 hours when we tried to reduce the dose of the infusion the fitting didn’t resume and from this point on Tilly’s condition improved dramatically.  Initially she was very wobbly and sleepy – to be expected after being unconscious for nearly 48 hours but she responded quickly and was able to go home the following day.

The toxicology screen results showed that as suspected Tilly had ingested Pentobarbitone, a drug commonly used to euthanase animals.  It is likely that she had found or dug up and eaten an animal that had been euthanased using this drug.  This highlights the importance of following the correct procedure when disposing of animal carcases.  Under current legislation it remains an offence to bury any farm animal and they must be cremated through licensed premises.  However, it is entirely legal to bury pets providing simple precautions are taken.  They should be double bagged and buried away from water courses.  They should be at least three feet deep to minimise the risk of being dug up by other animals.

Fortunately this case had a happy outcome and Tilly has been very lucky to have made a full recovery.

Previous Articles

Case of the month June 2009