Pet Pug Saved By LVS After Swallowing Kebab Skewer

Three-year-old Muffin was speared from her chest down into her intestines after getting hold of the kebab skewer but survived the ordeal after specialist care at one of the UK’s leading small animal hospitals.

Experts at Linnaeus-owned London Vet Specialists (LVS), in Belsize Lane, North London, successfully performed an intricate operation to remove the skewer and end Muffin’s agony.

It was LVS imaging specialist Dr Ian Jones who highlighted the striking problem after he carried out a CT scan which produced startling images of the skewer that had impaled the family pet.

Dr Jones said: “Muffin had been to her local vets after suffering from a tummy upset for a few days, including vomiting, diarrhoea and turning down her supper.

“She suddenly took a turn for the worse and started to have difficulty breathing and anaemia (low red blood cell count), so pneumonia was suspected.

“A chest x-ray had also showed fluid in Muffin’s chest, which is when she was swiftly transferred to the team here at LVS, where we immediately gave her oxygen and carried out a blood transfusion.

“I then performed a CT scan (a three-dimensional x-ray that provides superior detail of the chest cavity) and the result was definitely unexpected!

“There was a linear object, consistent with a piece of wood or stick, which was found in the right side of her thorax!

“This was a serious scenario and Muffin was quickly put into the care of the LVS surgical team for an emergency intervention.”

The surgery team was led by Dr Janet McClaran and included surgical intern Dr Fabio Esposito, surgical nurse Holly Brown and the anaesthesia team, led by specialist Dr David Neilson.

Dr McClaran, a US and European soft tissue specialist, performed the intricate operation and explained: “We needed to remove the stick before it could do any more damage to Muffin, especially to her vital organs.

“We started surgery in her abdomen and a small penetrating wound was found in the duodenum (small intestine), where the stick had exited to cross into her diaphragm and chest cavity.

“We then created a window into the chest, through the diaphragmatic, and the chest cavity was carefully inspected.

“As suspected, we found a wooden skewer positioned precariously between her right lung lobes but, very luckily for Muffin, it had not damaged her lungs, heart, or any of the major blood vessels such as the aorta or vena cava.

“The stick was carefully removed and the surgery proved a total success. Muffin recovered well and after several days of close monitoring and recovery, she was able to return to her family.”

The LVS hospital is a multidisciplinary referral facility which offers expert care in anaesthesia and analgesia, critical care, cardiology, dermatology, diagnostic imaging, internal medicine, neurology, oncology, ophthalmology and surgery.

For more information about London Vet Specialists, and the services it offers, visit https://londonvetspecialists.vet/.