This interesting case is an appreciation to some of the amazing dog rescue groups around the world. We happen to have a fantastic one right here in Niagara called the Pomeranian and Small Breed Rescue which is run by Silvana Alberton who is an extremely dedicated and caring person. Silvana is the President and Founder of this group and has been rescuing small breed dogs from all over North America since 2001. Often these dogs are in very poor shape or elderly and her goal is to give them the best quality of life possible for the remainder of their lives.
We have been fortunate enough to care for almost 200 of these rescued dogs over the years, which brings us to the story about Benji.
Benji is a 6 year old Chihuahua Mix (however suspected to be older) who was rescued from Texas in June 2019. He arrived in rough shape with severe dental disease and a pneumonia likely secondary to contracting kennel cough from being housed with so many other dogs travelling to Canada. While his pneumonia improved over the next couple of weeks, Benji’s appetite did not and blood work and x-rays revealed some kidney disease and an irregular dense foreign object in his stomach (see x-rays with the red arrows detailing the object).
It was opted to see if we could remove the object with an endoscope, which is a minimally invasive camera that travels into the stomach from the mouth. This would save him the pain of surgery if we had to remove the object by incising into his stomach. Luckily we were able to grasp the stone with endoscopic graspers and remove the stone orally. The graspers and the 2.5 cm stone are seen here passing through the esophagus.
We were able to also perform a dental procedure and remove numerous abscessed teeth during the same anesthesia. Benji made a dramatic recovery and was back to eating well and playing normally within a few days. We are happy to report that he has also been adopted and is now living the quality of life he deserves with his new family.
Silvana’s Pomeranian and Small Breed Rescue organization relies on fosters and funding from adoptions and donations. Find out more about this wonderful organization on their website at www.psbrescue.com
Without amazing organizations like this, Benji and thousands of other dogs in need of rescue, would not be with us.
