Bert is a beautiful bouncy springer spaniel who presented to Hollybank one morning much more subdued than normal. Over the last few days, his owners had noticed him becoming quieter, less keen to eat and looking more uncomfortable, so they brought him down to Hollybank to be checked over. 

When we examined Bert he was far from his usual lively self. He had a temperature and was breathing abnormally. When listening to his lungs with a stethoscope they sounded muffled in the lower half of his chest. This can indicate something occupying the normal space of the lung or due to the location of this sound we were suspicious of fluid around the lungs  as fluid will fall to the lowest part of the chest cavity. After scanning his chest with the ultrasound machine it was clear there was a build up of fluid around the lungs which, when samples were taken, we identified as pus. 

Pus in the chest cavity is a condition know as a pyothorax. It is often caused by a foreign body, which can be inhaled or penetrate the body wall. However, sometimes it can be difficult to identify the original cause at all. A CT scan is important to help identify if a foreign body is present, and the extent of the pus within the chest cavity. For this Bert needed to be referred to a specialist.

However, Bert was very poorly with his condition and needed to be stabilised. We placed sterile drains into his chest to help remove as much pus as possible. These drains have to be placed surgically and images are taken to ensure they are in the right place; Bert had drains placed on both sides of his chest to facilitate maximum drainage. The condition and presence of the chest drains can be very uncomfortable so Bert would need plenty of pain relief too. Bert stayed at Hollybank over night to allow recurrent emptying of his chest (the pus was likely to re-fill until the underlying problem was addressed) and ongoing pain relief.  

In the morning Bert went for his CT scan. This showed Bert had an abscess at the base of his lungs. The specialists could not see a foreign body, but this is not unusual as not all foreign material types will show up on the images.

Bert would require surgery with the specialists to address the abscess near his lung and to rule out a potential foreign body. Thoracic surgery is by no means a benign or small surgery but Bert had been otherwsie fit and well and he was in very good hands! The abscess was removed and his chest was cleaned thoroughly. They were unable to find a cause for the pyothorax but sometimes, if foreign bodies are broken down by the body effectively, only pus and inflammation is left behind, and this is our suspicion with Bert.  

Bert recovered after surgery very well! He had to continue antibiotics to aid complete resolution of any residual infection and prevent recurrence of the abscess. He of course had lots more pain relief too.

After plenty of rest at home we are so pleased to see Bert back to his usual bouncy self and we are sure you will agree he looks ever so cute in his post op suits!