Stella
 Stella
is a very affectionate three year old Pitbull. While
volunteering at a local shelter her owner’s decided it was
time adopt a new canine family member. After seeing the high
percentage of pitbulls that were given up on, The Ranson
family chose to adopt Stella. At ten months old, just out of
the shelter, Stella was a hand full. Her owners enrolled her
in dog training classes where she quickly went from worst in
the class to star student. Earning her place at home and in
her family’s heart, Stella spends her days hiking with dad,
greeting visitors and being a great protector.
After several days of coughing with an occasional hacking
Stella visited Atascadero Pet Hospital & Emergency Center
for the first time. She greeted the staff with her tail
wagging and wet kisses. Stella appeared to be a happy well
cared for pet with no prior illnesses. While in the exam
room she coughed several times. Symptoms like these are
common on the Central Coast of California during summer
months. When fields of grasses dry out, the foxtails drop
from the stems and can enter the eyes, ears, nasal passages,
mouth or potentially penetrate into the skin and other
areas. Having a foxtail lodged in the tonsils, esophagus,
trachea/larynx or lungs may induce coughing or hacking. If
foxtails are not removed they can migrate and create an
abscess after a period of time.
After Stella was examined, I explained the two common causes
of acute onset coughing during this time of year are
foxtails or kennel cough. Stella owners decided to proceed
with an evaluation of the oral cavity and larynx under
anesthesia. Since I had a planned procedure using our
bronchoscope for another patient, I took the opportunity to
use it on Stella and give the staff a view of normal canine
lungs. A bronchoscope is a narrow endoscope that is used to
evaluate the inner lungs. It is inserted through the mouth,
down trachea and from there we can follow the labyrinth of
branching airways to evaluate most of the bronchi.
To our surprise, once I placed the endoscope in the lungs of
Stella and followed the tortuous path down to the caudal
right lobe I was facing a large amount of plant material
lodged in one of the minor right bronchi. We introduced
forceps through the instrument port of the endoscope and
started playing a retrieval game with the plant material. It
lasted 45 minutes and resulted in pulling 4 large foxtails.
Stella recovered from anesthesia as expected. We sent her
home with a course of antibiotics for three weeks and she
never looked back......until she returned for her recheck
with a foxtail in her left nasal passage. It was pulled with
no complications.
Stella is lucky that we ended up finding the foxtails and
removing them when we did. If foreign plant material
(foxtails) sits in the lungs it will create a pocket of
infection in the lungs and can cause severe illness to pets.
When the pocket ruptures it compromises the life of the
patient and requires expensive and complicated thoracic
surgery.
We’ve learned from Stella's case that we should be
evaluating more patients that present with the same symptoms
as her with the bronchoscope to check for foxtails in the
lungs. Today Stella is a happy and healthy dog who is back
to hiking, greeting visitors and protecting her home. She is
a source of comfort and joy to her owners and has
undoubtedly taught us a lesson on foxtails.
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