Case - "Chewbacca" Easey

Chewbacca is a maltese/yorkshire terrier puppy (Morkie) adopted from a pet store at 8 weeks of age. Although initially he seemed fine, a few days after adopting Chewie, his family noticed a decrease in his appetite and energy level.

A fecal test was performed to determine if Chewie had any parasites. The results were positive for two types of parasites, Giardia and Coccidia. Both of these parasites are microscopic, single celled organisms. These are fairly common in the environment and usually will only cause diarrhea. Chewie was placed on medications to treat both parasites.

About one week after being adopted Chewie returned to the hospital for vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite and weakness. He was started on intravenous fluids and medication to treat dehydration, vomiting and diarrhea. Although the diarrhea and vomiting stopped after one day his appetite remained poor and he remained weak. It was noted that Chewie's belly seemed swollen. At this point the veterinarian along with the owner decided to perform additional tests to see if there was anything more serious happening. A blood test was performed and showed significant loss of protein, especially a protein called Albumin. An ultrasound was performed and revealed a large amount of fluid in the abdomen. The fluid was removed from the abdomen by abdominocentesis.

The risk with having a low protein and albumin is that albumin is responsible for keeping water within the blood vessels through a particular force called oncotic pressure. If the protein is too low than the water portion of the blood can leak outside of the blood vessels. This can lead to severe dehydration and possibly shock. Other concerns with low protein are; it can cause accumulation of fluid in other places in the body such as the limbs (causing swollen limbs) or the chest (making it difficult to breath). The latter can become life-threatening.

In Chewie's case two possible causes were thought to be causing the protein loss, a congenital liver disease or protein-losing enteropathy (loss of fluid from the intestines usually from severe intestinal inflammation). The ultrasound did not show any problems with the liver, in addition a bile acids test was normal. This means that the low protein is likely being lost through the intestines. The most probable cause of this is likely do to a high amount of parasites. In order to correct the low protein Chewie required two fresh frozen plasma transfusions in hospital. The transfusions helped to increase his protein levels to prevent the loss of fluid. Deworming medication was also continued as part of Chewie's treatment.

After another few days in hospital Chewie's condition was much improved. He was eating well and much more energetic, as a puppy should be. Chewie was discharged from the hospital and continues to do well at home. According to his owner he is a typical happy and energetic puppy. This case proves that it is always important to have any puppy checked for intestinal parasites with a fecal test.