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Chachi's Endoscopy
January 24, 2012
Chachi, a 6 year old neutered male Yorkshire terrier, began to vomit frequently a few weeks ago. His appetite was good but he would vomit partially digested food an hour or two after eating. His belly started to distend with fluid and he began to lie around more than normal. Chachi just wasn’t himself. His family veterinarian did some blood tests which showed that Chachi had extremely low protein levels. Although there are many potential causes, protein loss from the intestinal tract was the most likely reason in Chachi’s case.
Chachi was anesthetized and underwent a procedure called endoscopy. We used an endoscope to look at his esophagus, stomach and small intestine and we retrieved biopsies safely to get a definitive diagnosis. The biopsies revealed that Chachi has a form of inflammatory bowel disease as well as dilation of the lymphatic vessels.
See the video of the inside look at Chachi’s small intestine. All the little white bumps are the dilated lymphatic vessels popping out. These dilated lymphatic vessels seep lymph (high protein fluid) into the intestinal lumen and then it is lost in the stool. This is a hereditary disorder in Yorkies but is treatable. We expect that Chachi will have a complete recovery and a long and happy life.
Learn more about endoscopy on our website here.