The diagnosis and treatment of septic peritonitis and acute renal failure in a English Springer Spaniel

Septic peritonitis is a common cause of both acute abdomen and sepsis in the canine patient. Ruffles, a 4 year old, spayed, female English Springer Spaniel presented to the Cornell University Hospital for Animals Emergency in early November 2008 for evaluation of possible septic peritonitis after acute onset of lethargy, anorexia, vomiting and diarrhea, and abdominal radiographs taken by the referring veterinarian showed loss of serosal detail. The standard acute abdomen work-up was executed: obtaining a history, physical exam, imaging, abdominocentesis and ultimately exploratory laparotomy during which a nephrectomy and adrenalectomy of the abscessed left kidney and adrenal gland were performed. In the post-operative period, Ruffles was managed not only for the sepsis, but also for renal failure due to the decline in function of her grossly abnormal right kidney. Histopathology and culture results from the abscessed kidney indicated that the cause of the pathology was a migrating grass awn