16/06/2025
*TRIGGER WARNING! GRAPHIC IMAGES *
We all love our pets. Expressing our love through cuddle sessions helps us bond and grow even closer to them (they mostly enjoy it too!). However, sometimes these cuddles can serve an unexpectedly important purpose. They can act as a basic physical exam, helping us detect any abnormalities in our beloved pets' bodies.
Very unexpectedly, one such cuddle session led us to meet Smooch, a beautiful 6-year-old domestic shorthair kitty. Her parents gave her their usual pat on the back and immediately noticed something unusual. Although she seemed completely fine and her normal self, they discovered a large, hard lump on her back that hadn’t been there that morning. While Smooch didn’t seem bothered by it (spoiler alert – that is very unusual), her parents decided to do the right thing and brought her to our clinic.
Upon arriving at CVES, Smooch underwent a thorough physical examination by our clinical team. Everyone was shocked by the findings. She was bright, happy, and had overall normal vital signs, but the lump her parents felt was actually a hard stick protruding to the right of her spine, possibly extending into her abdomen. Her condition quickly became very serious. We didn’t yet know how large the foreign object was or what internal damage it might have caused. Most concerningly, it was very close to her spine. It was a true miracle that Smooch wasn’t showing any neurological signs.
After a detailed and productive conversation with her parents, we had a clear and prioritised action plan: to manage her pain effectively and begin diagnostic imaging, particularly an X-ray, as soon as possible.
The radiographs gave us the crucial information we needed—and even offered a bit of relief. There were no signs of internal bleeding and no major damage to her chest. However, the foreign object was unfortunately quite large and had penetrated into the abdominal cavity. This meant Smooch would need emergency surgery (a laparotomy). While we couldn’t provide her parents with all the answers until surgery was complete, we were confident we could help this brave kitty that very night.
Once Smooch was anaesthetised, our surgical team carefully made a precise incision on her back and gently removed the stick. Thankfully, there was no bleeding from the exit wound, which was a great sign—but the surgical challenge had only just begun. Because of the stick’s position, we had to rotate Smooch on the surgical table (all while under general anaesthesia!) to make a second incision on her belly so we could inspect her abdominal cavity for internal injuries.
When the abdominal cavity was opened, we were amazed by how lucky Smooch truly was. The stick had penetrated behind the ribs, between the liver and the right kidney, without causing any major damage or bleeding. Our surgeon faced one final challenge: we were unable to access the internal portion of the exit wound near the spine without causing more trauma, so we could only treat it externally.
The best plan for Smooch involved two key steps. First, our experienced surgical team spent a great deal of time flushing her abdominal cavity to remove all the internal debris. Then, after repositioning her once more, we spent even more time meticulously and gently removing debris from the external wound (since flushing it would risk pushing debris back into the abdomen). After several hours in theatre, we were finally satisfied with the results.
Thanks to this detailed and careful approach, Smooch recovered in almost no time. With just a few minor hiccups during her recovery, she was discharged only one day after surgery!
After such a wild adventure, our team cannot thank Smooch’s parents enough. Their love, dedication, and close attention to detail quite literally prevented a potential disaster. So never hesitate to give your little ones as many cuddles as they want! You never know – it might actually save their lives!
