May Pet of the Month- Toby

It was a beautiful spring morning, just perfect for an amble in the Forest . This would have to wait until later as my mobile phone had rung and I was on my way to see Toby, a lovely old Labrador patient of mine who was feeling extremely sorry for himself and needed my attention.
Toby walked in looking more miserable than a Hull City fan at the end of the football season. His owner told me that last evening he had managed to help himself to a mouthful of dried sugar beet pulp that she had recently ordered for her horse. Unfortunately for Toby, like most Labradors, his appetite goes rather beyond just a mouthful and so he had sauntered home with a nice full tummy.
For those of you who have never used sugar beet, it is an excellent supplementary feed for horses, especially when grass or hay is in short supply. It must be soaked for 24 hours in 5 times its own volume of water. Toby had eaten the dry sugar beet which consequently had gradually been swelling up inside his stomach and drawing all the fluid away from the rest of his body. His stomach was now so large it was unable to empty itself either way! Poor Toby was in dire trouble and only immediate aggressive care would save him. Toby was admitted to the clinic and immediately given intravenous fluids to support his circulation. An x-ray was taken of Toby to show the extent of his problem. It was the largest food-filled stomach we had ever seen.
Toby was anaesthetised as soon as he was stable. His abdomen and stomach were opened (a gastrotomy) and all the sugar beet within the stomach was removed. There was enough to fill a bucket! Toby needed intensive hospitalisation over the next few days but to everyone’s great delight he went on to make a full recovery. His owners were overjoyed to have Toby home but were still rather shocked that their horse food had so nearly killed their beloved Toby. For all horse owners reading this, please store your dry sugar beet safely away from access by any animals. It really isn’t worth taking any risks!

Andy Elliott

X-ray showing enormously extended stomach