The feeling in your stomach when you know you ate too much!

Recently Zoo Miami asked our surgeon Dr. Danielson to help with a special case.  Learn about what Leroy ate! 

Have you ever eaten anything that you have regretted? Many of us have eaten too much candy at Halloween or too much dinner on Thanksgiving and we have had to live with a stomachache as the consequence. However, it is rare for a person to eat a toy or other item that is not digestible.

Unfortunately, animals sometimes do eat items that cannot be digested and the consequence can be much more severe than a stomachache. Eating non-digestible items can obstruct the intestinal system. An obstruction occurs when the item gets stuck in the stomach or intestine and blocks anything else from passing through. An obstruction can make animals very sick and in some cases is life-threatening.

Veterinarians call these non-digestible items foreign material or a foreign body. If a foreign body is very large or is stuck, it will require removal.

Removal may be accomplished through a non-surgical approach with a piece of equipment called an endoscope (scope) or, it may require surgery. A scope is a long instrument with a camera at the end. The scope allows for things within the stomach to be seen with the camera and removed with graspers. However, sometimes the foreign material is too large or cannot be retrieved with graspers. In these cases, surgery is performed. Surgery usually involves opening either the stomach or the intestine to remove the foreign material.

Often when an animal eats foreign material they do it when no one is looking and veterinarians are left trying to figure out what is wrong with the patient.  In the hunt to figure out what is wrong with the patient, X-rays (radiographs) may be taken to look for a foreign body. However, not all foreign bodies can be seen on a radiograph.  A radiograph can identify very dense material, such as metal and bone however, less dense material (plastic squeakers, cloth toys, rope toys, etc.) cannot be seen and we are left looking for what is called an obstructive pattern on the radiograph. An obstructive pattern is when a portion of the intestine is dilated (wider) than it should be.

It may seem odd that an animal would eat something they cannot digest.  Most of the time animals eat these items by accident. They are attracted to the scent of an item or are playing with a toy and start to chew on it. If the item/toy gets too far back in their mouth, they may swallow it. Remember, most animals don’t have fingers to pull things back out of their mouths.

Dogs and cats are the animals that veterinarians see most often for eating foreign bodies, however; sometimes other species eat things they shouldn’t.

Meet Leroy. 

Leroy is a 297 pound, 35-year-old, male Cuban Crocodile. Cuban Crocodiles are one of the most endangered crocodiles in the world. Their native habitat is a very small area, less than 200 square miles, of the Zapata Swamp in Cuba. Leroy lives at Zoo Miami and has been there since 1998.

In October of last year, Leroy ate a large metal can of lubricating oil that was being used in the maintenance of his enclosure. The can had been accidentally knocked over during the maintenance and fell into the water near Leroy. Crocodiles have a natural feeding response to splashes in the water and, unfortunately, the disturbance the can caused in the water attracted Leroy. At first, Leroy just played with the can. Eventually, he bit into the can and then swallowed it whole.

Given the size of the can, the caregivers and veterinary staff of the zoo were concerned, as it was unlikely to pass. Leroy had a foreign body.

Being a can, Leroy’s foreign body was metal and could be seen on radiographs. Therefore, to help identify the location of the can, radiographs (x-rays) were taken. 

Let’s take a look at the reconstructed image. In these images, Leroy would have been laying down on his stomach with his head at the top and his tail at the bottom of the image. 

Figure 1

Can you see all of the things in the abdomen when there are no arrows to help point them out? Give it a try.  Find out how you did!

As you can see, the can was very big and it wouldn’t have been able to make it through the intestinal system. Because the can was in the stomach, an attempt at removing it with a scope was made. Unfortunately, this was unsuccessful and it was decided that surgery would be performed to remove the can. 

Leroy was prepared for surgery similarly to the way a dog or cat would. He was moved into the operating room at the zoo and his skin was cleaned. However, one big difference was the way the abdomen was opened. In a dog or cat, the approach to opening the abdomen to get to the stomach would be through what is called a midline incision. This means a cut down the center of the abdomen. In the crocodile, the approach is through an incision in the left flank. This is a cut in the left side of the abdomen from the back to the front of the body. The reason the approach is different is that in dogs and cats the abdomen is one compartment and in crocodiles, there is some additional compartmentalization. This approach from the side makes it easier to get to the stomach. Also, crocodiles will sometimes pull their bodies along the ground and an incision on the underside of the abdomen would get very dirty. 

*These images may be considered graphic

The surgical opening and closing of the stomach (in a dog/cat or a crocodile) is called a gastrotomy and this was performed in Leroy similarly to how it would be performed in a dog. Take a look at this picture of the can being removed from Leroy’s stomach.   *These images may be considered graphic

The stomach of the crocodile is larger than that of a dog and it took some feeling around in the stomach to find the can. Take a look at the can after it was removed. There is another can next to the one Leroy ate for comparison. Those are some big holes made by Leroy’s teeth! Can you go back to the radiographs and see the holes in the can on the radiograph? 

Closing the gastrotomy site is performed with suture in a couple of layers. The closure of the stomach is similar in the dog, cat, and, crocodile. However, Leroy’s skin is of course much tougher than a dog or cat. Crocodile skin has what looks like scales on it. Those square areas that look like scales are called scutes. Scutes are very thick and make suturing the skin a little more complicated. A thicker suture was used in Leroy’s skin than would be used in a dog or cat.  Scutes can also be seen on turtle shells and on the feet of birds. You can see some of the scutes on Leroy in his picture and on his radiograph. Can look back to Figure 1 and find them? Find out how you did! 

The great news is that Leroy did very well after surgery and recovered with no complications!!! There were a lot of people happy to see Leroy make it through his surgery and continue to do well. It takes a large team working together to achieve a successful surgery on such a large, non-domesticated animal including zookeepers, caregivers, zoo administration, veterinary technicians, and veterinarians. 

It is amazing to see what people working together can achieve. I feel fortunate to have been a part of this fantastic team.

If you want to learn more about the beautiful animals at Zoo Miami, check out their Facebook page. There are tons of great pictures and videos for you to look through. Like all of us, Zoo Miami is being challenged by COVID19 right now. If possible, please consider donating to the zoo to help them through this difficult time.

Visit VCA Hollywood Animal Hospital to learn more about our advanced veterinary care for your cat or dog. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to connect with other pet people. 

Briana Danielson, DVM, DACVS-SA
VCA Hollywood Animal Hospital