For Emergencies:
Handsome Clarke 💙
The handsome Clarke was urgently referred to us in January after becoming progressively unwell, initially showing gastrointestinal signs and lethargy. Blood tests at his primary care practice revealed that he was critically anaemic, so on admission to Bridge he was immediately stabilised with a life-saving blood transfusion, kindly supplied by the amazing donors at Pet Blood Bank UK! ❤️
Based on his blood results and breed, the initial suspected diagnosis was immune-mediated haemolytic anaemia (IMHA) – a condition where the immune system attacks the body’s own red blood cells, leading to severe, potentially life-threatening anaemia.
Following his transfusion, Clarke was much brighter and happily eating. However, later that evening he unexpectedly vomited up a small piece of plastic… resembling part of a toy car!
Clarke underwent abdominal radiographs with Bethany, one of our internal medicine clinicians, which revealed a metallic foreign body in his stomach – the rest of a toy car. Now more stable, Clarke was taken straight to theatre where Alison, one of our soft tissue surgeons, successfully removed the remaining fragments.
Clarke’s abdominal radiograph revealing a metallic foreign body in his stomach!
You might be wondering: what does a toy car have to do with severe anaemia?
Many metallic objects, including some toy cars, coins, fishing weights, galvanised nuts and bolts, zippers, and even certain human creams containing zinc oxide – contain high levels of zinc. When exposed to stomach acid, zinc can be absorbed into the bloodstream and cause significant damage to red blood cells. These damaged cells are then removed by the immune system, resulting in profound anaemia.
Clarke’s blood zinc levels were checked and were found to be over 20 times higher than normal, confirming zinc toxicity as the cause of his illness.
We’re delighted to report that Clarke made a swift recovery following surgery, and his follow-up blood tests show that his anaemia has fully resolved! This case highlights the importance of a multi-disciplinary approach, and we’re so pleased our internal medicine, surgical, nursing, and blood donor teams were able to work together to achieve such a fantastic outcome.
Clarke recovering at home!
Clarke has been an absolute trooper throughout, and his owners are (quite rightly!) incredibly proud of him 💙
