The Lesson of the Grasshopper

Thanks for all your kind comments.  I really do have a great job, even if it is stinky and messy and exhausting sometimes.

There was another super-cool case last week I have to tell you about.  The Tuesday I was so busy with surgeries, my co-worker saw a cat who was gagging and had a change in her voice.  She was hoarse and vocalizing a lot.  She wasn't eating and was quite dehydrated.  She had a full work-up (bloodwork, Xrays, etc) but nothing was obvious.  Her signs were so non-specific - did she have a gastrointestinal problem?  a tumor in her oropharynx?  a neuro issue?  She was sent on IV fluids to rehydrate at the emergency clinic, then back to me the next morning.

She was doing better, but definitely hoarse.  "MRAHhhh- Owwhh," she rasped at me.  The plan now was to anesthetize her for a complete oropharyngeal exam.  Once morning appointments were over, I gave her an IV sedative, then grabbed a laryngoscope to anesthetize her.

These exams usually reveal nothing, then we have to refer them for endoscopy or CT for a more thorough look.  If we do find something, its usually a tumor - unhappy news.  However, as soon as I peered over her epiglottis, I knew there was SOMETHING!  "She's got a foreign body!" I hollered.  "Quick, someone get me a swab!"  Under a large clot of mucus, there was something crossing horizontally over her larynx, under one laryngeal fold and over the other, like a toothpick skewering an hors-d'oeuvre.  I grabbed it with a hemostat, and revealed........

a Grasshopper leg!  A disarticulated leg, in its full chitinous spiny glory.  It looked a lot like this:

Except it was more yellow.  It was incredible.  We all did some high fives.  I called the owner, and she was relieved to have an answer and that the ordeal was over.  The kitty must've caught the insect while hunting, then go this appendage stuck.  Grasshopper's revenge!