Forums

Guidance, support and wisdom to benefit and maximize the life and longevity of animals.

VetVine Client Care

Posted On Jun 23, 2025

Updated On Jul 16, 2025

Catch This!

Emergency & Critical Care

Case contributed by Elisa Mazzaferro, MS, DVM, PhD, DACVECC

"Henry" is a 7 year old neutered male Golden Retriever that presented on emergency for a chief complaint of "eating slower than normal."

  • He is an indoor / outdoor dog that lives in New England along the Coast of Long Island Sound
  • No coughing, sneezing vomiting or diarrhea have been noted
  • He is current on vaccinations and, for past several days, has been foaming at the mouth
  • Lately, his coordination when catching his ball has decreased

A dog lying in an elevator AI-generated content may be incorrect.

What would you do next? What would you be thinking?

Well, of course, I performed a complete physical exam - including a thorough exam of his oral cavity under sedation (looking for a possible loose or broken tooth / teeth, sticks, or other foreign body). When nothing was found, I also came to realize that this patient was actually having trouble prehending food and drink (in addition to his ball). A cranial nerve exam was performed. What did I find ...?

This patient wound up having trigeminal neuritis and uveitis secondary to Lyme disease. Not a common presentation but serves as a reminder that sometimes, in emergency medicine, the obvious differential diagnoses are not what you will find. "Henry" was discharged on a combination of doxycycline and prednisone. In endemic areas, in non-vaccinated patients, one must always include rabies on the differential list, too! Thankfully, he was vaccinated, as am I!


Originally posted on June 28, 2013