Intestinal obstruction and concomitant Spirocerca lupi infestation in a rottweiler dog

Abstract

A one year old male Rottweiler dog was brought to the veterinary clinical complex, Veterinary College and Research Institute (VCRI), Namakkal with the history of vomition and symptomatic treatment was given for gastritis. In spite of the treatment, the dog died without responding to the treatment and the carcass was sent to Department of Veterinary Pathology for postmortem examination. Grossly, there was a distended, coiled intestine and the entire luminal mucosa was obstructed with cloth material. In addition, there was a nodule at the distal part of the esophagus with numerous worms protruding from the nodule. The worms were round and identified as Spirocerca lupi based on their morphometry and microscopic morphological characters. This report describes about death of a Rottweiler dog due to massive intestinal obstruction by cloth material and nodular esophagitis by round worms viz., Spirocerca lupi.