THORACIC AND ABDOMINAL-WALL SWELLINGS IN DOGS CAUSED BY FOREIGN-BODIES

Twenty-seven hunting dogs with local swellings on the thoracic and, or , abdominal wall, were treated mainly by radical surgery supported by chemotherapy. The lesions were characterised histopathologically as py ogranulomatous inflammation. One of the dogs died during surgery becau se of a technical accident. Four of the dogs underwent further surgery because of relapse. Treatment was successful in 26 cases, with a mean observation period of 3.3 years (range, 0.6 to 6.5 years) without sig ns of disease. In 12 of the 26 dogs which underwent surgery, parts of grasses (Poaceae family), usually the floret, were found in the lesion s. Predominantly anaerobic bacteria (including actinomyces) common to the oropharyngeal tract were isolated from lesions. It is proposed tha t the plant material is inhaled during open-mouth breathing and, after migration through the lungs to the peripheral attachment of the diaph ragm, causes productive inflammation by synergism with endogenous micr oorganisms of mucous membrane origin.