51 Cents Buys Puppy Serious trouble

Corkey Jo, an 8-month-old, truly “bit off more than he could chew” when he ate two quarters and a penny, a meal that cost more than $4,500 and could have cost him his life if not for his dedicated owners and the OSU Boren Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital.

He ingested the coins unbeknown to his owners, Randy and Wanda Berry of Springdale, Ark. “He was vomiting, and you could tell he didn’t feel well,” says Wanda. “We took him to the Animal Emergency Clinic of Northwest Arkansas.”

At the clinic, Dr. Kyle Shaw ordered blood work and took a radiograph that showed the coins in Corkey’s stomach. Shaw, who suspected zinc toxicity from the coins, administered a blood transfusion to the anemic Corkey. From there, the Berrys took Corkey to the family veterinarian, Dr. Kristen Westhoff of Rose Animal Clinic, for a possible endoscopy.

“When I saw it, I knew I could not get it out with the endoscope I have,” Westhoff says. “Rather than risk surgery, I recommended the OSU’s Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital for the foreign body removal and after care. I included Dr. Shaw’s suspicion of zinc toxicity in the case referral.”

By the time Dr. Emily Medici, a resident in small-animal internal medicine at the veterinary hospital, saw Corkey, he was jaundiced from the zinc. “He looked very sick,” she says.

The OSU veterinary team gave a transfusion to treat the Shih Tzu’s anemia and a radiograph to confirm the coins had not shifted during transport. They then performed an endoscopy successfully removing the coins from Corkey’s stomach.

But the little puppy’s troubles were far from over.

The zinc toxicity caused pancreatitis, and his body began to go into disseminated intravascular coagulopathy, a condition that prevents blood clotting. Medici ordered a plasma transfusion and a whole blood transfusion the next day. By the fourth day, when the Shih Tzu’s kidneys started shutting down, the team treated him for renal failure.

The Berrys drove four hours, approximately 400 miles, to visit Corkey on four separate occasions. During one visit, the couple considered euthanizing their beloved puppy.

“I told them Corkey looked a little brighter that morning, so they decided to stick it out a while longer. They are extremely dedicated owners,” Medici says. “That’s when Corkey turned the corner and started slowly improving.”

Two weeks after arriving at OSU’s small animal clinic, Medici released the young Shih Tzu armed with antibiotics and stomach protectants.

“If we had not removed the penny, the anemia could have killed him. If the anemia didn’t kill him, the renal failure or the pancreatitis could have for sure. I’m glad we were able to help Corkey,” Medici says.

“We have to continue to monitor his kidney values, but his kidneys should be able to recover the majority, if not all, of their function. Even if his kidneys do not completely recover, he should still have enough function to have a good quality of life for an extended period.”

According to the Berrys, who also have a female Shih Tzu, Corkey is doing well. “He’s fine,” Randy says. “In fact, we think he might be a proud father before long.”

DerinDa Lowe