Peanut's Story
Peanut, a small and sweet pup, was brought to the Humane Society due to problems defecating. She was born with a congenital defect called anal atresia and rectovaginal fistula, in which an anal opening had not developed. Instead she had an abnormal rectal-vaginal connection allowing her to defecate through her vaginal opening. This was a difficult situation for Peanut, as this caused her to significantly strain during attempts to defecate, and it also predisposed her to potentially severe urinary tract infections.
She was cared for by the wonderful staff at the Oregon Humane Society. Dr. Kramer, a surgeon at Cascade Veterinary Referral Center, performed surgery on Peanut at the OHS facility. During surgery a new anal opening was created and the rectal connection to the vagina was eliminated. The rectum was re-directed to the new opening. Peanut recovered well from surgery, was eating well and started routinely defecating through her new opening. The staff atOHS applied routine manipulation to prevent scarring and narrowing of the new opening. However, 4-5 week after surgery it was clear Peanut has developed some narrowing as she started straining again when defecating. She also had some skin loss between her vaginal and anal openings. A revision surgery was performed to increase the diameter of the anal opening and improve the separation between Peanut’s anal and vaginal openings. Peanut made a great recovery. Her appetite and defecation patterns normalized, and in the months that followed she remained completely normal.
In the weeks following the 2nd surgery, Peanut was adopted by a loving owner, and has been doing great since.