I tried to think of a more clever title, but I really can’t. I mean, what is better than straight up GIANT. KIDNEY. WORMS.?! Otherwise known as Dioctophyme renale. Or D. Renale. Or, y’know, just stick with GIANT. KIDNEY. WORMS.
I don’t even know what to say. Giant Kidney Worms are like the Holy Grail of veterinary medicine, depending who you talk to. They’re not overly common, and they’re the stuff legends are made of.
You know what? I’m just going to go straight to the video from OVC.
So, how awesome is that?! THE MOST AWESOME!
Most often found INCIDENTLY when someone is just doing a routine spay, and they think they’ve grabbed a loop of small intestine, but then it has a FACE! WOAH! I’m totally serious. It was a complete fluke that we found them in Rosie, the dog featured in that video. She was a teaching dog getting a routine checkup and BAM! There be worms!
These worms aren’t in Newfoundland, so I figured I’d never be so lucky. BUT THEN!
So this dog comes in to be neutered. Owner makes mention of occasional red urine. So I request a urinalysis. Long story short. . . WORM EGGS! Giant kidney worm eggs are very distinct, so we knew what we had here and I WAS OVER THE MOON! Seriously. I can’t even describe how excited I was!
Had some talks with the owners, mentally prepared myself for the SURGERY OF MY CAREER, got an assistant surgeon who was just about as ridiculously excited as I was, and we were off to the races!
Here’s a run down of how it went down: We began exploring the abdomen, and having our minds BLOWN by the size of the kidney the worms were housed in (the right kidney). . . and as I was feeling around that very large kidney, BAM! WORM! I squealed, I did a little dance, my life was MADE!
We ended up finding 2 live worms free in the abdomen, and 1 dead one. We removed the one kidney, which was potentially the most stressful thing of life… the capsule around the kidney was fused right to the vena cava (major vessel, do not want to cut..) !!!! Tricksy stuff, but we pulled it off! There were SEVEN worms in the kidney! AMAZING!
The dog is best kind now, well and wormy free! And I have a lovely giant kidney worm in a wine bottle in my kitchen. Is some pretty!
How pretty is this?! This is a regular sized bottle, and a giant sized worm!
Very likely the first time ever giant kidney worms have been removed in Newfoundland. Potentially the one and only time. I’m the envy of many of my classmates, and many of my colleagues in general. The only downside? I’m only 2 years into my career . . . HOW DO I TOP THIS?!
I’m torn between being incredibly impressed and giving off a squeal of girlish disgust. Worms typically gross me out, but dang that’s a pretty colour!
haha, worms give me the heebie jeebies in general, but giant kidney worms MAKE MY LIFE!
What a gorgeous velvety red!
Now, that being said…EW GAWD! Kidney WORMS!?
Off to read up and live my life in terror that my dogs will somehow get kidney..KIDNEY..worms.
I probably shouldn’t tell you this. . . but people can get them as well.
(another reason not to eat raw fish. . . )
I’m going to type this fast because I’m a little nauseous and think I need to go into the other room and yell into my toilet:
Congratulations on your rare find, and kudos to you for having the confidence in your abilities to handle a very rare surgery so early in your career!
I’m going to go urge now.
haha, so should I not include the photos of The Jolie enjoying the bottle of worms or the bottle of fetus I have in my kitchen? ;D
I’m generally not one to back down from a challenge at work.. tomorrow I have an appointment with a chicken!
Oh, my…way to suck us in, Maggie! Really glad I finished my dinner…can we have a collective EWWWW from the crowd?
I’ve heard of people taking their work home with them, but that’s ridiculous!
Glad the pooch is okay, though…
Wendy
haha, Just be thankful I can’t post any pictures from surgery. . . I’m not great at remembering to warn people about stuff like that
That is SO GROSS! I’m glad there are vets and doctors like you…because if it was up to people like me, well everyone would probably die. Good on you!
haha, well, I think I’m in the right profession for sure
and it’s a good thing there’s people like you to be teachers, because I’d end up in jail for throwing things at children. . . 
what. the. fuuuddge?
haha, pretty standard response ;D
Love that I have those babies sitting on my TV stand.
Love that I had to take those babies back home because your roommate couldn’t handle dead worms in a jar above the TV…
Omg… That is the grossest, yet coolest thing ever.
haha, that’s exactly how I feel about it!
OHH Maggie!! YUCK!!! Oh, I can’t look at that.
sorry! Rest assurd, these kind of pictures will be a very rare occurence
If the worm in the tequilla were that big would you, wait, no I’ll stop now.
ahahahahahaha. . . trust me, I tried to get my hands on an empty tequila bottle and there was concerns about doing that and having a party and. . . yeah.
ok.
um.
we are clearly on two different ends of the spectrum here. WOW. this is so gross. i would run away if i saw this. there are def people in the world who are meant to go into medicine, cus if it was up to me, he’d be dying with those worms.
but, from my limited knowledge…. isn’t a kidney pretty small?? i mean, how did all thsoe get in there?!?
LOL! No worries, I’ll look after the worms, you go on with yourself. ;D
The kidney I took them out of was about 4 times the size of his ‘normal’ kidney. They get in there as baby worms, and grow and destroy. The kidney ends up stretched and basically just a sac containing the worms.
it was epic.
I’ll never sleep again.
Thanks, Dr. Gross Out
Anytime!
PEOPLE CAN GET THESE THINGS TOO? ARE YOU JOKING? Pray tell, how exactly can people get these things? I will bring my pocket microscope with me everywhere, forever. It is only because I haven’t yet figured out how to miniaturize the massive electronics that I don’t haul an electron microscope with me (but give me time). The restaurants won’t like me too much, I’m afraid….
Seriously though, I had no idea those things existed, let alone can get that big. It is a testament to your dedication and skill that that dog is happy and well now. Best of luck to you, Doc.
Eating undercooked fish from infected water, I think. . . I’m not a people doctor, though
Well….so much for sushi. Do they cook the fish up by you really thoroughly? (grin)
haha, we don’t have giant kidney worm in our area, this dog caught it elsewhere ;D
That’s good to know….I had big plans of vacationing up in your neck of the woods (icebergs, whales, fresh air, lobster (cooked), etc). The last thing I want to bring home is an anaconda-sized pet in my internals….egg-sized or not. There goes fishing, too…I’ll never use live bait again.
haha, sorry to spoil your plans. . . but I promise with almost complete certainty all the giant kidney worms in NL are dead and in bottles
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Congratulations on the successful surgery. It must be really strange to have to remove things that are slithering around under their own power.
The craziest thing about that OWC video was seeing the dog bouncing around, happy and healthy, just two days after surgery.
Thank you!
Proof positive that you only need one kidney to get by! Also, good poster childs for the idea of annual check ups with your vet – you never know what might be hiding inside a seemingly normal dog! 
I recently saw my patient for a vaccination appointment, and he’s looking great
Im a student at the University of Guelph Ridgetown Campus .
It was discovered one of our colony canines was as well infected with Giant Kidney worms.
Last week Dr. VH with the help of 7 senior Veterinary Tech students performed a nephrectomy as well as a neuter .He did excellent through the whole procedure and has recovered incredibly.
Students got a first hand look at this rare procedure as well performed their skills as student veterinary technicians .
His staples were removed today and thus is the end of the giant ugly kidney worms well besides the many photos of students all smiles posing with the ugly worms that is .
That’s amazing! Very lucky for that group of students
I was lucky to be a student when Rosie was a teaching dog, but even more lucky to have a case out here in Newfoundland 
Definitely one of the most interesting surgeries you can get a chance to see 
I run a rescue in Winnipeg and have recently brought in 4 dogs with kidney worms. One we were unfortunately unable to save in time but we have 3 more to treat. Our vet is amazing however as this is so rare we are having trouble finding the info we need. One of the dogs we rescued today gave birth to 2 pups (in the car on the way to the vet) and is positive for kidney worms, does anyone have any info on the effects if any this parasite can have on her nursing pups?
Wow! That’s pretty cool that you got so many at once!
The eggs come out in the urine. The worm shouldn’t be passed through the milk – The worms are either in a kidney, or free in the abdomen; I can’t imagine how they’d get into the mammary glands. I can’t say 100% for sure.
The only real treatment is to remove the affected kidney, and I wouldn’t want to do that until the pups are weaned, just because I prefer to avoid any major surgery on a nursing bitch.
You might ask your vet if they can contact a parisitologist at one of the colleges – I called up Dr. Peregrine at OVC when I had my kidney worm case, and discussed things with him.
I actually just e-mailed him. Thanks so much for the info! The one going in for surgery this week (not a mom) has a pretty advanced case I’ll share photos of the worms if anyone’s interested!
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