Salmonella Mesenteric Lymphadenitis Causing Septic Peritonitis in Two Dogs

This report describes two cases of mesenteric lymphadenitis leading to septic peritonitis in two young dogs. The cases were similar in presentation, diagnosis, treatment, and length of hospitalization. Both cases presented with clinical signs of vomiting, abdominal pain, and fever and were treated successfully via surgical debridement, omentalization, and antibiotic therapy. Both cases grew multi-drug resistant spp. with resistance to ampicillin sulbactam, which is a common empiric antibiotic choice for cases of canine septic peritonitis. In both cases, the source of is proposed to be the raw diet that preceded the septic peritonitis diagnosis. While mesenteric lymphadenitis has been reported in humans and pigs, to the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of mesenteric lymphadenitis in dogs.