Duke

Duke is a young cocker spaniel who came to see us back at the start of July as he was vomiting and seemed depressed. On examination the vet found that Duke had a high temperature and a sore abdomen so he was admitted for an x-ray and blood tests. The blood tests came back unremarkable along with the x-ray results so Duke was treated symptomatically with IV fluids and different forms of medication.

The following day is was apparent that Duke was very dull and vomiting every time he moved. An ultrasound scan was done which indicated that everything was moving through his intestines with no signs of a foreign body. We continued treatment and repeated the abdominal x-ray the following day, which was unremarkable.

The next day Duke was not vomiting as frequently and he began eating some chicken and looking brighter on his walks. After some further improvement we decided to send him home for the night, as he was depressed with us to see if this helped. However the next day Duke was worse again so he was re-admitted for an anaesthetic and endoscopic examination.

The scope revealed that there was severe ulceration and inflammation in Duke stomach. We could see a suspicious area, which we could not get hold of with the scope so the decision was taken to perform exploratory surgery on Duke.

We found 2 areas in Dukes intestines, which were causing only a partial blockage and were radioluscent, which is why the x-rays and scan were unremarkable. 1 part was a ball of hair and grass and the other what looked like some form of bandage material.

Duke started off recovering well from his surgery but unfortunately a few days later went down hill again. Another ultrasound scan was carried out which revealed Duke had Peritonitis (inflammation of the abdominal lining/peritoneum). Duke was taken back to theatre where we found one of the incisions in his intestines had broken down and 2 inches of intestine had to be removed.

Duke finally recovered well after this surgery over the following days and he was eventually allowed home after nearly 2 weeks with us! He is now doing well at home and has had all the checks he needs regarding this condition.

We think Duke deserved to be ‘Pet of the month’ because he stayed with us for such a long time and endured a lot. We are glad he is making a good recovery, as he has become a firm favourite among the staff here at Green Pastures!

..........................................................................................................................................................................

Kane

Kane is a 10 year old friendly, very vocal Samoyed! He came into see Kathy back in April after his owner noticed a mass had appeared on his left elbow. The mass was not bothering Kane but had appeared suddenly so an FNA was taken. An FNA is where cells are removed from the mass and analysed at an external lab or sometimes by us.

The results came in a few days later to confirm that unfortunately the mass was a tumour. It was decided that Kane needed a biopsy taken under a general anaesthetic for analysis so we could get a better idea of the nature of the tumour.

The results came back indicating the tumour was a spindle cell neoplasm. This type of tumour is locally invasive but luckily does not usually spread. Due to the tumour being incorporated into the muscles and high up the leg there was no way to remove it without amputating Kanes leg. We were concerned about how Kane would cope with 3 legs due to his age and being a larger breed but after a discussion with his owner the decision was made to go for amputation.

Kathy operated on Kane the following day. It was a long complex operation but Kane was stable throughout his anaesthetic. On recovery Kane was very painful and even more vocal than normal! He was given pain relief and sedative drugs to settle him and IV fluids to support him. Over the following days he began to improve.

Kane went home a few days later as he wouldn’t eat with us and he was already keen to try and start walking around with a little help! Kane came back into see us every few days to have dressing changes as his wound was oozing and needed protection.

Unfortunately his wound did begin to break down so Kane was given a good course of antibiotics. We cleaned and dressed his wound regularly and soon the infection passed and the wound healed nicely.

Kane is now doing well at home and apart from the occasional stumble he is quite happy with just 3 legs! We think Kane deserves to be ‘Pet of the month’ because he was incredibly brave and tolerant throughout his stay with us and even now doesn’t seem to mind coming in to see us!

 ..........................................................................................................................................................................

Freya

On the 17th May we had Freya, a 3-year-old Doberman rushed in during the afternoon after a ball had become lodged in her pharynx. Freya had been out on a walk playing with her ball when it bounced back at her straight into her mouth and became lodged. Freyas owner was called immediately by her son who was walking Freya at the time. Luckily the ball was partially collapsed and lodged in such a way that Freya was able to get enough oxygen around it to stay conscious. Freya was calm but coughing and retching to try and get the ball out.

Although Freya was conscious she was weak so her owners had to lift her into the car. On route from Hutton Moor they called us to let us know they were on their way. We had a vet and 3 nurses on standby for Freyas arrival as well as all the equipment we might need.

When Freya arrived she way able to walk in so Kathy, one of our vets tried to remove the ball consciously. It was however lodged too far back and too tightly for Freya to tolerate this. Freyas owners took a seat in the waiting room while we anaesthetised Freya. Once she was asleep Kathy quickly and safely removed the ball freeing Freyas airway. She was intubated while she recovered to keep her airway open and allow us to get some oxygen into her.

On recovery Freya was quite unsettled as her throat would have been sore. Once she was awake she started to settle and stop coughing. Within an hour of the incident occurring Freya was up on her feet and ready to go home! Freya had a sore throat for a few days but is now doing really well and is back to her normal self! We think Freya deserves to be ‘Pet of the month’ because she remained so calm through her ordeal and recovered so quickly! Freyas owners have decided that she will only be playing with footballs from now on!

We ask all dog owners to ensure they use large balls that cannot become lodged in animals throats when playing. Even the ball Freya was playing with was quite large at the size of a tennis ball and this accident happened so quickly and easily. Freya was extremely lucky that the ball partially collapsed and that it became lodged where it did.

..........................................................................................................................................................................

Sonny

Sonny went out on Tuesday morning as normal but did not return home that night. His owner was not too worried as he has stayed out before but she started to get concerned when he still had not returned home on Wednesday. She informed all the neighbours that he was missing and started preparing posters to put up in the village. Early Thursday morning the neighbours found Sonny lying in their garden not looking his normal self so immediately contacted his owner. She rushed Sonny down to us to see Clemmie, one of our vets.

Clemmie was concerned that Sonny was very dull, dehydrated and that he had a wound on his left flank. Clemmies immediate reaction was that Sonny might well have been shot so admitted him for x-rays, IV fluids, medication and investigations. The x-ray clearly showed a pellet in Sonnys abdomen. Beckie, another of our vets, operated on him on that day to remove the pellet.

The pellet was found in Sonnys colon and the surgery to remove it went well. Sonny recovered well from his anaesthetic and was feeling much more comfortable. After a few days of intensive nursing and vet checks Sonny started using his litter tray and eating small amounts. He seemed quite depressed with us however so we decided to send him home for some TLC with his owner!

Sonny is now doing well at home and has perked up! His wound is still healing and he has to wait a few more days yet until his stitches can be removed.

Understandably Sonnys owners are shocked and astounded as we all are that anyone can be so cruel as to shoot a cat especially with such a powerful weapon. The RSPCA have the details of this case and are investigating and the Mercury will be running a story to highlight Sonnys case.

We believe that Sonny deserves to be ‘Pet of the Month’ as he went through such an ordeal. Although a little feisty while he was with us Sonny also showed us his sweet natured side! We hope he is feeling better again soon so he can do his daily visits to the neighbours to say hello!

..........................................................................................................................................................................

Soloman

Soloman is a young male cat that lives in Wales and is owned by one of our nurses parents. A neighbour found Soloman lying in the road paralysed one Friday night early in February. Due to the small community in which Soloman lives the lady immediately knew whos cat he was so took him to their house. Distraught and upset his owners rushed him to their vets in Wales. After a clinical exam it appeared that Soloman was paralysed down the right side of his body. The vet didn’t think Soloman would make it and advised putting him to sleep. Luckily his owner phoned Becky, one of our nurses who convinced them to give him the night on fluids and pain relief while she travelled to Wales to assess him.

The following day Becky arrived in Wales to find Soloman in a sad state and she knew the only way he stood a chance of recovering was to bring him to Green Pastures. Once he arrived at Green Pastures he underwent an anaesthetic so we could place a feeding tube as he couldn’t eat and we did full spinal x-rays. Hamish, our orthopaedic surgeon assessed the x-rays the following day and diagnosed Soloman with a spinal bleed in the cervical region. He advised rest, pain relief and supportive treatment but only gave Soloman a 60% chance of recovery.

As each day passed Soloman showed small signs of improvement and after around 10 days was attempting to stand! We began gentle physiotherapy on his legs and with a lot of nursing care he was able to stand to get into his litter tray a few days later. Although he was doing so well his feeding tube was depressing him but he still wasn’t eating. We made the difficult decision to risk removing it and after some appetite stimulants and tempting him with lots of tasty food he began to get his appetite back!

Soloman stayed with us for just over a week longer to build his strength up before Becky drove him back to Wales for a big reunion! Soloman was so pleased to be home and his best friend Bella the Labrador was pleased to see him too! He is now doing well back in Wales, enjoying the sun curled up in the greenhouse and is now able to jump on and off objects. We believe Soloman deserves to be ‘Pet of the month’ as he went through so much and really was a miracle cat for recovering from his awful injuries. We hope Soloman continues his amazing recovery!

..........................................................................................................................................................................

Polly 

A kind member of the public bought Polly in as a stray on 28th January after being hit by a car. Polly was very distressed and was in a lot of pain. We immediately administered pain relief and gave her IV fluids to support her. She was too shocked to anaesthetise so a conscious x-ray was taken so we could try to ascertain the extent of her injuries. They revealed that she had a fractured femur and superficial wounds.

The following day she was looking much brighter and the vets were happy that she was in a good condition to anaesthetise for further x-rays. After a full examination it was clear that as well as the fractured femur she was suffering from a broken pelvis, a dislocated hock and she was pregnant. This left us with 2 choices, to amputate the broken leg or to fix it. As she was a stray we were paying for all treatment so amputation would have been our cheapest option. However our extremely generous orthopaedic surgeon Hamish Denny said he would fix her leg for free! Pollys wounds were sutured and she was kept comfortable until Hamish was able to operate a few days later at which time she was also neutered.

After the operation Polly still couldn’t walk and needed plenty of rest to help her heal. She soon picked up though and after just a couple of days she was attempting to walk short distances and getting into her litter tray. After another couple of weeks rest and medication Polly was walking well and just boarding with us. Our head nurse Emma quickly bonded with Polly and decided that she would like to take her on.

Emma took Polly home on Friday 19th February to meet her 3 cats! They all got on well and Polly has now settled into her new home. We believe Polly deserves to be ‘Pet of the month’ as she went through such as ordeal and sustained terrible injuries. She was such a brave and affectionate little cat throughout her stay and we hope that she continues to do well!

..........................................................................................................................................................................

Monty

Monty is an older dog, at 11 years old who was attacked while out on a walk by a Staffordshire bull terrier. On 28th December Monty was out for a walk with his owner on his lead when another dog attacked him as he walked past. The other dog was vicious and brutally attacked Monty leaving him with severe wounds.

Monty was rushed to Green Pastures to be seen by the 'Out of hours' vet and nurse. It was instantly apparent that Monty had a large flap of skin on his neck, which was hanging off, and he had a smaller wound on his ear. Monty was immediately put onto IV fluids and was anaesthetised so the wounds could be treated. The wound was flushed clean and a drain was put in the wound to drain any excess fluid. Due to the nature of the wound we were uncertain if it would heal normally. After 3 hours and a lot of stitches Monty was moved through to the kennels for recovery.

Monty was on IV antibiotics and high doses of pain relief however he was unsettled when we came round from his anaesthetic due to the shock and pain. He soon settled however and that evening found his appetite again! Monty went home a few days later as he was doing so well.

Unfortunately the wound did start to break down, as we had feared. Monty had to be re-anaesthetised to have the wound debrided and sutured once again on the areas, which had broken down. Monty is now doing well and the wound is healing nicely. He is still on antibiotics and has healing to do but we are hopeful that he will be back to his normal lively self soon!

We believe Monty deserves to be 'Pet of the month' because he has been through so much trauma and has been so brave throughout. His owners have also done a wonderful job of nursing him at home. This was an unfortunate attack on such a lovely dog.  We hope Monty continues to recover well and bring his owners lots of joy!