August 2008 - Burt Rundle & Barney Alger
Braveheart August 2008 (Joint winners)
Burt Rundle, well nearly!
Burt, a five year old German Wire-haired Pointer was brought into us after his owner noticed a swelling on his right hind foot.
He was admitted for sedation, radiographs and biopsy of the mass.
Whilst awaiting the laboratory results Burt was sent home with pain relief and strict rest.
Unfortunately the results from the biopsy suggested an osteosarcoma (bone tumour). Burt was booked in the next day to have his digit removed.
To help Burt during his surgery and recovery he was placed onto intravenous fluids. Once the digit had been removed a dressing and a bandage were applied to protect the wound and add support to the leg whilst he recovered. Burt would need to return to the surgery in a few days to have the dressing changed.
At the post operative check three days later, Burt’s owner reported that Burt had escaped from the house and managed; even with a missing toe, to jump a five bar gate from a stand still! So Burt didn’t appear to have any problems post operatively.
The final dressing was removed a week after the operation and a close eye was kept on the wound for the following few days. Once Burt had reached day ten following the operation he was slowly allowed to increase his exercise. Burt has now fully recovered and is back to his old self chasing rabbits and jumping gates.
Barney Alger playing with traffic
Barney, a ginger and white domestic short hair was brought into us after his owners noticed he was unable to weight bear and was extremely uncomfortable on his hind limbs.
After a full clinical examination of Barney we felt the injuries he had sustained, along with his wet mud covered coat were consistent with a road traffic accident.
Barney was then admitted for sedation and radiographs of his abdomen and pelvis.
The radiographs revealed a fracture to the left ilial wing (side of pelvis). Visualisation of Barney’s bladder was not possible on the radiographs, which in some cases of road traffic accidents can suggest a rupture to the bladder.
Barney was given pain relief and hospitalised overnight to monitor his condition along with his urine and faeces output, this would help us to determine the severity of the damage to his bladder. Surgery on fractured pelvis is not always necessary, quite often strict kennel rest is all that is required.
Fortunately Barney passed urine and faeces overnight. By the morning he was extremely bright and able to go home on strict cage rest.
Barney’s progress will be closely monitored over the forth coming weeks until we feel his pelvis has healed sufficiently.
