March 2008 - Patch Smith
Patch battles on with three legs
Patch is a little Jack Russell who has had to overcome several problems in the seven years of her life. Patch is on long term treatment for her epilepsy, and recently she underwent major surgery on her leg.
Patch was nominated for a Braveheart award following what appeared to be an epileptic fit. This in turn had led to patch being unable to weight bear on her left front leg. In herself she recovered well from this episode. In spite of this she continued to be none weight bearing on her leg. On further examination of Patch it became apparent that all feeling had been lost from the leg.
X-rays were carried out to try find a cause of the leg problem. Unfortunately all that could be found was a significantly reduced blood supply to the leg. We felt this could have been caused by a blood clot stopping the flow of the blood or from pressure being put on the blood vessels which supply the leg.
In an attempt to save the leg Patch was started on medical treatment. Unfortunately Patch did not show any improvement. Due to her being unable to feel her leg she began to self traumatise it through chewing.
The only option left was to amputate Patch’s left front leg. Despite her epilepsy she had a very smooth anaesthetic, with the surgery proceeding well. Patch stayed with us over night as a drain had been placed into the wound. This was done to prevent a build up of fluid at the operation site. By the next morning Patch was able to walk around & appeared to be comfortable. Later that day Patch was able to return home.
Patch has recovered un-eventfully from the surgery and has remained a very happy dog. She is getting around at a rate of knots despite the loss of a leg.
