Interesting Cases
Our expert vets see some interesting cases here at Bredy Vets and we wanted to share some with you.
Muffin the Cat
Muffin the cat was involved in a road traffic accident. Muffin is a year old black and white cat who used up nearly all of his nine lives in one go in May!
A stray living in the Allington area of Bridport he was rushed into our surgery one saturday night after being seen to be run over by a taxi. The driver did not stop but fortunately some animal loving bystanders brought him in to us for emergency treatment. He was initially given pain relief as we waited to see if he would pull through the shock. To our amazement he strengthened day by day and stabilised over the weekend.
X- rays showed the extent of his injuries, a badly fractured pelvis and worse still a diaphragmatic hernia. This meant a large proportion of his abdominal contents (guts and liver) were now sitting within his chest and so squashing his lungs. Again we could not quite believe he was still with us and seeming to be better day by day! Although the pelvic injury was likely to heal by itself given time and strict rest we would have to correct the hernia if he was to return to a normal life.
We still considered him too weak to undergo the massive surgery he would need to correct this condition and so while he built his strength we tried to find his owner. Despite appeals in the Bridport News no one came forward, though we had several enquires from other people wishing to offer him a home in the future.
Just over a week after his terrible accident Muffin went to surgery to correct his internal hernia, nearly all his liver and part of his stomach and small intestine was lying in his chest. We replaced these in his abdomen and repaired the huge tear in his diaphragm, all the time with our fingers crossed he would pull through. This sort of surgery can be a huge shock to the circulation and many animals do not survive the operation. Muffin however must have had just one life still remaining and pulled through remarkably well. He was even starting to walk on his fractured pelvis!
We found him a lovely new home to go to and now a few months down the line all his hair has grown back and, apart from a slight limp from his pelvic injury, you would never know all he had been through.
Muffin also owes a big thankyou to the lady who rescued him that fateful day and the local branch of the RSPCA who both made generous donations to help towards to cost of his treatments.
Digby the 14 year old dog
Digby is a very distinguished 14 year old gentleman who despite having had a long term heart murmur refuses to believe he is getting older! His owner noticed a lump growing on his back leg very closely associated with his hock – or ankle – joint. Initally we just monitored the mass as we were a little reluctant with Digby’s heart problem to put him under an anaesthetic.
Unfortunately the lump continued to grow and in February we decided we would have to operate as it was beginning to hinder his mobility.
This was an awkward spot to operate in as there would be very little skin remaining to cover the wound once we had resected the mass.
At surgery the mass was removed very successfully and Digby did very well under his anaesthetic but as we had feared we were unable to close the wound. We hoped that new skin would grow over the gap we had had to leave behind – this would leave a large scar but a satisfactory result for Digby. The mass was analysed and found to be a soft tissue sarcoma – a nasty tumour which had been removed completely.
Unfortunately after a month of bandaging we still had a large area of open wound. Digby had produced a very healthy “granulation bed” of new raw tissue but no skin was growing across it. At this stage we had to re-assess our options and it was decided a skin graft was needed.
This meant another general anaesthetic for Digby, but we had already learnt there is plenty of life in this old dog and so in mid March he came in for his procedure. We harvested an area of skin from his flank and prepared it by scraping back all the underlying fat and unnecessary tissue. It was then stitched over the wound on his leg, a bandage was placed to stop any movement of the limb (movement is the arch enemy of skin grafts!) and we all crossed our fingers.
To our delight – and Digby’s credit – his graft took beautifully, and not a single part of it was lost. Just a couple of weeks later his bandage was off and he was back on his normal walks again.
A fantastic success for all the team with a relatively unusual procedure, and proof that age is no barrier to healing.
Tara Simmons
In Sep 2018 Tara presented to us a little off colour, and was unfortunately found to have a large mass in her tummy. An ultrasound scan revealed the mass to be a tumour within her small intestine. At only 5 years of age Tara’s owner was keen pursue a treatment and Tara had her surgery in early October to remove the mass, sadly during the procedure we could also see signs of abnormal areas on her kidney and internal lymph nodes as well. Analysis of the mass confirmed our suspicions that she had a type of cancer called LYMPHOMA, a cancer of the white blood cells within her body. Tara initially recovered well from her surgery but she started to deteriorate within a week or so and we explored the other options open to her and her owner. Lymphoma is a form of cancer than can respond very well to chemotherapy, which can lead to an extension of the quantity and quality of the animals lives. Taras tumor was one of the more aggressive types of lymphoma, statistically speaking she would be expected to live 4-6 months with chemotherapy, or a couple of weeks without.
So after much deliberation we embarked on Tara’s chemotherapy in mid October.
Tara was very sensitive to the medications administered (standard lymphoma protocol )and although she was starting to feel better in herself her circulating white blood cells were very low. We tried reducing the dose but she remained below the acceptable level and it was leaving her susceptible to infection.
A rethink was required! We enlisted the help of a remote oncology service called Chemopet. For a fee, the specialist oncologists will review your case, advise on and supply the necessary medications. Its like having your very own consultant on speed dial!
Following their recommendations we started Tara on an alternative chemo medication and her white blood cells stabilised. After 5 treatments –each separated by 3 weeks – she was in remission with no visible signs of cancer in her body and feeling like a brand new cat!
We hoped this would last a few months but I am thrilled to say that at approaching 2 years since her last chemo treatment she is still in remission and living a normal life without any medications at home with her family.
Obviously not all chemo therapy patients do as well as Tara, but we do encourage all owners who have pets suffering from a cancer that could be responsive to medical treatment to consider these options. All chemotherapy in pets is really aimed at improving their lives whilst under treatment, and can result in major extensions in the time they have remaining as well as improving the quality of life they experience. Some cancers we treat within the practice, some are treated by referral oncologists at their hospitals and some we can treat here with advice and supervision from the oncologists at Chemopet.
For further information about any of our pet care services, please contact our friendly reception team by telephone on 01308 456 771.
