Reason for Nomination:
Poor Snoopy, a Cross Breed Dog, has been through the wars and already has had 3 operations before turning one year old!
In August, when Snoopy was 8 months old, he became very unwell; he was very depressed, vomiting and had diarrhoea. On examination Snoopy was found to be dehydrated and have a painful abdomen. He was admitted to the hospital for further treatment as the vet initially suspected that he had a gastroenteritis infection. He had blood tests and was placed on an intravenous drip to treat his dehydration. He was given pain relief, anti-nausea medications and antibiotics to help him feel better. Snoopy did not improve with these initial treatments and the vets decided along with his owner that he should have an ultrasound of his abdomen to investigate why. During the ultrasound, an area of intestine was found to have an intussusception. This is when the intestines slide back into each other (imagine a pair of tights) and then this area of intestine loses blood supply and becomes necrotic (begins to die). It is very painful and life threatening. Snoopy was rushed to surgery and an emergency operation performed.
The major surgery Snoopy needed involves cutting away the damaged bit of intestine, and stitching the 2 new ends together. This type of surgery is very complicated and has big risks associated. Snoopy’s surgery was successful and he recovered normally. However, the following day we did not feel he was as well as we would expect and when we felt his abdomen, a large firm swelling could be felt. As is routine with all abdominal surgeries like this at Maven, Snoopy had a repeat ultrasound to assess if the surgery site was healing well. The second ultrasound revealed complications had developed and the wound was leaking fluid into his abdominal cavity. Poor Snoopy needed to be rushed to theatre again.
The vets and nurses were desperate to save him, and stayed late into the night to ensure a successful outcome. The surgery was even trickier a second time round, as there was a smaller area of intestines available to perform the surgery on. The team pulled together and after a few painstaking hours, Snoopy was in recovery at 2am!
Thankfully, Snoopy recovered well this time round, and the team were delighted that he returned home a few days later, it really had been touch and go. Many dogs would have been worried about coming to the vets after such an ordeal. However, several months later when lovely Snoopy returned for his 3rd operation of the year – thankfully nothing serious, just a routine castration! he still wagged his tail at us all!
