Maddie Harris, a nine week old Miniature Dachshund puppy has been awarded the Fromus Vet Group’s

JANUARY PET OF THE MONTH AWARD

Maddie came to see us in early January as an emergency. She had been playing with a lamb bone and over-ambitiously attempted to swallow it. Following several painful cries the dog began retching uncontrollably. Maddie’s owners contacted us and arranged to bring Maddie in immediately.

Although she had settled down when she arrived, a long bone could be felt in her stomach. The bone was actually twice the length of her leg so it’s outline could be seen even when looking at her.

Due to the size and shape of the bone, there was only one treatment option- surgery to remove the bone from the puppy’s tummy. Not only is this a high risk surgery, but as this puppy was only nine weeks old the anaesthetic risk was also very high.

The puppy was admitted and given intravenous fluids to prepare her for surgery. She was anaesthetised and monitored very carefully by the nurse as her tummy was scrubbed for surgery. After the initial incision was made, the puppy’s stomach was lifted out of the abdomen for inspection. Sure enough, the bone had stretched the stomach so it was about 4-5 times normal size and it was very clear the only way the bone would be coming out was via a surgical incision. Carefully, the vet opened up the stomach and fished the bone out so as not to spill any stomach contents into the abdomen. The sheer size of the bone compared to the tiny puppy generated many gasps in the operating theatre. How had this tiny puppy managed to swallow this huge bone?
The stomach was carefully emptied and then closed using a special suture pattern. The abdominal wall was then repaired and soon only a neat row of sutures remained to bear witness to the incredible tale.

The surgery had been successful but the puppy needed to be hospitalised so she could be closely monitored carefully for any complications.
Maddie was such a brave patient, and at only nine weeks and 1.6kg, proved her constitution was as solid as the bone we had removed.
Even though this surgery was carried out over the weekend, the puppy received constant intensive care from both the vet and nurses on duty.

The most critical time for patients having undergone gastrointestinal surgery is when food is reintroduced as the tract has to heal to allow food to pass through. If healing does not occur then leakage of bowel contents can be fatal. Because Maddie had swallowed the bone, the vet was concerned that her oesophagus (food pipe connecting the mouth with the tummy) could be damaged from the sharp edges and size of the bone.

Maddie found swallowing uncomfortable in the post-operative period but was soon back on top form and even managed to pull out her own drip line!

The puppy was discharged and allowed to go home a few days later under strict supervision and she had a special diet for the first few days. Maddie surprised us all with the speed of her recovery and remained happy and healthy throughout her check-ups afterwards.

Luckily, Maddie’s owners had PET INSURANCE which meant that the entire cost of the surgery and aftercare would be covered apart from a small excess fee. As they had recently purchased the puppy herself, the fact that she was insured was of great benefit to her owners.

Pet insurance is invaluable in situations like these when the unexpected happens and unforeseen costs are incurred.

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