Tibor Lukacs , a Brittany Spaniel, has been awarded the Fromus Vet Group’s

APRIL PET OF THE MONTH AWARD

Tibor, an eleven year old Brittany Spaniel, came to see us in mid-March as his owner was very worried about him. In the morning, rather than greet his owner, poor Tibor could do little more than lift his head. His owner immediately phoned the clinic to make an emergency appointment. Tibor was examined by one of the vets. He was still very lethargic and weak, and his gums were very pale in colour. His circulation was also very poor. Tibor was in “shock”. The vet explained to Tibor’s owner that the dog was very weak and would need to be admitted for treatment and further tests to identify what was causing the illness. His owner agreed that finding the source of the illness would be the key to successful treatment.

Tibor was hospitalised and put on a drip (intravenous fluids). The vet took some blood for testing to try to narrow the possible causes. As we have a laboratory on site, the blood results were ready twenty minutes later.

The blood results were unremarkable and so the investigation continued. Tibor would need x-rays to see exactly what was happening on the inside of his body. The answer lay on these radiographs. A huge football sized mass was present in his belly. No wonder he was feeling ill. This meant that Tibor would need an operation to try to remove the mass. Tibors owner bravely agreed to let us operate. Further xrays were needed of his chest to confirm that there had not been any spread from the mass. These were clear and thus Tibor was taken to surgery.

Once stable under anaesthetic, the vet opened up his belly to try to remove the mass. It was HUGE and floating free in his abdomen. The mass had been part of the spleen but had ruptured as it had grown too large- this had resulted in a massive internal bleed which is why the dog was so weak, so suddenly. The mass and the spleen were removed. Several samples were taken from the mass for analysis. The vet then examined the dog’s abdomen carefully to try to identify any other smaller masses that may be growing. Luckily, none were found. This meant Tibor had a reasonable chance at survival.

If an illness is rapid and life threatening in onset, it can be difficult to identify the cause as the body needs some time to adjust to the threat. During the surgery Tibor had lost a lot of blood and it became apparent that his blood was not able to clot very well. He had used up all of his clotting proteins from the initial rupture of the spleen and now he didn’t have any left. Tibor was becoming even weaker and the vet feared he may not be able to recover. After all of this, it seemed Tibor may lose his fight….. The dog’s owner was given the opportunity to spend a few moments with her pet, knowing it may be the last time she could…

Several more tests were carried out and it was decided that the dog would need a blood transfusion. This would provide blood and clotting proteins to help him to recover.
In the dog, as with people, different blood groups exist but if the transfusion is a once-off it is not critical to match the type exactly. A donor dog was found and a pint of blood was taken from one dog and immediately given to Tibor through his leg vein. Immediately he seemed to improve and by the next morning he was up and about dragging the nurses around the garden as if nothing had happened! Tibor and his will to survive had triumphed over adversity.

Tibor has been in to see us since he went home and he is doing really well…

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