Client stories
Bledri
Bledri, a 7 month old Border Collie, is not unlike many young dogs, whose playful and curious nature sometimes leads them to trouble. One day, Bledri was found collapsed and unable to move. His owners immediately took him to their vet.
It was discovered that Bledri had ingested numerous tablets of a potent muscle relaxant, Baclofen that had been prescribed to Bledri’s owner for back pain. In Beldri this led to severe mental and respiratory depression. The amount of drug he ingested is usually associated with fatal consequences and despite the best efforts of Bledri’s astute veterinary surgeon he continued to be in complete ventilatory failure and required advanced care.
Bledri was referred to the Queen Mother Hospital for Animals where he was immediately assessed by the Emergency Service. As he was unable to breathe, the use of an advanced mechanical ventilator was absolutely vital should he have any chance of recovery. His breathing was maintained by the state-of-the-art mechanical ventilator in the Critical Care Unit, and this saved Bledri’s life. After 48 hours of mechanical ventilation the effects of the drug on Bledri’s respiratory system were cleared and Bledri was able to be weaned from the ventilator and breathe on his own. Within a few days, Bledri made a full recovery and was able to go home. This was a remarkable success as most patients with severe respiratory problems that require such advanced therapies do not recover.
Boris
Boris was admitted to our Queen Mother Hospital for Animals in 2011 with Polyadiculoneuritis - a condition which paralysed him and caused difficulty breathing. The QMHA clinicians performed an extreme procedure, never before performed
on dogs, in order to prevent further spread of the paralysis. They spent five hours removing Boris’ blood, cleaning it to eliminate the harmful white blood cells of the immune system and then putting the blood back into him. By the next morning Boris’ movement was much improved, with his reflexes coming back.
Sadly, Boris suffered serious complications including pneumonia and a swelling of the muscles in his front legs, which was treated by surgery to drain the liquid and relieve the pressure. He also lost over 20% of his body weight and went off his food, so needed to be fed by a tube straight into his stomach.
We are pleased to say that after a scary few weeks Boris made extremely good progress. He received intensive physiotherapy at the QMHA, including some time in our hydropool, to help his rehabilitation. His owners Nikki and Steven Kenyon worked wonders at home, doing all they could to help get him back on his feet, including using a harness to encourage Boris to use his legs as normal.
The picture above is from Boris' recent visit to the QMHA to mark his year anniversary of being admitted. He has come on leaps and bounds during the year and is a wonderful success story that we wanted to share with you all. He now goes out for walks twice a day and loves playing with his brother Buster. Well done Boris and his lovely owners the Kenyons!
Bop
Bop is a 4 year old miniature Shetland pony who was brought into the Equine Referral Hospital by Anim-Mates, a charity that had rescued him from slaughter. Bop presented with severe loss of movement in his hindlimb. Clinicians diagnosed spinal cord compression and performed surgery to remove a mass which was later confirmed as lymphoma. Bop recovered well and began walking better than before surgery. He is now undergoing chemotherapy with his referring vet, as the mass could not be removed entirely due to its close proximity to the spinal cord.
Click here to see a video of Bop running around happily back at home after his surgery. We wish you all the best with your ongoing treatment Bop.