Smudge's Amputation

Smudge had been missing for about 36 hours when his owners found him outside their home early one Friday morning. It was immediately apparent that something serious was wrong. Smudge was not able to use his back legs, and although seemed quite bright, he couldn’t walk. He was rushed down to our clinic straight away.

On initial examination the vets could feel that he had a fracture. He also had a very large and full bladder, no nerve sensation in his right hind leg, limited nerve sensation in his left hind leg, and a fractured tooth. It seemed smudge had suffered an unfortunate collision with a car. We weren’t sure exactly when or where the incident had happened as he had been missing for some time, but thank goodness he had managed to get himself back home, even with all of his injuries.

We immediately admitted Smudge to the hospital and started him on some strong pain relief, and fluids. He was then placed under a general anaesthetic and x-rays were performed. The x-rays revealed two fractures of Smudges’ pelvis.

Even though the fractures were a concern, the vets’ main worry was the lack of nerve function to Smudge’s back legs and lack of bladder function, as both these carry a poor prognosis if they don’t return. We were highly suspicious that the fracture could be trapping one of the main nerves.

Smudge was hospitalised and kept on pain relief and anti-inflammatories whilst we waited for some indication of return of nerve function. It was vital that we were certain that nerve function was returning before fixing the fractures. Our dedicated nursing team made sure he was comfortable day and night.

It was touch and go, and we weren’t sure he was going to make it, but 4 days later, Smudge started to show some progress. He was getting stronger on his left hind leg, and also passing some urine by himself. His right hind leg was still a concern however, as there was still minimal sensation present. After a long discussion our orthopaedic surgeon, the rest of the vets, and Smudge’s owners, it was decided that we would have to amputate Smudge’s right hind leg.

The surgery was performed, and Smudge also had a metal plate put in to fix the fracture in his pelvis, and his fractured tooth was removed. Smudge stayed with us in the hospital for two days after his big surgery and he made a remarkable recovery. Smudge was then allowed home to recover in his own environment. He is coping absolutely fine on 3 legs. He has another couple of months of house rest and regular checks with us at the clinic, but we are so pleased with his progress.

Posted 14th September 2014