A freak accident while out on a walk left a nine-year-old greyhound in danger of losing one of her legs.
The greyhound, called Sophie, suffered a serious spiral fracture to her rear, right leg while racing around with other dogs in the park.
Owner Zoë Spencer-Caunce said she immediately realised the extent of the injury and praised the expert team here at West Midlands Veterinary Referrals for getting her precious pet up and running again.
Zoë, from Rugby, said: “We were out on a walk in the park and Sophie ran towards a couple of dogs that we know to say ‘hello'. She went down a little dip then stopped quickly while turning at the same time and immediately let out a massive yelp.
My neighbour was standing right by her and said he heard something crack and thought she’d broken her leg. Sophie wasn’t able to put any weight on her damaged leg and when I felt down to check her over something didn’t feel right. I drove her to our local vets and the next day she was transferred to WMR for surgery. We were looked after by vet Marcin Rogalski who was very thorough. He gave me a detailed explanation of what he was trying to achieve with the operation but also explained the leg could potentially need to be amputated in the worst-case scenario.
“I was very concerned and worried she would lose her leg or have other ongoing issues but Sophie came through well and has made a great recovery. She’s practically the same now as she was before the injury.
“I’d highly recommend WMR to other pet owners. Marcin was absolutely amazing. I cannot tell you how fantastic he has been, and I cannot say ‘thank you’ enough to the whole WMR team for such good care, attention to detail and communication.”
Marcin said it was a challenging case with a variety of associated risks so is equally delighted with such a positive outcome.
He explained: “Sophie had suffered a right spiral comminuted tibia fracture with longitudinal fissures and comminution on the caudal cortex. There was marked swelling and large bruising from her toes to her hip and her skin was cherry coloured.
“We also realised that there were several greyhound-specific complications which might be encountered as we tried to successfully repair the fracture. There were potential soft tissue complications caused by her thin skin and tissue coverage, the prospect of slower bone healing, the distribution of large forces through the bone, fibrinolytic syndrome, delayed coagulation and pathological fractures such as osteoporosis or early bone neoplasia.”
Marcin decided the best approach was to attempt to address the fracture by inserting two metal plates and happily the operation went very well.
He explained: “First the spiral fracture was reduced with pointed forceps and a medial plate was contoured and applied with four screws. Then a locking cranial plate was slid under the muscles and fixed with two screws distal and two screws set higher, to avoid fissures, and two screws proximal. Sophie was medicated and monitored closely for complications overnight. The following day her skin colour had improved, the swelling reduced and her pulse was good so we were happy to discharge her and allow her to go home.”
