Case Studies

Read some stories of pets we have treated

Lilly the adventurous kitten makes a great recovery

Lovely Lilly was referred to our orthopaedic department as an emergency when she was a little too adventurous and sustained a fall. She became non-weight bearing on her right foreleg. Her owners took Lilly to the vets straight away where x-rays showed she had a nasty humeral fracture. After a consultation with our orthopaedic surgeon Joe Fox, Lilly needed delicate surgery to repair the fracture which involved a long and careful recovery afterwards.  

Lilly had a long metal rod placed down the centre of the bone with two bolts running from one side of the bone to the another, holding it all stable whilst still allowing her bone to grow normally. She was discharged to be strictly rested at home, which is such an important part of the recovery. Her owners did really well on keeping her restricted which was hard for an excited 4-month-old kitten.  

When Lilly returned 4 weeks later, she was doing great - nice and comfortable on her leg. The follow-up x-rays showed her bone had healed and was remodelling back to its normal shape.  

It’s so good to hear from her owners that she’s back to her fun-loving self and will be soon taking her first steps venturing out into the big outside world exploring. 

Lilly’s owners are very pleased with her recovery: “Joe Fox and his team at Rowe Referrals have given our little Lilly their expertise, experience and outstanding veterinary practice to successfully operate to fix and save her fractured leg. Her aftercare at home was supported with a routine of medications and follow up appointments. Cage rest was challenging for us all but Joe had been clear that this was a team effort and had given us clear instructions.  

Our prize has been, and will continue to be, watching her grow up with 4 legs and soon she will be taking her very first steps into the outside world.” 

Bryn’s eye repaired after penetrating corneal injury

Bryn, a 9-month-old Cocker Spaniel puppy, was referred for a sudden onset painful and reactive eye. Using microscopy we found a suspected foreign body within his cornea and associated abscess surrounding it. Due to the rapid speed of referral, we were able to act quickly before the infection spread.

Microscopic surgery of the cornea was undertaken to remove the unhealthy tissue, and a sliding graft was taken from adjacent cornea to repair the defect.

Bryn has done exceptionally well after surgery, with a comfortable eye and great continued vision.

Meet Ronnie!

Meet Ronnie!:  Meet Ronnie

4-month-old Ronnie was taken to the vets by his owners when they noticed him limping. Ronnie was referred to our orthopaedic surgeon Joe Fox for further investigation using a CT scan. The purple arrows show a big step between one portion of the ulna and the radius. There should be no step here; there should be a nice smooth continuous transition from one bone to the next. 

 

Xray1

The red arrows show a big gap at the back of the joint that should be much smaller – the humerus is effectively falling forward causing pain and damage inside the joint which must be prevented in order to try and help him for the long-term.  

Surgery was the only option for little Ronnie to try and correct a problem like this. However, it’s a big procedure where the ulna needs cutting to allow it to move to a better position before the bone gradually knits in place.  

Ronnie’s owners made the brave decision to go for it, so surgery was undertaken without delay. He had to stay in our hospital whilst Ronnie recovered from surgery, where he got lots of cuddles and fuss to make him feel at home.  

After Ronnie had lots of rest and care at home following his surgery, he returned three weeks later for a follow-up scan and everything was going nicely to plan. 

Xray2

The yellow arrows show the nice transition from the ulna onto the radius and the green arrows show the gap at the back had reduced down to normal. Even at this early stage, healing was underway and he was already more comfortable on the leg.  

 Ronnie is doing really well and has made an amazing recovery. His owner is really happy with Ronnie’s progress and he’s back to his happy and playful self!

Vacuum therapy for handsome Louis

Louis, an 8-year-old Maine Coon cat, went missing from his home for several days. When he finally returned he was thin, hungry and had a deep infected wound on his thigh. The wound was treated with a Negative Pressure Wound Therapy or VAC device, which is extensively used in human medicine but not yet commonly used in veterinary practice. It removes discharge and promotes healing and, as you can see by the pictures, is well tolerated by our veterinary patients. After 5 days the wound was healthy enough to close and we are pleased to report that Louis has made a good recovery.

Who ate all the stones?

Meet Trevor, who came to see us from Winterbourne and Brimsham Veterinary Clinics in the summer, after having eaten a rather large amount of stones! Removing foreign bodies from the gastrointestinal tracts of our patients is not uncommon, however the sheer amount of stones that Trevor had consumed was. Luckily they were easy to spot on x-rays and he made a smooth recovery from the surgery. Here he is pictured with one of our nurses Telmo and the stones that we removed from his stomach.