February Pet of the Month- Rigby

On Friday 7 December, we received a phone call letting us know that an emergency was on its way. Rigby, a 7 month working cocker spaniel, had been out for his usual run, when he had run off through the undergrowth after a deer (naughty boy)! He had attempted to go through a gap in a metal railing fence where one of the railings had broken away and was sticking out directly at him. The railing penetrated him between his front legs and exited out behind his front leg/shoulder area, meaning that incredibly, the railing had gone straight through him. He arrived at the Totton surgery in excruciating pain, where he was quickly muzzled to prevent him biting and was then assessed by 3 vets and nursing staff. He was immediately x-rayed to see what damage the railing may have caused and initial thoughts were that he might have spinal damage as he was rigid and unable to move his front legs and had only limited movement in his hind legs. He was placed on an intravenous drip for the shock and given very strong analgesics to make him as comfortable as possible, along with a sedative to prevent further injury. An endoscopy was performed to examine his trachea for internal damage and the decision was made to give him 24 hours at the surgery and if no improvement by the morning, transfer him to a specialist neurological unit at the Royal Veterinary College, London. By Saturday morning Rigby had begun to show signs of improvement, moving his front legs, head and neck which was a great relief to all concerned. Within the next 24 hours he was moving around and standing on his own and by late Sunday, although still very sore, he was desperate to take the nurses for a walk around the garden, By Monday afternoon he was jumping around and howling and ready to go home! Rigby is a very affectionate, extremely bouncy, young gun dog and amazed us all by being such a survivor. We are very happy to say that he is on his way to making a full recovery.