Shelby is a 7 year old Bischon Frise. In late 2016 she was brought to the Animal Hospital very off form and with a high temperature.
We routinely see cases like this and usually an antibiotic and an anti inflammatory rectifies the problem.

This was not the case for Shelby however………..

Several weeks later all Shelby’s lymph nodes were swollen and she had lost a lot of weight. This is a very worrying sign and and rings a lot of alarm bells. Despite weeks of treatment and further tests here in the Animal Hospital Shelby continued to deteriorate.
Eventually we sent her to the Referral Hospital in UCD, After many investigations Shelby was diagnosed with a problem with her immune system.

She was put on immunosuppressive treament along with other meds. Gradually over the coming months she slowly returned to her old self.

At a check up several days ago she was in fab form. She continues to receive daily meds and will probably do so for life…….

Winston

Meet the very handsome Winston! He is a 6 year old crossbreed dog.  He was out for a walk with his owner late November last year and was unfortunately attacked by a German Shepherd dog in the park. He had severe bite wounds on both sides of his neck, his chest, abdomen and groin. They were quite extensive for such a small dog. His terrified owner brought him immediately to the after hours service of the pet emergency hospital for care. After examination, they decided they needed to hospitalise Winston for stabilisation, treatment of shock, to clip and clean his wounds and suture where necessary. They also needed to take xrays, as they were very concerned about the bite wound on his chest.

Chest xrays showed air in his chest but no obvious rib fractures. During his surgery, they found that his right chest had a large extensive wound in his chest wall between two ribs, the size and length of a finger! They were surprised that Winston had been so stable up to this point. Concerned for his safety, once this was repaired they left his other wounds to fix another day as they were not life threatening and they did not want to prolong his general anesthetic. They had to leave a chest drain in place to remove any excess air or fluid that may be trapped in the thoracic cavity. The remaining wounds were cleaned and flushed. After his surgery, he was kept on oxygen, fluid therapy and pain relief as well as constant monitoring. Due to the vulnerable nature of his injuries, Winston was directly transferred to the UCD hospital the following morning. As you can see from the photos his injuries were drastic and poor Winston was very sore and swollen from the attack.

The remaining wounds were fixed in UCD and he was allowed home to his worried owner after a few days stay in the hospital as they were now happy he was stable and doing well on his own. He was transferred back into the care of the Animal Hospital Tallaght. He was on a cocktail of drugs during that time, including antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, strong pain relief and antacid. He needed regular visits to evaluate his condition and assess his wound healing. There is always a risk in these cases due to extensive tissue trauma, that wounds can break down, infection can set in, or in Winstons case his chest wound was so severe, that he could have further breathing problems. Thankfully, his physical exams continued to show favourable improvement over the following weeks. He has been such a great patient and a very lucky little dog, that he has been rewarded January pet of the month. His owners should be very proud of him, as well as themselves for the dedication and love they showed him during this difficult time.

WELL DONE WINSTON!!!!

Christmas Eve – Thursday 24th – 9am – 2pm

Christmas Day  - Friday 25th – Closed

St Stephen day – Sat 26th – Closed

Sunday 27th – Closed

Monday 28th – Closed

Tues 29th – Normal hours – 9am – 7.30pm

Wed 30th – Normal hours – 9am to 7.30pm

New Years Eve – Thurs 31st- 9am – 2pm

New Years Day – Friday 1st – Closed

Saturday 2nd Jan – 9.30am – 4pm

Sunday 3rd Jan – Closed

Monday 4th Jan – Resume normal hours

For emergencies outside of these hours please contact the Pet Emergency Hospital on 01-2609920

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year to all our client at The Animal Hospital

Jack

This is the lovely Jack. He is an 8 year old Labrador Retriever. His owner noticed that he was uninterested in food and a bit off form. He was brought to us at The Animal Hospital when he began to vomit. Previously, he had to have a surgery to remove a plastic toy from his belly and they were very worried that this could be a similar situation. They had seen Jack with these symptoms before and given his mischievous personality this was a very high possibility.

On first examination, we were not 100% convinced that this was the problem. He had a number of issues noted at the time, including a potential heart complaint and an enlarged prostate. His bloods showed a number of issues including pressure on the kidneys and dehydration due to his anorexia. He was placed on intravenous fluid therapy to make him feel a bit better and give him some much needed energy while we tried to figure out what exactly was happening here.

Radiographs did not show any immediate problems. There was no obvious foreign body and all we could see was gas in the stomach. We also could not feel anything strange on palpation of his abdomen but why was he vomiting nasty brown material? As there was no improvement in Jacks condition, and we feared things could turn for the worst, it was decided between the vets and the owner that an exploratory surgery was needed and to our surprise we found a very hard potato blocking the intestine! This was a 1st for us at the clinic! He had to have part of his intestine removed as a result.  Jack had sneakily stolen an uncooked potato from his owners and ate it whole!! This was definitely not his best decision.

Jack recovered really well after his surgery and went home to his owners 2 days later. We have since seen him for a wound check and he is back to eating his food and in good form. His wound his healing well. We will see him again next week to have his stitches removed.

We hope he has learned his lesson and will not repeat his naughty habits of stealing things he shouldn’t again!

For his uniqueness and great spirit, Jack has been awarded November Pet of the Month. Well done Jack!

Milly

Milly is a 8 and a half year old Labrador. Her owners noticed that she had lost some weight over a short period of time, so she was brought into us at The Animal Hospital for investigations. On examination, it was noted that she had lost a dramatic 12kg since her last visit!! Milly was very weak, vomiting and had no interest in food. We needed to find out exactly what was going on if Milly was to have any chance of surviving.

We started by placing Milly on intravenous fluid therapy to combat her severe dehydration and give her body some energy. We ran some blood tests for more information. This told us her kidneys were under some pressure. Xrays and ultrasound examinations showed a very suspicious looking bowel. We could not determine exactly what the thickened area seen was exactly. We feared it could be a tumour. The only option to save Milly was to actually open her up and have a look and see if it could be removed or fixed. The owners were willing to do what ever it took to give Milly her best chance and the surgery was performed one day after her admission.

The fluids had helped Milly but she was still a very weak dog and we worried that the surgery might be a lot for her frail body to handle. She had the will to live  and survived the anesthetic with no issue. The surgery was succesful! We found a large piece of what looked like plastic causing problems all the way from her stomach to her intestines. Although difficult to remove and part of her bowel had to be repaired, we were glad to have found no tumours! This meant Milly had a chance of surviving. We had to monitor her very closely after her surgery, as there is always a chance of wound breakdowns or post surgery complications.

She was allowed no food for 24 hours and then the nurses gradually introduced her back to solid foods. She was offered small bits of bland food at regular intervals and we were delighted that she was keen to eat. Her appetite had finally returned. Her form was much improved and she was stronger every day. After a few days recovery in the hospital, she was allowed home to her owners with strict diet rules. So far she is doing really well, and gaining some weight slowly. The biggest problem her owners have had so far was keeping her quiet and away from her surgery stitches, which is a good sign that she is feeling well in herself. She will be due back to us this week to have her stitches removed all going well.

We would like to award Milly October pet of the month for her bravery and her great will to survive!

Well done Milly!