Bonnie is the result of a litter bred by people
living in Gloucester ~ this was their second litter from the same dam in
6 months!. She was found to be living in filthy conditions in a downstairs
toilet area.
The breeder contacted GSD Helpline to report
that he had this sick pup in his latest litter that could not keep anything
down?! ~ Being on benefits he could not afford a veterinary consultation,
and wanted someone to take it off his hands. This poor little girl weighed
only 2.5kg, and was a bag of bones, desperately hungry.
She is currently being fostered by Geoff (Helpline
contact for the Watford area) and has been diagnosed as suffering from
pneumonia and persistent right aortic arch (PRAA). This condition blocks
the entry of food to the stomach and, if allowed to go untreated, irreversibly
damages the oesophagus.
Bonnie is soon to undergo surgery which will
hopefully correct her condition.
The Rocky Trust Fund is contributing towards
some of Bonnies care ~ the rest Geoff has generously offered to fund himself.
Update from Bonnies carer: November 2004.
Bonnie is the puppy I picked up from Gloucester.
She had serious problems eating but appeared to be managing better around
the start of the month, but unfortunately she took a really bad turn for
the worse as the month went on.
On Monday 11th October Bonnie was admitted suffering
from severe breathing difficulties. It was agreed that she should be X-rayed
to determine if she should be allowed to continue this way. Waiting at
home for Dr Firth to call was gut wrenching to say the least, but when
the call came I was so relieved to hear that there was a possibility they
could alleviate her distress.
From her case notes Monday 11th.
Admit to x-ray and assess if dog can carry on.
Weight 6kg. Lat neck & chest radiograph: cervical oesophagus unremarkable
with tiny pockets of air deligniating its course. Gross dilation of the
oesophagus immediately cranial to the heart base with ventral deviation
of the trachea. Oesophagus caudal to heart unremarkable. Findings consistent
with Megaoesophagus due to vascular ring anomaly. Small degree of pneumonia
present. Advise Baytril & feeding of semi liquid food little and often
from a height till lung fields improve then general anaesthetic and scope
oesophagus to confirm heart base constriction. Surgery if persistant right
aortic arch confirmed.
Despite the new feeding regime Bonnie still only
managed to keep down a small proportion of her meals, and not only was
she having problems with her food, she also had problems taking water!
On Monday 18th Bonnie had lost 0.6kg, and it
was decided to admit her in on Wednesday 20th to have a gastrostomy tube
fitted to enable her to get some nourishment to build her up a little for
surgery that needed to be carried out sooner rather than later.
On Tuesday 19th I nursed and cuddled her though
the night willing her to keep her fighting spirit to survive until morning.
From her case notes Wednesday 20th.
Poor nutritional state and some dehydration present.
Elect to postpone thoracotomy but place gastrostomy tube for feeding/hydration
ahead of thoracotomy. Weight 5.4 kg. Cannulate. Hartmann’s. General anaesthetic.
Intubate O2/iso. Endoscope oesophagus: constriction 40cm from nose with
pulsatile right oesophageal wall consistent with PRAA. Distal oesophagus
unremarkable but proximal Megaoesophagus present. Left paracostal laporotomy
for gastrostomy tube placement; stomach adhered with PDS to abdominal oblique
muscles. Concentric purse string sutures of PDS laid in stomach wall and
Foley (20FG) catheter passed through stab incision at centre of purse strings.
Strings tied creating stomach inversion around the catheter. Muscle edges
apposed with PDS and skin closed with Ethilon. Chinese finger trap suture
tied to secure catheter to skin. Abdo wrap placed with Melonin, Sofban
& Vetwrap. Inj. syn, Metacam, Pethidine & Tagamet. Pharynx cleared
of fluid. Nasopharyngeal catheter with O2 supplied secured and endotracheal
tube removed on recovery with cuff semi-inflated.
Bonnie was now in the care of the staff at the
Park Veterinary Centre, Watford, and being fed through the tube into her
tummy. Her weight and condition improved daily, and by the Sunday morning
her weight was up to 6.3kg. J
Talking through all the details, Dr Greg Firth
pointed out every possibility good and bad. There was an 80% chance of
her surviving the surgery, and a 50/50 chance of a full recovery. Given
Bonnie’s obvious will to live I felt obliged to offer her everything she
required to do just that, and as the odds were in her favour the decision
was made to go ahead with whatever surgery Greg could perform to save her.
This was a very deserving puppy and expense was not even considered, I
would worry about that when it was all over.
Monday 25th October, the big day. A call to the
centre confirmed the surgery was to go ahead as planned. This was going
to be a long day of waiting! ~ When Greg called me at 8pm to say that all
had gone well it was as if I had won the lottery, but Bonnie needed another
24 hours of recovery to be sure of how well it really did go?!
The surgery notes:
Left 4th i/c thoracotomy. Mediastinal pleura
incised ventral to vagosympathetic trunk & ligamentum arteriosum isolated.
Aortic and pulmonary ends double ligated with Vicryl and ligamentum sectioned
between. Oesophagus freed from connective tissue adhesions to pulmonary
artery and aorta. Foley catheter passed per os to facilitate dissection.
Oesophagus completely freed and passage of catheter made possible unimpeded.
Ribs exposed with PDS Cruciate sutures around adjacent ribs. Intercostal
muscles apposed with Vicryl, serratus, scalanus, and lateral dorsi muscles
each closed with Vicryl. Vicryl subcut suture and Ethilon skin sutures.
Chest drain anchored with Chinese finger trap
& purse string suture laid (drain placed prior to wound closure). Pneumothorac
drained, I/c nerve block performed with Intra-epicaine (total of 2ml inj).
Foley anchored with CFT. 10ml Urograffin inserted into tube and radiograph
taken; all contast in stomach without leakage.
AM Tuesday 26th October. With everyone expecting
to find Bonnie feeling very sorry for herself, they were very pleasantly
surprised to find a bright eyed, tail wagging puppy wanting her breakfast?!
J
An amazing recovery for such a young and weak
puppy only proving to win more hearts of the staff at the centre.
Her gastrostomy tube was removed late Tuesday
afternoon and she was able to resume feeding by mouth in an elevated position.
Bonnie came home on Wednesday evening. She was
still bringing up a small amount after each feed, this was only to be expected
with such a dilated oesophagus, but it is hoped that this may improve in
time. At worst she may have to continue this elevated feeding for life,
and continue with liquidised food, but for what little effort that takes
I can’t see that being such a problem. Bonnie now has a lot of catching
up to do with only weighing 6kg at 15 weeks old, but I am sure we will
if it is up to her. J
As an indication of how weak she is, and how drastic
these procedures have been I am showing you these pictures of her taken
Thursday 28th.
Monday 1st November
Bonnie has been brighter each morning over the
weekend, and this morning she had a mad hour playing my other three dogs
in the garden! ~ Here am I concerned that the others may play too rough,
and it was little Bonnie that was doing all the chasing?!
All her morning meals were eaten with nothing
coming back up, and that was with only a few minutes quiet time in her
crate after each meal. Without the vomiting she is able to take full advantage
of her rest and sleep, all helping with the healing process.
This afternoon we returned to the vet just to
see what (if any) weight she had gained, and you can imagine my delight
at seeing the scales registering 7kg.
Thanks to the veterinary and surgical skills of
Dr Greg Firth, and the TLC from the veterinary nurses at the Park Veterinary
Centre, Watford, Bonnie can now look forward to a brighter future.
Thanks also to Val O’Leary and Terrie Brown for
all the fetching, carrying, and driving around they have done for me (or
should I say Bonnie?) over the past weeks.
A special BIG thank you for the donations received
towards Bonnie’s veterinary care from fellow Helpline contacts, and the
Rocky Trust Fund. They will certainly help with the dent in my Visa card?!
J
I have received any number of messages of love
and support for Bonnie, and I am sure that she is as grateful for all of
your support and good wishes as I am.
Geoff
Help us to continue helping dogs like
Bonnie.
Rocky.  |
Twinkle. |
| Jake. |
Samantha. |
| Polar & Chloe. |
Bonnie. |
| Ben. |
Puppies. |
| ITV's Paul O'Grady Show |
Max. |
| Sacha. |
Queenie. |
| Zara. |
Puppies. |
| Harry. |
Ben. |
Findlay.  |
Kim. |
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