Rosie recently visited the surgery due to a fast growing lump on her toe. After initial treatment for the lump no improvement was seen and the decision was made to amputate the toe and send the lump off for testing. Rosie has had a long recovery which has needed substational care with dressing changes every few days on her foot due to excellent care from her owners, Rosie is nearly back to her normal self and is managing fine on her 3 toes. Dogs are digitigrade animals, meani

Scout first visited the surgery some weeks ago. Scout being a very excitable puppy had managed to fracture his trochanter tip femur. Scout was put on strict cage rest and follow up x-rays showed the fracture had started to repair. The growth plates in a dog are areas of cartilage that develop at the end of the long bones of the legs. Over time, they calcify developing into denser matter as your puppy gets older and works their muscles more. As your puppies grow , how and whe

Millie visited the surgery for some further investigations and tests which included having her blood pressure monitored and a urinalysis, taking the blood pressure reading off a cat is very challenging but Millie was the purfect patient. Measuring blood pressure usually takes only a few minutes, and involves placing an inflatable cuff around a leg or the tail (much the same as the cuff used on the arm in humans). It is completely pain-free. A urine sample is collect using spe

Meet Nelly a Dwarf Hamster who visited the surgery due to a sore back leg. Nelly needed to have an X-ray to see if there was any damage to her bones, we would usually sedate or give patients a general anesthetic to position them for X-ray Nelly was far to small for this. A cardboard tube was used to place tilly in and wrapped around her so she could not move allowing us to x-ray her. Nelly was very brave and no broken bones were found Nelly is now home recovering well. Did yo

Cooper recently visited us as he had sliced his tongue whilst playing with another dog. Cooper had to have a general anaesthetic and quite a few sutures placed in his tongue. Did you know a dogs is like a It's a radiator, a water-lapper, a healer of wounds, a food conveyor, a register of tastes, a texture sensor, and a wet equivalent of a dog's handshake. A dog's tongue has more responsibilities than any other part of the dog anatomy -- excluding the brain. And oddly enough,

Enzo visited the surgery after suffering from intermittent lameness over a short period of time. Enzo has had extensive test including a CT scan of his leg. Enzo was diagnosed with a fractured medial coronoid process. This is a developmental defect of one of the coronoid processes, two small bony protrusions on the end of the ulna within the elbow joint. In this condition, one of the coronoid processes develops a fissure or crack and separates from the rest of the bone. Enzo

Paddy a whippet visited the Tyldesley surgery with a lump on his side. After drawing some cells out of the lump with a needle a decision was made to take a biopsy of the lump and send it off for further testing. Paddy was booked in a few days later to have the lump biopsied and sent to a canine pathologist to have a more detailed evaluation of the lump carried out. The results of the lump showed it was spindle cell sarcoma, so Paddy would need extensive surgery to remove t

Lightning the ferret visited the surgery this week.. Female ferrets (jills) come into season (oestrus) in spring and summer (March to September) as the day length begins to increase. They will stay in season either until mated or until day length reduces again. During this time they are subject to high levels of the hormone oestrogen. This can suppress the production of red blood cells and lead to a life threatening anaemia. Female ferrets can die from the subsequent anaemia

Ariel the ferret recently visited us due to a lump growing on her back, after further investigation it was decided the lump must be removed due to the rapid rate of growth and ulceration. Ferrets have to be monitored very closely during an anaesthetic as they can develop hypothermia, heat pads and bubble wrap are used to help keep them warm during surgery. With any lump removal the veterinary surgeon must make sure they obtain good margins, Lumpectomy margins are the rim of n

Bella visited us for intermittent lameness on her back leg, after an initial investigation of X-rays at our Adlington branch, Bella was diagnosed with medial patella luxation. Bella was than transferred to our Standish Orthopaedic site. Medial patella luxation is a condition where the patella (knee-cap) does not stay in its normal position in the groove on the end of the femur (thigh bone) and will pop-out, or luxate, to the medial (inside) surface of the knee.  For most cats

Otto got a little more adventure than he expected on his walk. Whilst on his daily walk Otto likes to have a leisurely swim in the local pond/lake, but on this occasion when he surfaced he had a fish hook stuck in his mouth. Due to the barbs on fish hooks, they can be difficult to remove without sedation, minor surgery, and pain medication. Considerable damage can also be caused if someone pulls on a fishing line after the hook has already become embedded in the animal, so we

Today we saw Lexi who visited us for a Laparoscopic Spay. There are two types of laparoscopic spays a Ovariectomy where only the ovaries are removed or a ovariohysterectomy where the ovaries and womb are removed. By removing the womb, any chance of womb cancer is eliminated. The most important piece of equipment in a laparoscopic spay is the LigaSure machine. The LigaSure is a vessel sealing device. With this device, you simply clamp it on the vessel, squeeze a button, wait a

This week we saw Hugo who came to us for a castrate, whilst being examined we noticed a hernia and were able to carry out the hernia repair surgery at the time for castration. Canine hernias are relatively common. Similar to humans, a hernia is a condition where the contents of a dog’s abdomen pushes through a tear or hole in the muscle wall or fatty tissue. Over 90 percent of canine hernia cases are due to genetics. Hernias can also develop from trauma or injury. Dogs with h

Meet Bailey who visited us with a sore leg he had damage to her cruciate and had a surgical procedure called a TPLO One of the most common injuries to the knee of dogs is tearing of the cranial cruciate ligament (CCL). This ligament is similar to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in humans. There are actually two cruciate ligaments inside the knee: the cranial cruciate ligament and caudal cruciate ligament. They are called cruciate because they cross over each other insid

The object was identified with an X-ray in the small intestine causing a partial obstruction, Zoe was taken to theatre where it was surgically removed. Foreign objects swallowed by animals can cause a partial or complete intestinal obstruction and are one of the most common indications for intestinal surgery. If a foreign body becomes lodged over a period of time then there may be serious complications. Clinical signs of obstruction include dehydration, vomiting, anorexia, we

This weeks emergency surgery **PYOMETRA** Pyometras usually appear in unneutered female dogs after a season. Pyometra occurs when an intact females’ uterus fills with pus. This infection will become life threatening if left untreated. There are two types of pyometra: closed and open pyometra. This distinction is based on whether the pus is draining out to the exterior or not. If closed, the cervix is sealed, and the course of the illness is shorter and more severe. SIGNS *Deh

Vivienne attended the surgery last week as she was very lethargic and her owner was very concerned. Further tests were carried out and we found Vinenne had a Pyothorax. Pyothorax is an accumulation of fluid that contains an infectious (usually bacteria) agent and immune system cells in the space surrounding the lungs and heart. A small needle was placed into the chest to withdraw some fluid, and to relieve the pressure surrounding the lungs and heart and allowing Vivienne to

Meet Leila she came to us as she had started to pass lots of small wees. An ultrasound was preformed and the veterinary surgeon was able to see large stones present taking up almost the entire bladder. Leila was booked in the following day for a cystotomy. A cystotomy is the most indicated treatment of bladder problems including removal of bladder stones,The cystotomy is performed through an incision on the dog’s abdomen which is located towards the rear of the abdomen. Once