A COCKERPOO who ate three chicken kebab sticks is on the road to recovery and back to his cheeky self following a lifesaving operation at a Hampshire animal hospital.
Four-year-old Alfie underwent surgery at Linnaeus-owned Anderson Moores Veterinary Specialists in Hursley after the kebab sticks pierced his stomach, diaphragm and one of his lung lobes.
The tip of one of the sticks was just a few millimetres away from his heart and main chest vessels, which could have resulted in life-threatening bleeding if punctured.
Alfie’s medical emergency started when he ate some skewers before his owners, Chris and Laura Reeves from Farnborough, were able to stop him. They quickly realised something was seriously wrong when their pet started being sick.
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Laura said: “Alfie is more than just a dog to us as he is part of our family, so we were very shocked to discover how much damage the skewers caused.
“We knew the operation had to be carried out to save him but we were so concerned about the procedure given the possible scenarios, one of which was Alfie not surviving.
“However, the Anderson Moores team phoned as much as they could during the five-hour surgery and our vet Juan Carlos was amazing.
“Alfie is now back home and completely back to his usual cheeky self. You wouldn’t even know what had happened to him. We cannot thank the team at Anderson Moores enough.”
Juan Carlos Sandoval, a resident in small animal surgery at Anderson Moores, operated on Alfie with Alison Moores, consultant in soft tissue surgery, and fellow small animal surgeon Kate Holroyd.
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Mr Sandoval said: “It was a lengthy and complex procedure to remove the three sticks and repair the damage to the pierced tummy, diaphragm and lung lobe.
“Nevertheless, the surgery went really well and Alfie was discharged five days later. The operation actually took place on Alfie’s fourth birthday, so he obviously had to skip any celebrations at the time but he has since been able to enjoy it properly.”
Anderson Moores offers specialist care in anaesthesia and analgesia, cardiology, dentistry, dermatology, diagnostic imaging, emergency and critical care, feline hyperthyroid clinic, internal medicine, neurology, oncology, orthopaedics and soft tissue surgery.
For more information go to andersonmoores.com.
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