I have an emergency
Meet Bear and his wonderful owner Ms Iwaki. Bear presented to Village Vet Hampstead in early November after being attacked by a much large dog in the park. Bear was triaged and admitted by Dr Anya Morrissey who carefully examined Bear and his injuries. Bear sustained a bite wound to his abdomen that was bleeding and also had large swelling under the skin. Ultrasound of the swelling confirmed Dr Morrissey’s concern that Bear had a traumatic abdominal hernia (a break/breach in Bear’s abdominal muscles) and a section of intestines had become trapped within the hole! Bear was stabilised with intravenous antibiotics, analgesia and fluid resuscitation and rushed to surgery with Dr Morrissey and Dr Varan Rajan. The trapped piece of intestine was seriously compromised due to lack of blood supply and crushing injuries. Bear needed 16 cm of intestine to be removed and his abdominal muscle and bite wounds were also surgically repaired. After surgery, Bear stayed in the hospital for round the clock monitoring, assessment and pain relief under the care of Dr Helen Kirkpatrick, Head of Hospital and our exceptional team of nurses.
Bear was incredibly brave and a huge favourite with the team in the hospital and we are all so pleased to see him make a full recovery. Above is a photo of bear with Ms Iwaki at his annual vaccination appointment at our St Johns Wood branch one month after surgery.
Bite wounds can look superficial but can be associated with infection and internal trauma not visible from the outside. We recommend you seek advice from a vet as soon as possible following bite wounds or any trauma, even if they look superficial. Village Vet Hampstead is open 24 hours, 7 days a week, 365 days a year to be there where your pets need us.
Public spaces are there for everyone to enjoy and we are so lucky in London that events like this rarely happen but it is a legal requirement for dogs to be under control in our public spaces at all times. Dogs can behave unexpectedly and if you are concerned about your dog’s interactions with other dogs, seek advice with vets and behaviourists.
