"Charlie" - Cat Attacked by Dogs
| On a nice Monday morning out, nobody expects to bump into a pair of bad tempered dogs. Neither did Charlie, an 8 year old cat, when he was walking along a street and crossed paths with two unattended big dogs who immediately attacked him. Charlie was severely injured in the attack and needed immediate emergency treatment. Apart from the deep puncture wounds all over his back, this cat also suffered from a luxation of the spine which caused permanent paralysis of the tail, weakness of the hind limbs and nervous damage that leads to urinary dysfunction and faecal incontinence. At this stage the prognosis for Charlie's future was very poor. Despite this, the owners felt they wanted to give their pet every chance to recover. After 3 days, when Charlie's condition was stable, I performed a tail amputation. This was necessary to prevent secondary wounds and soiling of the tail. "Flystrike" can be a major concern during the summer months where a patient is unable to urinate or defecate properly. As Charlie could not empty his bladder by himself, the owners had to help him daily to urinate by putting some pressure on the bladder. The prospects of recovery in these situations are entirely dependent on owner support despite the poor outlook. Against everyone's expectations, Charlie recovered very quickly from his lesions. After several days he managed to empty his bladder completely by himself, his walking has much improved as there is only a slight limp left and the wounds are healing up very well. As unlucky as Charlie was when he met those dogs, so lucky is he that he was given this wonderful chance to recover and to live a happy life. Terry Dunne BVMS, Cert SAO, MRCVS |