11 years old

Boxer

When Cassie came to Noah she was drinking constantly but could never satisfy her thirst. In order to find the cause of these abnormalities x-rays and ultrasounds were taken to no avail. Our vet recommended that Cassie have an MRI scan. A portable MRI scanner came to Noah each month from the U.K to allow cases like Cassie to be seen as until  recently there were no in house MRI scanners in Ireland. The Results of the MRI showed that Cassie had a tumour on her adrenal gland. As soon as this discovered it was decided that our vets would operate in order to remove the tumour, with the owners consent.

The operation was a success and Cassie had to be monitored very closely for a number of weeks to avoid an Addisonian crisis. Medication was used to stabilise her until her other atrophied adrenal gland could begin to work normally. She has had follow up blood tests which show that her emaining adrenal gland had returned to normal and she is doing very well. Cassie ‘s owners are very grateful to the surgeon for performing the operation and to Allianz pet insurance for paying the fees.

 Surgeon: Dr.W.McCartney   Assistant Surgeon.Dr.K.Kiss   Nurses:C.Mahon, F.McGovern, K Roberts   Author: K Roberts

Example of a corneal dermoid

name:holly
Breed:Shih tzu
sex:female
 
Holly came to Noah with a corneal dermoid  on her eye.
On examination it was found that she also had a deep corneal ulcer which was caused by irritation of the hairs from the corneal dermoid
Surgery was the only option for Holly.
The first step was to remove the corneal dermoid, by carefully excising the cyst and adjacent cornea and then complementing that with cryosurgery over the remnant of the cyst. Keratectomy was also performed,this involves removing the superficial layers  of the cornea which are diseased.
The ulcer was debrided and a flap of conjunctiva was then placed over the space were the ulcer was by suturing.
Holly will be left with a scar over her eye but there will be a pain free eye.
 
Surgeon: Dr.W.McCartney   Assistant Surgeon.Dr.K.Kiss   Nurses:C.Mahon, F.McGovern, K Roberts
Author: K Roberts

Rocky Logan Pre-Op X-ray

Rocky

6 Months old

Yorkshire Terrier

Male
Rocky and his owners live in North Dublin and are dog lovers. They had just bought Rocky when they noticed something was wrong.
Rocky was displaying odd behaviour so his owners brought him in for a consult. He presented with hair loss,disorientation and he wasn’t eating. He kept walking into walls and getting stuck in corners. Results of Rocky’s blood test showed high ammonia levels and after a number of tests to find the cause of this, it was found that Rocky had a deformed venal system leading to his liver. It was a portosystemic shunt, and was diagnosed by a special imaging protocol. In a normal system food is absorbed in the intestines and should enter the liver through the portal vein allowing the liver to breakdown toxic substances and convert ammonia to urea in order to be removed from the body. The blood after being purified should then enter the vena cava to be brought to the heart and pumped all over the body.

In Rocky’s system blood was bypassing the liver and entering straight into the vena cava through another vein,
causing Rocky’s blood to be toxic i.e the blood was shunted from the portal vein away from the liver. To correct this an operation was performed to slowly close the shunt off so redirecting the blood to the liver. This involves placing an Ameroid constrictor around the shunt vein (see Xray).The Ameroid constrictor gradually occludes the vessel to allow circulation to adjust, it expands by absorbing water constricting the vein
therefore allowing the blood to flow through the portal vein and into the liver

Rocky Logan Post op X-Ray

Rocky was kept in our hospital for two weeks to recover and was given 24 hour supervision and care.
Rocky has been  a special hepatic diet but has recovered well and is now a healthy young dog.

Surgeon: Dr.W.McCartney   Assistant Surgeon.Dr.K.Kiss   Nurses:C.Mahon, F.McGovern, K Roberts   Author: K Roberts

Millie-Pre-op

Millie
1Year old
Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
5kg

Millie was referred from the Dundalk area she had been staying with her owners relatives while her owner had surgery for a prolapsed disc.
She was found unable to stand or lift her head up  in the morning having been moving fine the night before therefore she was unable to eat. After a few hours Millie was transported down to Noah.
X-rays revealed that she had a atlantoaxial subluxation.This refers to the first 2 vertebrae in the neck the Atlas and the Axis, the  Atlas has to articulate with the skull and the Axis must provide a pivot for the attachment of the neck muscles so the head can be kept upright by the neck.
There are many ligaments directly associated between these 2 vertebrae for example the forced flexion of these ligaments caused by a dog running head first into a wall could cause a rupture.
Once the rupture occurs the two vertebrae can move too much between each other and compression of the spinal cord occurs  causing paralysis. Treatment is by putting 2 screws or pins between the 2 vertebrae to stop them moving between each other
Millie and her owner would now both be having spinal surgery during the same week.

Millie was able to return home after a week of observation and physiotherapy  and we are pleased to say she is recovering well from her surgery.

Surgeon: Dr.W.McCartney   Assistant Surgeon.Dr.K.Kiss   Nurses:C.Mahon, F.McGovern, K Roberts

Author: K Roberts

Lenny

Lenny is a two and a half year old poodle.

When he collapsed Lenny’s owners brought him to their local vet.

After an examination it was found that Lenny’s collapse was due to a disc problem.

Lenny was then referred to Noah.

A lumbar puncture and myelogram were carried out in order to find the cause of this problem, A myelogram is a diagnostic imaging procedure were a Iodine based dye is injected in to the sub aracnoid space which surrounds the spinal cord, After the dye is injected an x-ray takes place which allows us to see the outline of the spinal cord and which disc is causing the problem

A compression on his spinal cord due to the slow extrusion of the nucleolus pulposus in a thoracic disc to the point were the  pressure caused paralysis  was found after performing the myelogram.

Spinal decompression surgery was therefore carried out.

Lenny has been receiving physiotherapy since his surgery and is making excellent progress.