Meet George! This lovey boy is a star pet after recovering from traumatic leg injuries.
Back in September last year George (age 5) was taken to the out of hours emergency vet by his owners with some nasty wounds on his hind legs. One of the wounds on George’s right hind leg had exposed some bones in his foot, a wound known as a de-gloving injury. The main cause of de-gloving wounds is a car accident, when the animal is dragged or pushed by a moving car. Luckily George had not suffered any fractures or other internal injuries but the wounds were severe. After receiving emergency treatment, George was referred back to us for further care and another assessment of his injuries. For this, vet Cathy gave George a sedative to make him sleepy as his legs were very painful. The type of injuries that George had sustained meant that the wounds were unable to be stitched and they needed to heal naturally. To protect the wounds and support the healing process we placed bandages onto George’s legs that required changing every three days. For each bandage change George needed to be sedated as it was sore for him and understandably he was not too impressed! The nurses carefully cleaned and flushed the wounds to refresh them before applying a special gel designed to aid healing followed by the protective bandage. George's wounds were starting to form healthy granulation tissue, a good sign that healing was taking place. After two weeks, vet Cathy was able to place a couple of stitches into the main wound to further close it and George's bandages were left off. However he needed a buster (cone) collar to prevent him from washing his legs and making things worse again; although we are sure he thought he was helping!
With the positive progress made, George now needed close supervision to prevent him from licking the wounds and opening them back up. He became quite inventive in trying to get to them and was able to bend the cone in such a way that he could reach his foot! He also managed to scrape the wound with the edge of the cone as he tried to groom himself. We didn't want George to suffer any set back; he was already becoming quite depressed and fed up. His owner agreed that it would be best if he stayed with us in the hospital on strict supervision and cage rest. George was now sporting a larger collar and he needed extra help to reach his food but he adapted really well to wearing it. All the staff loved George but he wasn't always so keen on us and a quick swipe would be his warning that he was cross. This was understandable after all that he'd been through but we soon started to see through his moods. He really is a sweet boy and he started to enjoy our company, especially that of animal care assistant Gemma. She spent a lot of time with him and provided some enrichment to prevent him getting bored. It paid off and soon George was showing his true colours with lots of loving head bumps, purring and paw kneading! It was a lovely moment when George was ready to go home to his owners, their patience and devotion to his care over the last 4 months has been outstanding.
George is now doing really well at home and we couldn't be happier! After all that George has been through, suffering the trauma of his accident and then undergoing the treatment with such bravery, this gorgeous boy truly is a star pet! Well done George!
