By Aly Semigran February 15, 2017 at 06:18PM
On Friday, February 3, a puppy was brought to University Veterinary Specialists in McMurray, Pennsylvania in a shocking condition: the young dog had a 5-inch metal rod impaled in his head.
Veterinarians don’t know exactly how this happened, but thanks to the immediate care and hard-fought efforts of the staff at the hospital, the puppy has miraculously survived this horrific ordeal. The dog’s case has since been reported and is currently under investigation by the Washington County Humane Society.
In a joint statement sent to petMD.com from Chief Medical Officer Dr. Dimitri Brown and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Rory Lubold, the vets explain that the rod “went through the middle of his head [running through the front of his brain] and out the other eye socket.”
Both Dr. Brown and Dr. Lubold note that given the severity of the injury, the dog’s life was in grave danger when he arrived. “[We took] lot of precautions when planning to surgically remove the metal rod. We took a day to plan, perform advanced imaging, and consult with our specialists to make sure we did everything we could for this puppy.”
The surgery, which was performed by three doctors and two technicians, took roughly an hour to remove the rod. The surgery went perfectly and, miraculously, the dog’s vision was spared, despite the placement of the rod.
“At the time of the procedure we were very uncertain about his vision, but wanted to give the puppy a chance,” said Brown and Lubold in the statement. “In the days afterwards, we were very impressed by his improvement and he almost immediately had vision in his left eye. It wasn’t until the past few days that we became very optimistic that the puppy would make a full recovery with vision in both eyes, and have no lasting damage.”
The puppy, who is currently healing from his surgery at the hospital, is expected to make a full recovery and be available for adoption soon. “His recovery has been much more rapid than we anticipated. He woke up from surgery and wanted to play immediately. He’s been eating, drinking, and playing ever since.”
Brown and Lubold describe the resilient puppy as “lively and spirited” and say that he’s been a “great patient” despite his trauma. “There’s nothing that holds him back!”
If you’re interested in helping this puppy, and other animals just like him in need, you can donate to the UVS Cares Foundation.
Image via University Veterinary Specialists
http://www.petmd.com/news/health-science/puppy-metal-rod-head-miraclously-makes-full-recovery-35435?icn=HP-HEALTH&icl=Puppy%20With%20Metal%20Rod%20in%20Head%20Miraclously%20Expected%20to%20Make%20Full%20Recovery
