A ST MELLONS dog needed life-saving surgery after a suspected snake bite. The three-year-old Labrador cross, Missy, lost a leg but, thanks to the treatment she received at Cardiff PDSA PetAid hospital, she has made an excellent recovery.

The dog’s ordeal began when her owner, John Staniforth, 62, took Missy for her daily walk to the park near their home. The walk itself was uneventful, but after they returned home John’s wife, Alison (55), noticed Missy was struggling to walk.

“I noticed her limping,” said Alison, “and when I took her leg in my hand to look closer I noticed a bit of blood, but it didn’t look serious, so I booked an appointment with PDSA for the following day.”

When they woke the next morning Missy’s leg was three-times its usual size. “There was blood coming from the pores of her skin, and open wounds where her skin had split,” recalls Alison.

On arrival at PDSA’s PetAid hospital in Butetown, Missy was rushed in by the vet team where she was treated with antibiotics, pain relief and fluids.

PDSA vet nurse Karen Jones said “We were really quite shocked by Missy’s leg. On examination we noticed two small puncture marks on her foot plus the clinical signs which indicated she may have been bitten by a snake. Things like this are very unusual but the signs are very dramatic – a dog can die within a week if they don’t get any veterinary care as the liver and kidneys just shut down.”

Missy was closely monitored by the PetAid hospital for two weeks, receiving medication, pain relief and having her leg dressed every day.

Karen continues:”The problem seemed to be spreading up her whole leg to her elbow and extended to the under-arm area. There was nothing that we could do to stop her skin shedding and it was one of the worst cases that I’ve ever seen. Missy was becoming increasingly withdrawn and we decided that urgent action needed to be taken to save her life.”

The vet team explained to John and Alison that they had two options, skin grafts - which would involve lengthy treatment with no guarantee of success, or amputating Missy’s leg.

Alison said: “It was a difficult decision to make which split the family; my son didn’t want Missy to have her leg amputated as he was worried about how it might change her. But she was becoming more depressed and hated having her leg dressed each day, and we knew that the infection was spreading through her body, which could kill her, so after careful discussion with the vets at PDSA, we came to the decision that the best course of action for Missy would be to have her leg amputated.”

Amazingly, after just a day recovering after PDSA’s surgery and intensive care, Missy was well enough to go home.