SPANIEL STANLEY’S TAIL WAGGING AGAIN AFTER TREATMENT FOR RARE CONDITION

A beloved spaniel is back to his happy self after we treated a painful orthopaedic condition which was causing him discomfort and agitation.

Poor cocker spaniel puppy Stanley began snapping and resource guarding when he turned eight months old, which owner Clare Armstrong, from Lancaster, believed was due to his age.

Local vets referred Stanley to us to see if the source of the pain could be found.

One of our EBVS® European Specialists in small animal surgery, Gemma Holloway, carried out a CT scan and found the reason for his pain, which was leading to Stanley being reactive.

Gemma said: “The scan found the source of Stanley’s problem was a relatively unusual condition. He had osteochondritis disacans lesion, which was affecting his spine.

“In puppies, the skeleton is initially made of cartilage which changes to bone as they grow. However, with this condition it does not change and was causing a spur which irritated the nerves of Stanley’s lower back and made this area painful.”

The problem is most commonly found in the shoulder, elbow or knee joint, and rarely in the spine where it was affecting Stanley.

Gemma and fellow EBVS® European Specialist in small animal surgery, Jan Beranek, operated to remove the spur.

Four weeks later, Stanley was happily pain free, fully recovered and back to his bouncy self.

Grateful owner Clare said: “When Stanley was diagnosed and the vets said they could treat him it was such a relief. His pain had gone on for months and we believed his reactivity was probably caused by him being uncomfortable.

“We were keen to get the surgery done while he was young and fit, though the recovery wasn’t quite as easy.

“Stanley is a high-energy, anxious and active young cocker spaniel, he’s strong, athletic and try telling him he’s had spinal surgery!

“Luckily, he recovered very quickly and we’re building up the length and number of his walks which he loves.”

Along with a clean bill of physical health, Clare has also seen an improvement in her dog’s behavioural issues.

She added: “Stanley is now over a year old and doing so well. You would not be able to tell he’d had surgery.

“Kentdale have been amazing through the whole experience. All of the team are lovely, welcoming and professional. While we hope that we don’t have to go back, if something happened then we’d definitely take Stan to Kentdale.”