A dog’s spine was rebuilt using a titanium implant in a pioneering operation to treat a cancerous bone tumour.
Nine-year-old Boatswain was struggling to walk and his spine was at risk of imminent fracture because of the tumour. Owners Emma Clarke and Jamie Platt, from Walsall, feared their Staffy cross wouldn’t survive.
But a team at Pride Veterinary Referrals in Derby carried out the ground-breaking surgical technique, using a tailor-made implant to replace a vertebra affected by cancer for the first time in the UK.
Remarkably, while the vet team knew recovery could be lengthy, Boatswain was up and walking again in just 12 hours.
“He’s a very gentle dog who loves playing with our other Staffy, Scout,” said Emma. “We’d started noticing a few little things, like sometimes not jumping off the sofa or into the car, although not enough to really worry us.
“But then he began to yelp in pain and was having trouble getting downstairs. When we took him to our vets, he was in real pain wherever they touched him. We go to a specialist vet in Scotland for treatment for Scout’s arthritis and they did X-rays and told us that it looked like Boatswain had a tumour. It was a huge shock, and we could hardly take it in.”
Urgent treatment was required and within a couple of days Boatswain had been referred to Pride Veterinary Referrals, part of My Family Vets.
Boatswain faced a bleak future with a high risk of a spinal fracture, leaving him paralysed. After tests confirmed the sarcoma and that radiotherapy would only buy time, the couple opted to go ahead with the surgery.
“By that time, he was dragging his back legs and unable to walk, so although we were told how new and risky the surgery was, we had to at least give him a chance,” said Emma. “There was no hope otherwise and I just wanted my dog back.”
The surgery was so novel and complex, a large team was required at Pride Veterinary Referrals, led by vets Juan Minguez, Annette Wessmann and Rosario Vallefuoco.
“The aim was to remove all of the tumour, which meant we would have to remove the whole vertebrae,” said Mr Minguez. “So, before we even started, we had a tailor-made titanium implant designed for Boatswain’s spine.
“Once we removed the tumour and vertebrae, we were able to replace it with the implant. This was state-of-the-art surgery, so we had to plan every step in advance. Thankfully everything went well, and we were thrilled by how Boatswain came through it.
“When we saw Boatswain get up and start walking within hours, we had to hug one another. Now we hope to be able to give other dogs a better quality of life with similar procedures.”
Boatswain still has to undergo a course of chemotherapy but has been progressing so well at home he’s had to be held back from playing and doing too much too early.
“When we went to pick him up and he walked out with his tail wagging, it was an amazing feeling,” said Jamie. “We can see more of his old self coming through each day, but even now I look at him I can’t believe this really happened, and he has this titanium spine in there. We’re so proud that Boatswain is going to benefit other dogs who will hopefully be able to have similar surgery.”
Pride Veterinary Referrals is part of My Family Vets, a nationwide network of veterinary practices and referral hospitals.
Pets needing highly-specialised care, such as oncology, neurology or ophthalmology, are referred to Pride Veterinary Referrals by their daytime vet.
