Lovely 8 year old Oscar unusually escaped from his owner’s garden when he was let out in the morning to go to the toilet as a gate had been opened overnight, it’s thought by a prowler.
Unfortunately, Oscar wandered onto a railway cutting near the garden and his distressed owners heard the train blow its horn followed a terrible cry from Oscar. Oscar was later found miles away from his home with a large degloving injury, where the skin was pulled back over his tail base.
Oscar was referred straight away to our Emergency and Critical Care team where he was rushed in so we could undertake an emergency operation to amputate his tail.
Oscar’s owner said: “We heard a terrible cry from Oscar when he was hit by the train but it wasn’t for another three to four hours that he was found. Now he’s had his wound repaired he’s back to normal, back to chasing squirrels and trying to get a head start to the treat cupboard! Oscar has been magnificent throughout this, bearing in mind he had been re-homed a few times with various issues before we got him.”
Rachel Hattersley, our Head of Theatre who performed Oscar’s surgery, said: “Oscar was in quite a bad state when he was admitted to us. He was stabilised and the wound managed as an open wound until it was healthy enough to close. We then used the skin from Oscar’s tail to close the hole and the operation went as planned. It’s fantastic to hear that Oscar is back to his old self”
Oscar’s treatment also called upon the skills of other members of our veterinary teams together with our dedicated veterinary nurses.
Oscar’s owner Wendy added: “We have used DWR Veterinary Specialists once in the past and have always received excellent service. The vets talked us through the whole procedure step by step and constantly kept us informed. They even spoke about Oscar and treated him as if he was their own dog.”
