AHT Case Studies- Millie Byatt
Millie, our spaniel cross, is a very special dog. We 'rescued' her from the RSPCA many years ago. After a sad start to her life, we adopted Millie and she slotted into our lives immediately. Over the years, she has been an excellent companion to our flat coat retriever Harry, and then, after he died of cancer, our black labrador George.
Millie has always been pretty robust and healthy in spite of failing kidneys in recent years which we have managed with drugs. But in May this year, a few days after slipping as she was jumping into the landrover, she woke up in excruciating pain. We rushed her to our vets who quickly referred her to the Animal Health Trust. Within a day and in spite of her failing kidneys, she was having a life-saving operation to remove two discs from her spine. After a successful operation, performed by the AHT’s Head of Neurology, Simon Platt, she remained at the AHT for about a week and when we collected her, we thought she might burst with excitement having clearly decided that we had abandoned her for good. (A rescue dog never forgets....) Following instructions from AHT, she was kept quiet in a puppy crate for a month and only walked in the garden with a sling to relieve herself.
Her recovery was rapid and she was soon whizzing about the Suffolk countryside again. Our only concession to her operation is that she is now lifted in and out of the landrover - an indignity she suffers with bad grace.
In August, we entered her in our village fun dog show. Having come second in the veterans’ class she was eligible for the Best in Show class and was therefore up against puppies and young dogs alike. The judges decided that they would run the Championship class as a Dog Agility course, complete with tunnels, jumps and weaving poles. As we had done two years of dog agility classes with Millie she wiped the floor with an enthusiastic, obedient and fast display and walked off with Best In Show - at 12 years old and only a couple of months after a life-saving back operation!
Thanks to the Animal Health Trust and the care of Simon Platt and his nursing staff, we had a happy and pain-free spaniel back at home to enjoy her twilight years with the family she adored.
Caroline and Matthew Byatt
