When genes go wrong
Amazingly, the next morning, Ralph was standing on three legs wagging his tail, demanding his breakfast.
9 years of age. So for us, any front leg lameness, especially in older rotties, rings warning bells.
Another sad fact is that the tumour cells can transfer to other places in the body, such as the lungs, and be impossible to detect until a late stage.
As I said, Ralph is an exception to the age rule and everyone involved has wanted to do whatever it takes to give Ralph a happy and pain-free life.
The next day, the team at the hospital had Ralph sound asleep and closely monitored. Two hours later and after some involved surgery, Ralph was quietly resting on a soft, warm padded bed minus his painful leg.
Removing a limb is an emotive concept for us, but my patients do incredibly well. There is a vet saying that goes: ‘‘Three legs and a spare.’’
Many people have seen a threelegged cat or dog and they can run and play pretty normally. Cats can still climb and catch mice and unlucky birds.
Amazingly, the next morning, Ralph was standing on three legs wagging his tail, demanding his breakfast. From that day he has got stronger and stronger on his legs and after three days he went home to an awesome family that we can’t thank enough for being so caring and devoted.
We will check him regularly for any developing illness over the next few months, but hopefully, with the early detection, he will live a normal life.
This fact that the disease is so prevalent in rottweilers certainly supports the now recognised fact that some types of tumours have a genetic basis. Hopefully, we will soon be able to screen breeding pets to determine whether they carry the gene.
With new technology, we can gene test for more and more diseases in pets. A recent advance means that we can offer a DNA test to check certain breeds of cat for a potentially fatal disease that affects their kidneys, called polycystic kidney.
If you want to know more about this or any other gene tests, then give the hospital a call on 357 9993 any day of the week, including every week night until 7pm.