How sharp vets saved Toby from a needle in the neck
THESE shocking pictures show how close a tiny dog came to serious injury when vets found a sewing needle lodged in his throat.
Vets feared Yorkshire terrier Toby had a brain tumour after he began suffering from neck pain, struggled to walk and showed signs of seizures.
However, after taking X-rays of the 13year-old dog, vets in Nairn, near Inverness, were shocked to discover the problems were in fact being caused by a 3in-long sewing needle.
The needle, which still had thread attached, was lodged in his neck, piercing his spinal cord and sitting dangerously close to his brain.
Fearing for Toby’s life, vets referred him to the specialist surgical clinic at the University of Edinburgh’s Hospital for Small Animals at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies.
There, staff carried out a CT scan to evaluate whether or not there had been any major damage to Toby’s spinal cord.
Then, during surgery, they used specialist X-ray equipment to view the needle in real time, allowing them to carefully remove the object without the need for an invasive operation.
Luckily, Toby has recovered well since the needle was removed in August last year and he is now back walking and running normally.
Owner Alexander Jamieson, from Beauly, Inverness-shire, said: ‘We feel that without the help of the experts in Edinburgh, Toby would not be here today.
‘The care and attention he got was out of this world and we are delighted to see him back to his old self.’ It is not known how the needle ended up in Toby’s neck but vets suspect that he could have eaten it or laid his head on it.
Samantha Woods, senior lecturer, and Jessica McCarthy, senior clinical training scholar in small animal surgery at the Hospital for Small Animals, are delighted with Toby’s recovery.
Miss Woods said: ‘We are really pleased to see Toby back to full health, thanks to the combined efforts of his vets and our specialist teams here in Edinburgh.’