Vets find needle in neck of dog they suspected of having brain tumour

A dog feared to have a brain tumour has made a full recovery after he turned out to have a needle lodged in his neck.

Yorkshire terrier Toby’s owners took their pet to the vet after noticing that he was suffering from neck pain, struggling to walk and showing signs of seizures.

The vet in Nairn suspected that the 13-year-old dog might have a brain tumour and took X-rays of Toby’s head.

However, the X-rays revealed that he in fact had a 7cm metal sewing needle with thread attached lodged in his neck, piercing his spinal cord and 0 Toby: Recovered well since the needle was removed

dangerously close to his brain. Toby was referred to the specialist surgical clinic at the University of Edinburgh’s Hospital for Small Animals at the Royal (Dick) School for Veter- inary Studies, where vets performed a CT scan to evaluate any major damage to Toby’s spinal cord.

During surgery they used specialist X-ray equipment to view the needle in real time, an approach which allowed the surgeons to carefully remove the object without the need for an invasive operation. Toby has recovered well since the needle was removed last year and is now back walking and running normally.

His owner, Alexander Jamieson, said: “We feel that without the help of the experts in Edinburgh, Toby would not be here today.”

It is not known how the needle ended up in Toby’s neck.