Neil gets springer into action
I have a springer spaniel, Toby, who is 11 years old. He is a working dog who loves to work. My daughter took him out for a short afternoon walk and after throwing a ball on a muddy field he came home with a limp. After a week without him improving, a call to the vet was made and he was found to have a ruptured cruciate ligament and was referred to another vet for an operation.
I sent an email to Sporting Gun, addressed to Neil McIntosh, and to my surprise I received a message from Neil asking me to ring him. He told me what to ask my vet regarding what type of operation that they were going to do, either a TTA or DPTO, and suggested I ask for a copy of the X-rays. He explained the format the operation would take and what he thought would be the best outcome in the long term. When I talked to the vet she obviously thought I knew what I was talking about and proceeded to explain what she was going to do and did a drawing of the procedure and mentioned that she had carried out the same DPTO operation on her 12-year-old springer.
Toby has now had his stitches removed and, as Neil suggested, I called him to let him know how Toby was doing and he confirmed what my vet told me I needed to do for the best chance of a full recovery. It was good having a vet like Neil, who is used to dealing with working dogs, to consult to put my mind at rest so that I was confident that I was getting the best possible information.
Thank you Neil and thank you Sporting Gun for passing my request to Neil. Bob McCartney, via email