Super Bruno

Meet Bruno, the friendliest Maremma I have ever met. He is living proof that any breed of dog is capable of being well socialised! This champ is one of my fave patients.

He loves coming into the vet clinic and is usually busting with excitement to see everyone especially me because I have brain washed him with heaps of liver treats.

About a month and a half ago, I was called out afterhours to examine him as he was just hit by a car.

His poor dad witnessed the whole thing. They brought him straight in and he snapped at me and his own parents during the consult for the first time ever. He was in shock and in a lot of pain. We could see a gash around his neck but he would not allow me to fully examine the extent of the wound. He was stable otherwise. I gave him pain relief and admitted him to the hospital for close monitoring and reassessment the next day.

The next morning, he was more comfortable but appeared very stiff in his neck. I was starting to get concerned about his cervical spine.

I proceeded with a full anaesthetic and only then did I realise how stoic this poor pooch was.

He had a very extensive skin flap. I had not expected the wound to be so huge. The pictures below clearly illustrate the extent of his wounds.

You can easily appreciate that it was quite a job getting that laceration stitched up. Chris (my nurse) did an awesome job at scrubbing and preparing his wounds for surgery. The length of the wound was about 35-45 cm and over his neck & shoulders. This is what it looked like after I repaired it surgically.

I was very concerned about the high potential for wound break. .

Unfortunately, my concerns were verified one week later.

Bruno developed a seroma (hard tissue swelling on the right side of his neck) which was very painful and required repeat surgery to put a drain in it.

Bruno is pretty blessed not to have been killed or even paralysed from his accident. He was obviously run over at high speed. Thankfully, he made an awesome recovery after that. This would not have been possible without his very dedicated and amazing owners. They followed our home care instructions so thoroughly and did an excellent job at cleaning his wounds and medicating him and bringing him back every couple of days for reassessment. It is so rewarding to work with such great clients that were so down to earth and reliable and worked with us as a team to help Bruno get back on track!

He came in for a revisit today and I was very happy to see that his wound is healing very nicely and has very little to go.

It was quite a challenge taking a photograph of him today because he was too full of spice.  The pictures of his initial injuries were good because they were taken while he was under anaesthetic. This is what his wounds look like now.

Bruno brought his sister with him today to introduce her to the whole concept of liver treats at our practice! They had a blast and ate lots of treats.

It was just so great to see Bruno back to his very happy hyperactive self!

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