Retired Police Dog Pablo Undergoes Life-saving Cancer Surgery At Dick White Referrals
4 years ago 
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A retired police dog is back enjoying the good life again after successful treatment for a colonic neoplasm at one of the UK’s leading animal hospitals.
The 11-year-old Cocker Spaniel, called Pablo, was a highly-trained sniffer dog used to recover drugs, cash and weapons for Suffolk and Norfolk Police.
Shortly after leaving the line of duty, though, Pablo was diagnosed with colonic neoplasia and needed life-saving care.
He was referred to Linnaeus-owned Dick White Referrals in Cambridgeshire for specialist care with soft tissue surgeon Rachel Hattersley taking charge of the case.
Rachel said: “An exploratory celiotomy confirmed a 4.5cm mass on the dorsal surface of the distal descending colon at the level of the pubic brim. Resection/anastomosis was not feasible given the location without pelvic symphysiotomy which Pablo’s owners had been reluctant to pursue.
“Luckily, the mass peeled out easily from its sub-serosal position and appeared, grossly, to be well encapsulated and therefore a less invasive surgery was possible. Histology confirmed a colonic leiomyoma.
“Colonic masses are often malignant tumours, such as adenocarcinomas, and we would usually need to perform a much more invasive surgery, so it was very fortunate that this was the outcome for Pablo.”
Grateful owner George Laflin, from Suffolk, said: “We were devastated and very upset when we initially got the diagnosis. We were really concerned due to Pablo's age and the associated risks that come with any type of surgery but we felt that we needed to give him a chance.
“The vets at Dick White Referrals were brilliant, though, and explained everything to us in great detail and answered the numerous questions we had both pre- and post-operation.”
Pablo’s operation was funded by the Thin Blue Paw Foundation, a charity which helps care for both serving and retired police dogs all over the UK.
Dick White Referrals offers specialist-led care in anaesthesia and analgesia, cardiology, dermatology, diagnostic imaging, diagnostic pathology, emergency and critical care, internal medicine, interventional radiology, neurology and neurosurgery, oncology, ophthalmology, orthopaedics, physiotherapy and soft tissue surgery.
For more information visit www.dickwhitereferrals.com or search for Dick White Referrals on social media.
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