Luna recovers post-op
West Yorkshire Vet Thanked For Saving Life Of Rescue Dog With Huge Tumour
1 week ago 
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The owners of a rescue dog have heaped praise on a West Yorkshire vet for carrying out complex surgery to save the life of their beloved pet.
Luna is believed to be around seven years old and was adopted from a charity six years ago by Christina Jones.
Around a year ago, Luna developed a small lump on her chest which started to increase in size. When Luna began to show some discomfort, she was taken in for X-rays which revealed a huge mass in her chest.
Luna was referred to Linnaeus-owned Paragon Veterinary Referrals in Wakefield, where she was placed under the care of David Barker, a European diplomate and RCVS-recognised specialist in small animal surgery.
A CT scan revealed the mass was even larger than first thought and was pressing on Luna’s lungs.
Christina, from Todmorden said: “Luna is such a lovely, gentle dog and loves people. She wants everyone to say hello and make a fuss of her.
“Vet David explained the mass was really big and it would be a significant operation to remove it.”
The surgery involved removing several ribs, but luckily the mass had not affected Luna’s lungs.
David said: “Most of the mass was inside Luna’s chest compressing her lungs and heart. It really was a tip of the iceberg situation!
“The mass was removed by cutting away three ribs from Luna’s spine and sternum. The wall of her thorax was reconstructed with permanent mesh and a drain placed to remove residual air and fluid from her chest.
“The surgery was challenging due to the limited tissue available to close the gap over her lungs and heart. However, the mesh provides essential support and with this in place she can enjoy a good quality of life longer term.”
Following surgery, Luna spent three days at Paragon before returning home and happily, she was back to her old self within six weeks.
Christina thanked Paragon and David for saving her dog’s life.
She added: “I can never thank David enough for what he has done! The good news is he was able to remove the tumour entirely, and the results confirmed it was a benign, calcified tumour, so hopefully Luna will never develop another one.
“I would recommend Paragon to anyone. They contacted me every day to tell me how Luna was doing while she was in the hospital, and they called to check up on her once she had returned home.”
Paragon provides expert care in anaesthesia and analgesia, cardiology, dermatology, diagnostic imaging, internal medicine, neurology, oncology, ophthalmology, orthopaedics and soft tissue surgery.
For more information on Paragon Veterinary Referrals, visit www.paragonreferrals.co.uk or search for Paragon Veterinary Referrals on social media.
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