Bella
8 Lives Left
Bella is a very handsome, young male cat who came to see Veterinary Surgeon Chad Northcott. He was very quiet, not moving around much, not particularly interested in food and was clearly in a tremendous amount of pain. On examination his vital signs, heart function, lungs, circulation and so on all appeared to be normal. But it was very difficult to touch or feel his abdomen (tummy).
He was given a combination of different pain killers and anti-inflammatory medication. Over a period of hours he appeared to be in less pain and had eaten a small amount of food, but his abdomen was still very painful.
We admitted Bella for further treatment, examination and tests. Under general anaesthetic we could feel his abdomen much better and there was a large swelling that shouldn’t be there on the right hand side. We took xrays of his chest and Abdomen. these showed that various organs – mainly small intestine, part of the bladder and abdominal fat were sitting on the outside (wrong side) of the abdominal wall muscles but still held in by the skin.
This proved to be a large, presumably trauma induced, abdominal muscle wall tear (hernia). We have seen this type of injury before in cats when they have been squashed by car tyre. The pressure compresses the gas in the intestines and causes the surrounding muscles to rip.
We operated on Bella, opening the skin, carefully replacing the intestines and checking the rest of the abdomen. Miraculously there was no damage to any of the internal organs. These sorts of injuries often include popped bladders, damaged spleens, torn livers and ruptured diaphragms. No other injuries were found at all. We carefully sutured all of the torn muscles together. Once recovered from surgery and after a period of rest Bella returned completely back to normal, and is happily living the rest of his 8 cat’s lives with his lovely and very caring owner.
Nobody likes to experience these sort of accidents with their pets; nevertheless they happen. Treatment following road traffic accidents can cost from hundreds to thousands of pounds. Pet Insurance is affordable to most people where you know that should the unthinkable happen, for a small monthly outlay, all of your vets bills, other than the excess set by the insurance company, can be covered.
We can provide an initial 4 weeks free insurance with Petplan for all cats and dogs aged 6 weeks to 12 months and advise you on Insurance with Petplan for all older pets. Please contact us for more information or read more on our website.
