If you thought that Orthopaedic surgery was only for the football players, think again! Our little four legged pets get themselves in some very compromising conditions and often require some very special surgery, read about little “Gus”, one very lucky little guy.

Well, it all happened on Christmas Eve……

Gus, our 8 month old Jack Russell and beloved member of our family was sound asleep as we were busily preparing for Christmas day when my husband decided to relocate a box to our garage. Knowing Gus was asleep on the other side of the house, he walked to the end of our hallway, looked one last time and after determining Gus was nowhere on the scene, proceeded to walk around our car and slip it into reverse to push it back between 6 – 12 inches in order to make room for the box in question.

As fate would have it, somewhere in the space of a few seconds our intrepid puppy had heard the door and went to investigate, placing himself behind the rear wheel of our 4WD. The wheel rolled over his hind leg causing serious damage to his right leg and he had sustained some secondary injuries also.

We immediately took Gus to Vetcall at Ashmore where he was seen by Dr Peter who advised us to leave Gus there whilst he sedated him, and conducted tests and a thorough examination. Later that evening, we were able to bring Gus home, with a splint on his leg, pain medication and so forth. Dr Peter advised us that Mark Kropp, the Veterinarian that performs orthopaedic surgery at Vetcall, would be back at work on Tuesday. Due to the extent of the breaks he had sustained to his leg, waiting for Dr Mark and his team was considered the best option and additionally it would allow the significant swelling to ease.

On Tuesday, Dr Mark examined Gus’ x-rays and advised that he believed Gus had sustained at least 3 breaks to his leg and that there were a number of options available to repair same. He explained that pinning the leg would most likely be impossible due to the nature of the injury, and that “scaffolding” or plating would be most likely. He thoroughly explained each procedure indicating that whilst plating was the preferred procedure, he may not be able to undertake this, until he could determine the extent of the damage when he commenced surgery.

We expressed to Dr Mark that we would prefer plating as that was obviously the most stable of the procedures. Following surgery, Dr Mark rang us and we were informed that whilst Gus had sustained serious injuries, he worked for at least half hour to an hour longer to endeavour to plate his leg and in the end, successfully did so. In fact, Dr Mark was very pleased with the outcome indicating that the alignment was excellent and the overall result was fantastic and he was very happy with the leg.

I guess you can imagine that this was a very traumatic event for our family……. as well as poor Gus! From the moment we first took Gus to Vetcall, Dr Peter and the entire nursing staff were so helpful, supportive and reassuring and we would like to thank all of them for their assistance.

To Mark we would like to say a huge thank you for his patience in explaining all the options and procedures available, and more so, to express how grateful we are for managing to plate Gus’s leg. We know that this was a very difficult task but we had told Mark that this was our preferred option and he worked so rigorously to consider our wishes when he operated on Gus. Whenever we rang up with concerns he made himself available to speak with us and his professionalism and patience he continues to show us when we take Gus back for his checkups is greatly appreciated by our family.

You will be happy to know that within a week of the operation Gus had already begun to act like “Super dog” again and he is missing his walks dreadfully. Of course, Dr Mark and the nursing staff have told us that Gus must be kept quiet and we constantly endeavour to ensure this, however if anyone can tell an 8 month old Jack Russell the meaning of “quiet and settled” this would be much appreciated!!

Once again, we would like to express our immense gratitude to Mark for his expertise and reassurance and to the entire Vetcall team for their ongoing efforts and support.