Gary is a 5 year old working collie, and is well known for his outstanding farm work. He has worked with sheep all his life and has a great relationship with his handler, Henry. The two seem to be inseparable!
Gary was rushed in to us in June as he had suddenly started seizuring whilst out in the fields.
After taking Gary’s history, it was found that he has eaten some mouldy food approximately 3 hours previously.
Mould contains Mycotoxins and we are sure you are all aware, these are very poisonous to animals!
Treatment was started immediately by Cliff and the nurses, giving Gary anti-seizure drugs in the hope this would stop his fits and relax his body.
Unfortunately, these didn’t work and it was decided that placing him under general anaesthetic was the only option.
General anaesthetic is used in this way, to calm the brain and muscles in the hope that, once the toxins have passed, the body can recover. If seizures carry on for too long, the brain can be affected and brain damage is a real possibility. This was a big worry with Gary!
Gary was under general anaesthetic for approximately 24 hours, reducing the amount hour by hour, with Nurses constantly monitoring him, making sure his vitals were okay, and the correct dose of anaesthetic was being used.
After 24 hours, the anaesthetic was stopped. Gary was still showing signs of his nervous system being affected, with twitching muscles and eye movements. At this stage it was unknown whether this was still the effects of the toxins or if brain damage had occurred.
Day by day, however, he improved incredibly.
As you can see from the Video, Gary has made an absolutely amazing recovery and we put this down to not only the incredible nurses, vets and Gary’s owners, but most importantly, to Gary himself.
Without his determination to play and work again, we are not sure he would have got this far!
Well done Gary!!
Warning – Some people may find the video below upsetting
