Ruby

Winner October 2007

Ruby’s story

When it comes to “being cute” Ruby has got it all.. ,lovely coat, waggy tail, a personality to die for and a pair of the most beautiful eyes you have ever seen, but its those eyes that had become a problem.
In each eye there is a tear duct, which drains the excess tears away into the nose. We don’t produce tears just when we cry, tears are essential for keeping the eye lubricated. Ruby’s tear ducts had become blocked and as a result her eyes were constantly weeping, sometimes getting sore. Various treatments had been tried but none worked, so after much thought Vet Rai decided to make her some new tear ducts!...

But this wasn't all!! Ruby also had a slipping patella, a condition where the kneecap pops out of its socket and causes pain, so she also needed an operation to correct this, she had already had the OTHER knee operated on 3 months earlier!! It looked like Ruby would be in theatre for a while!

On admission Ruby immediately won everyone’s hearts with her adorable personality. Vet Rai took special care of her in theatre, corrected her kneecap problem and then made her some new tear ducts with nylon! The nylon was placed through her tear duct on the inside of her eye and out through her nostril on both sides. The nylon was kept in for 6 weeks until a new duct had healed around the nylon.

Ruby made an excellent recovery , but looked quite funny with yellow nylon sticking out of her eyes! She was sent home with treatment both for this, and her painful knee and has been in and out of the surgery for check ups over the last month!

Amazingly Ruby has managed to ignore the peculiar nylon in her eyes, and the funny looks she must have had from people she meets! Time will tell if the surgery has been a complete success, but so far so good.

A well deserved Braveheart this month for Ruby,
a precious gem in our eyes
 

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