15 Apr 2021
The 11-year-old West Highland white terrier was referred to North Downs Specialist Referrals unable to walk and facing leg amputation on top of her cancer treatment.
Paul Imrie
Job Title
Daisy the West Highland white terrier amazed vets at a Surrey vet hospital by battling cancer and the threat of leg amputation.
The 11-year-old dog was unable to walk and facing a possible amputation on top of her treatment for cancer.
But oncology specialist Gerry Polton and the team at North Downs Specialist Referrals (NDSR) were amazed by her responses to treatment.
Dr Polton – RCVS and European specialist in oncology, and clinical director at Linnaeus-owned NDSR – said: “Daisy was suffering from cancer in her left thigh bone and ruptured cruciate ligaments in both knee joints. The main concern was that the diseased thigh bone was going to spontaneously fracture because it was so thin due to the underlying cancerous disease process.
“Normally we would amputate the limb, but poor Daisy already couldn’t walk properly because neither of her hindlegs worked well as a result of the ruptures of both cruciate ligaments.
“So, we proposed an alternative surgical procedure to address the knee joint instability on the right hindleg in the hope that we would be able to manage the cancerous leg well enough for it to last another six weeks. In that time, we hoped Daisy’s right leg would have recovered from the operation and she would be mobile enough to tolerate the inevitable amputation.”
Daisy was sent home with pain relief medication and chemotherapy tablets, and returned for the postoperative check-up and expected left leg amputation.
However, Dr Polton said: “We couldn’t have been more delighted when we saw Daisy skipping along six weeks after her right knee operation.
“Then we saw the x-rays of the left hindleg with the tumour and there had been a massive improvement in the stability of the left thigh where the cancer had previously been so destructive.
“The improvement was so marked that no amputation was needed after all, meaning Daisy got to keep both her hindlegs – and have better use in both of them, too. She continues to receive medical treatment for her cancer, which has so far conferred no side effects whatsoever, so everything in this case has exceeded all expectations.”
Owner Stephanie Price said: “It did not look good, but then Gerry told me that everyone at NDSR was calling Daisy ‘the miracle dog’ because her thigh bone had started to strengthen and grow.
“I cannot speak highly enough about Gerry, and the care and treatment of Daisy at NDSR. They are very loving and caring people.”
