24 Apr 2023
Two-year-old Frida suffered injuries including pelvic fractures, significant intra-abdominal bruising and a urethral rupture, and was worked on by three teams at RVC Small Animal Referrals.
Paul Imrie
Job Title
Specialist teams at the RVC have helped a miniature dachshund to make a full recovery from severe injuries sustained in a bike collision.
Frida’s injuries were so extensive euthanasia was discussed with her owners before referral to RVC Small Animal Referrals.
The two-year-old dog’s injuries included pelvic fractures, significant intra-abdominal bruising and a urethral rupture, and she spent a week under three teams at the Hertfordshire hospital – emergency and critical care, and the soft tissue surgery and orthopaedic services.
Investigations on admission revealed a rupture in Frida’s upper urethra, with two further urethral tears identified and repaired during a challenging surgery. The right pelvic fracture was repaired the following day.
Frida’s owners left the RVC with a detailed exercise plan, and radiographs two months later showed a healing of the ilial fracture. She was signed off by the RVC and exercise has returned to normal.
Richard Meeson, head of the orthopaedics service, said: “It is great to hear how Frida has been doing. We have an incredibly varied caseload and encounter many amazing patients, but Frida made a real impact on us.”
Matthew Simpson, a veterinary specialist-in-training at the RVC, said: “We have really enjoyed hearing about Frida’s progress from her owners – she’s such a resilient little dog.
“The case was a multidisciplinary collaboration between different specialist teams, including soft tissue and orthopaedic surgery, and critical care, with veterinary specialists, residents, registered veterinary nurses and veterinary patient care assistants from across different teams all working together to help Frida.”
