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Welcome to Grove Lodge Veterinary Group
Taffy's Story
Taffy
“My name is Taffy, and I am 9½ years old. I was born in a pig arc on a farm with my 2 brothers and 2 sisters. I moved to Lancing 6 years ago with my mistress, who I love very much.
Although I am a collie, I am very much a big soft cuddly whimp - which is why I hurt my legs. It was really blowing a gale and there was a door banging - I couldn't get into the cupboard as the door was shut, so I tried to get to my mistress's car (where I feel safe) by jumping out of an upstairs window. I messed up the ligaments in my fronts legs when I fell about 10-12ft.
I look forward to coming to the hospital and seeing the nurses who make a fuss of me. Hopefully the vet has made my legs better so I can get back to walking over the Downs and along the river bank with my mistress, which I really miss.”
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Taffy has been nominated for a Braveheart award for his good nature, despite having major surgery on both front legs and lots of post-operative dressings.
Taffy fell out of a window and damaged the ligaments in both of his carpii - the equivalent of the wrists in humans. Unfortunately it is not possible to repair the ligaments in this type of injury, so the bones in the lower part of Taffy's forelimbs had to be fused. This involved major surgery to drill out the cartilage from all the joints in the wrists and then pack the spaces with a bone graft taken from Taffy's sholder. A steel plate was then screwed to the bones to hold them in place, which will stay in permanently. Taffy's forelegs will be in splints for six weeks after surgery and over a period of 2-3 months, the bones will fuse. Taffy will not have the use of his wrist joints, but this will not cause him problems in the long term and he will be pain free. - Mark Pertwee