Life-saving surgery for one year old

Rhubarb was brought in to see us as she had been vomiting, had lost weight, wasn’t eating and seemed very lethargic. On examining her we could feel a thumb-sized obstruction in her abdomen so we booked Rhubarb in for an in-house ultrasound scan to gain a clearer insight into what the problem might be. It was clear to see a blockage on the Main Coone’s scan, and the whirlpool-like shape in her intestines suggested that poor Rhubarb most likely had an intussusception. This is when a piece of gut telescopes into another piece of gut stopping anything from passing through, so food can’t get down, and waste product becomes trapped. Blood supply is also compromised with this condition, ultimately causing the affected part of the intestines to die. The only solution is surgery. 

Rhubarb did indeed have an intussusception and the tissue at the centre of her blockage had already started dying. We removed the compromised area of the intestines and then connected the two healthy ends of intestine together to repair the area. 

Given the severity of Rhubarb’s condition, prognosis was initially guarded. In addition to her pain relief, Rhubarb was given a tummy-friendly diet and tablets to reduce stomach acid to give her insides the best chance of repair. 

We are delighted to report that beautiful Rhubarb is now eating and going to the loo again, her wound has healed really well and just two weeks post-op, she’s been discharged from any further vet checks. She’s gained weight but still needs to put on a little more for optimum body condition, so will keep in contact with our nursing team for best ongoing nutrition advice. 

We look forward to watching you go from strength to strength beautiful Rhubarb and hope you’re back to being 100% soon!