Dog owners know how special their furry friends are. They’re a real member of the family, so it can be difficult seeing them become ill or get injured. We recently spoke to Denise and Ian Mellows about their dog, Alfie, a seven-year-old English Springer Spaniel, who suffered an injury to his leg while chasing his favourite ball!
Playing ball
A few weeks after Christmas, the family were out on the local playing field, with Alfie enjoying his ultimate pastime. According to Denise and Ian, he was “having a whale of a time” and while chasing the ball “for the 100th time”, Alfie stopped in his tracks with his hind leg lifted off the floor. “We knew it was serious, he couldn’t put his weight on it.” The family had to carry the dog to the vet to find out what was wrong.
Diagnosis
After multiple examinations and an x-ray, results showed Alfie had torn the cruciate ligament in his leg. The poor pup was referred to Holly House Veterinary Hospital, where he had to go through nearly two hours of surgery, and begin his long road to recovery. “He must have been in agony but was so very brave through all his examinations – and all the nurses fell in love.”
A spring in his step
Denise and Ian fell in love with Alfie at just five weeks old, when they visited him and his four brothers and sisters at their home. The puppy went on to join the family at eight weeks old! “Over the next few weeks we became firm friends with all of his family and we still see them regularly as they live locally” they told us. He’s definitely secured his place as a member of the Mellows family!
Making a claim
Alfie’s examinations, surgery and treatment didn’t come cheap! Luckily, Denise and Ian had taken out insurance with The Insurance Emporium, and were able to make a claim. The family were surprised at how easy the claims process was! “As time went on, we realised how fortunate we’d been in our choice.”
Treatment
Around 17 weeks after surgery, Alfie is about back to his normal “giddy kipper, baby of the family, centre of attention” self! Denise and Ian have spent hours on the road with Alfie, travelling to and from hydrotherapy sessions twice a week. “Like most people, we just wanted to do our very best for Alfie, and we feel we’ve achieved that, backed up and supported by our team at Emporium.” Alfie has gone from strength to strength since his treatment, with the family seeing improvements every week!
We love hearing a story with a happy ending! We’re delighted that Alfie is recovering well from his injury, and are really glad we were able to offer a helping hand to the family by providing some welcome relief from the stress of vet’s fees. We’re wishing Alfie a speedy recovery, and we hope he carries on enjoying chasing after his favourite ball!
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