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Ruby Robb - The Risks of Gardening...
by Andy Fullerton BVSc(Hons), MRCVS

Ruby was rushed into our Yatton branch one day in September after having an accident with a pitch fork.

Whilst playing outside she had somehow become impaled on a gardening fork.  At Watkins and Tasker Vets we will always see your pet in an emergency situation regardless of how busy we are.  After running onto the fork, one of the metal prongs it had embedded itself deeply into Ruby’s right hind leg.

To our amazement it had miraculously avoided all the major arteries and nerves.  We immediately admitted Ruby to give her sedation and pain killers whilst we carefully removed the prong of the fork. After cleaning and flushing the tract left by the fork, we closed the larger (entry) wound with sterile surgical staples. The other (exit) wound was left open to allow drainage of any infection or build up of fluid.  Ruby was sent home on special antibiotics to prevent infection in this type of injury and pain relieving medication.

We are pleased to report that she made a full recovery.  An additional consideration in this case was whether to vaccinate her against tetanus.  After seeking opinion from a specialist veterinary surgeon, we followed advice that the risk of a reaction in dogs to the tetanus vaccine is much higher than the risk or chance of her getting tetanus itself.  We were able to select an antibiotic regime which covered the type of bacteria that would lead to tetanus. 

Hopefully Ruby will avoid helping with the gardening in future.