B.C. blood donor dog that has saved many lives gets free surgery
A dog that has made life-saving blood donations in the past has now received a good deed in return after having a surgical operation on Monday.
A medical team performed a knee surgery on Norman, a four-and-a-half-year-old mastiff, as a thank-you for the past generosity shown by Norman and other mastiffs owned by Nanaimo's Jeff King.
"Norman's given a lot to his local community and so the hospital here is helping cover the cost of the surgery," says Tim Preston, a surgeon at the Central Island Veterinary Emergency Hospital.
Preston says surgeries of that nature are in the neighbourhood of $8,500 and make up the majority of the operations he does.
The medical devices inserted into Norman also came as a donation, supplied by the manufacturer Arthrex.
"The operation is designed one way or another to stabilize the knee and the way that occurs is by us rotating the top of the shin bone down so that we effectively change the bio-mechanics of the knee so he doesn't need an ACL anymore," Preston says.
While the decision to give the surgery to Norman was an easy one, dealing with the large-breed dog was not.
"Norman is over 90 kilograms. He's effectively the weight of I guess a large male so we've got five people, six including myself, that are going to be moving him physically."
That included lifting him on and off X-ray tables and operating tables.
"It's a challenge during his recovery in making sure he's able to stand. we have some hoists and other things to help him that are designed for humans," he says.
It is also because of Norman's size that he and the other mastiffs in his household have been able to give blood so generously to other dogs in need.
"Like in humans, there are different blood types, and so it's important that the animals are properly typed and cross-matched,” he says.
After the one-hour-and-45-minute surgery, Norman was carried out of the operating room to begin his recovery and was expected to be released back to his owner on Tuesday.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.