Shocked owners rush sausage dog to vet after it blew up like balloon to THREE times its normal size
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A sausage dog blew up to three times its size after its windpipe was punctured - but owners have no idea how it happened.
Vets had to stitch up the hole to deflate Trevor and stop his body filling with air like a balloon.
Dramatic X-rays show the enlarged outline of his body, inflated by the leak.
Owner Fran Jennings, 49, from Lymm, Cheshire, said: "We came down and found Trevor in a bad state, he literally looked like he'd blown up like a balloon and we had no idea what had happened.
(Image: cascadenews.co.uk)
(Image: cascadenews.co.uk)
(Image: cascadenews.co.uk)
"He was three times the size he should've been.
"We put him straight in the car and took him to the 24-hour emergency vets and they had never seen anything quite like it."
Vet Michelle Coward, of Beech House surgery, in Warrington, Cheshire, treated the four-year-old dachshund.
She said: "Every time he took a breath, some of the inhaled air escaped through a hole in his windpipe around the muscles and fatty tissue under the skin, and X-rays showed the emphysema was worsening.
"Surgery was the only way to repair the injury but due to its location, there was a significant risk of complications.
"I have never seen a case like this before and it was a new surgery for me."
Fran's daughter Jessica said: "When I saw Trevor, he looked like a big fat seal, his whole body was like a blob and you couldn't tell his face from his neck."
Fran, a mum-of-three who runs Pets Animal Hotel, in Lymm, said she had no idea what caused the injury.
Air was leaking out under his skin over his whole body, even causing his heart to lift off his sternum, she said.
(Image: cascadenews.co.uk)
(Image: cascadenews.co.uk)
"Whatever it was, it affected his breathing so we had to leave him there while they tried to find out what was wrong," she said.
Vets discovered a hole in his windpipe which had to be stitched up before the handsome dog could be "deflated."
Trevor was kept in while tests were carried out and he was diagnosed with sub-cutaneous emphysema - an abnormal collection of air under the skin in the lowest level of the skin's tissues and muscles known as the subcutis or hyperdermis.
Vet Michelle, who works for the Willows Veterinary Group, said: "Trevor was presented to us with signs of severe air ingress under the skin.
"There were no external injuries that would explain how air had got under the skin, so we suspected that an internal injury to the airway or oesophagus could have been allowing the air to leak into the body.
"Trevor's surgery went well, he made a quick recovery and was monitored in the hospital. When he came back for his check-ups following the surgery he was very bouncy and happy.
"He's a great character and everybody loves him. He was a pleasure to nurse.
"It was certainly an interesting case and one that is unusual as far as I understand.
"There should not be any long-term impact to Trevor's health".
Fran's daughter, Jessica, who shows sausage dogs at Crufts and helps run the family business said: "It was horrible seeing him like that, we had to deflate the air out of him, it was weird.
(Image: cascadenews.co.uk)
(Image: cascadenews.co.uk)
"He's a little sweetie, he's always running about happy, he looks like he has a big smile on his face, he's very cheeky.
"He's also quite mischievous and often gets up to trouble - that's why we've nicknamed him Tricky Trevor.
"You know straight away whenever there's anything wrong with him.
"But now he's back to his normal self, chasing the chickens and we wouldn't have him any other way."
Rachel Dean, who regularly takes care of the family's dogs at Lymm Veterinary Surgery, which is also part of Willows Veterinary Group, knows Trevor well and her team have also been helping Trevor to recover from his ordeal.
She said: "Trevor is a gentle and lovely dog, getting excited when given a fuss.
"We know Trevor and his family very well and we are all thrilled to see him looking back to his normal self and recovering so well."