Larry was adopted by his owner, Marion Davis, as a rescue dog through the Blue Cross. They developed a close bond over the next 13 years until the time when Larry’s health began to deteriorate. As an organ donor herself, Marion was delighted to find out about our Pet Donor Register and signed Larry up so that he could help other dogs in need. After his passing, Larry’s tissues went on to help 83 other dogs!
Yondu was only ten months old when he was severely injured in a hit and run road traffic accident. Unfortunately, his injuries were so severe that he was unlikely to recover and so his owner, Verity Heyward, agreed that euthanasia was sadly the best option for him. Verity’s grief at the loss of Yondu was eased by the knowledge that his tissues could help other cats in need and give them a new lease of life. We are extremely grateful to Verity and Yondu for helping us carry out our work.
Zippy enjoyed a happy life with owner, Edwina Osborne, who took him on from the local RSPCA rehoming centre. Although he was not a real lap cat, he was a happy character who enjoyed an active life. Edwina was devastated when Zippy was diagnosed with renal failure and, despite medication and a special diet, sadly his days were numbered and he was put to sleep when his condition deteriorated. It is hard at such times to think about how a loss might help other animals, but, in some cases, the knowledge that a beloved pet’s departure has helped other pets can make the grief more bearable, which was the case for Edwina.
Another of our grateful recipients is two year old rescue cat Burt who was severely injured in a road accident outside his home on the Wirral. Burt’s severe fractures were repaired with a plate and screws in combination with our feline donor bone graft. He went on to make a full recovery and his owner, Alison Reavy, says "Burt means the world to us. Before his accident, I wasn’t aware of the donor programme and was touched that a pet owner had acted with such compassion at a very difficult time and donated their deceased cat to help other pets in need".
A decade ago, Tia, a labrador bitch from Devon, was the first pet in the UK to benefit from a meniscal transplant - a procedure that replaces the wedge-shaped cartilage of the knee joint using donor tissue. Tia had suffered a severe injury to her knee joint due to a car accident and was referred to Ridge Referrals for assessment. Veterinarian Patrick Ridge felt that Tia was an ideal candidate for knee cartilage replacement surgery and the VTB were happy to provide the appropriately sized and processed cartilage for her from a donor dog. Following the successful tissue transplant Tia was described by her owner, Paul Selway, as being "back to her old self again".
Denzil, a 4 year old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, was our 1000th recipient of donor bone. Denzil suffered from lumbosacral joint instability, which was causing him persistent pain and lameness, with a poor long-term prognosis. He was treated at Southern Counties Veterinary Specialists, by neurosurgeon Harry Scott, who performed the complex surgery to fuse the joints in between Denzil’s vertebral joints. Denzil’s owner, Ellen, told us; "Denzil was lucky to benefit from donor bone and I really appreciate the kindness of those people who could look past the sad loss of their pet and take the step to bequeath their deceased pet as a donor."
As Dusty had already had one of her forelimbs amputated as a puppy, when her owners noticed that she was having trouble walking they were desperately worried that losing the other forelimb would mean the end of her quality of life. Orthopaedic specialists at ChesterGates diagnosed Dusty with Humeral Intracondylar Fissure (HIF), a condition where the bone breaks easily at the elbow. Fortunately, they were able to surgically treat this using a donor bone and a specifically designed 3D-printed titanium alloy plate. The surgery was a success and Dusty recovered well and returned home a few days later. Her owners are incredibly grateful to the owner of the donor pet for helping their beloved Springer Spaniel.
