Monty is a beautiful Fox Red Labrador born on 15/05/2017, he came to his furever home here with us on 10th July 2017. During his first two weeks he was like any other normal puppy, he got used to his new bed, his mummy and daddy had a few sleepless nights whilst he settled in. He was introduced to some new doggy friends, and was quite the social little character. He learnt some tricks, usually down to some bribery with treats. He went for his very first swim in the sea, with a paddle at the start then eventually bouncing in-between the waves with confidence.

Sadly on Sunday 30th July Monty started to show signs that he was poorly. His face had started to swell and his ears were pinned back. Shortly after these signs appeared Monty started to take muscle spasms of the whole body, his legs became rigid, his neck and jaw stiffened and his started to burn up. Immediate panic set in and mummy and daddy rushed him to the out of hours emergency vets, where they diagnosed that he had contracted Tetanus. This is a rare condition in dogs and can be fatal. Without 24hour supportive care he could develop difficulty breathing, fluid can collect in the lungs and he could suffer complications or lead to death if he were to develop pneumonia or other complications.

Monty started receiving 24hour supportive care from his vets, with amazing help from the staff who worked around the clock and outside of their usual hours to keep Monty stable. He needed to remain on an IV drip to maintain his fluids, he is received pain relief medication to help relax his body in between his muscle spasms.

Tetanus can take up to 5 weeks or more for a possible recovery. His vets advised that Monty would benefit from 24hr ICU care in a veterinary hospital.

Earlier this week Monty was moved to the veterinary hospital to continue his treatment and receive expert veterinary care. Monty has undergone surgery to fit a feeding tube directly into his stomach. With this in place her can now receive nutrition through liquid feed, he can also receive an infusion of medication to help with pain and muscle spasm. He currently lies on his side and needs to be moved physically as he can not do this for himself. He needs to be kept in a dark room as he is sensitive to light and this can trigger muscle spasms, he also needs to be kept in an area with low sounds levels as this can also trigger spasms. These muscle spasms cause great distress and pain to him and can cause his temperature to rise.

Monty is only 13 weeks old. He has only spent 2 weeks in his furever home and we only hope to have him back with us soon, fully recovered and able to spend many fun filled more years with us.

As he is so young and was diagnosed with this condition very early into his pet insurance policy, which we took out just after we brought, him home he is unfortunately not covered and so we are aiming to raise funds to help towards the cost of Monty’s treatment.

We would also like to make other dog owners aware of this condition and the symptoms of tetanus. The toxin can lie dormant in soils for years and can be found in farmyard manure. As we all know dogs and especially puppies like to dig so please be aware of them in your gardens or out and about. The toxin can enter through any small wound. In Monty’s case it got in through a baby tooth he had broken.

These symptoms may not appear for several weeks, and by then the wound may be healed so you may not know what is causing these effects. Please consult your local vet if you fear that your dog is presenting any of these symptoms and try to get them treated as soon as you can. Some things to watch out for are:

• Stiffening at the neck and jaw

• Standing with straight, rigid legs

• Muscle Spasms

• Erect ears

• Stiffening at the tail

• Drooling

• Abnormal facial expressions

• Swelling of the face

• Fever

• difficulty eating and drinking

• Dehydration

• difficulty breathing

We would be grateful for any donation, no matter how big or small, that will go towards the cost of the expert care that Monty needs in order to make a full recovery. In addition we would like to help any other dogs that may come into a crisis like this. We would like to donate a percentage of any money we raise to our local animal shelter. So not only would your donation help Monty but it would go towards helping cover vet costs which local shelters incur through caring for many animals which are not yet fortunate enough to have a furever home.

Thank you for taking the time to read Monty’s page, if anything, you have taken away what an awful condition tetanus is and what symptoms you should look out for in your pet.

Many Thanks.