MONTY
by Marion Clayton
Monty came into rescue as an emergency at the beginning of 2024, as his owner developed a serious illness and could no longer keep him.
We therefore put him into a foster home with another dog and they got on well, this was a temporary placement as we knew it wouldn’t be long before we could find the right forever home for him.
Whilst in the foster home he sadly contracted Tetanus, a virus that is so rare that the vet had not seen it in a dog for 30 years.
Thanks to the decisive action by the foster home poor Monty ended up being transferred as an emergency to the Royal Veterinary College Hospital in Hatfield, Hertfordshire. He stayed there for about a week whilst they stabilised the condition. The tetanus affected all his muscles meaning that his limbs became stiff and other muscles in his body contracted. He had difficulty swallowing and the muscles in his face were also tense. Whilst in the hospital he was on a drip and a catheter.
He needed to be rehabilitated before we could rehome him, and go to somebody who could cope with the situation. Steve and Margaret in Devon volunteered to give him convalescent care.
The tensed muscles in his head meant his eyes faced outwards and he could not see well. He could not eat or drink normally and he needed to be hand fed small portions of dog food. Two tins, three times a day! Over the next 3 or 4 weeks he began to eat and drink normally.
He did suffer from ‘tetanus dreams’ a cross between normal dog dreams and what looked like fits. When this happened he just needed to be gently woken up. He turned out to be such a friendly chap and became great playmates with Steve and Margaret’s two labs tearing round the garden on his own favourite route to try and ambush the other two or getting to the ball first!
When he left Devon he was used to walks on Exmoor and leaping through heather and over low gorse bushes and was really back to 100% Labrador health. He stayed in Devon until May, when we rehomed him to a farm in Kent where he lives happily with two other dogs, one of them also rescued by LRSE&C. Such a happy ending. Thanks to the prompt action of the foster home, the expertise and care from the staff of the Royal Veterinary Hospital and the support from LRSEC it has led to a great outcome for a very special dog.