"This poor dog is absolutely terrified."
Gypsy, gypsy. She's just cowering in the corner
"so I'm worried that this dog's had something seriously"
"traumatic in her past or lack of socialization."
"Something's going on to make a six month old"
puppy behave like this. Hi Gypsy, hi honey.
"At the Bondi referral hospital SASH emergency vet"
"Lisa Chimes has been given a difficult case."
What's wrong Gypsy? "Six month
old Gypsy has been brought in" "after struggling
to keep any food down for weeks." Want to go
for a walk? This poor dog is
absolutely terrified. Gypsy, Gypsy.
"I just don't know how we're going"
"to find out what this dog's problem is."
Out you come, come on bub out of the cage. Come on sweetie pie.
Good girl, come on darl. I know, I know.
What about some of this? I've been told
"that she's regurgitating, but without actually seeing her do it"
"I don't know how we're going to diagnose this problem."
Oh you're only a puppy, you shouldn't be like this is a puppy bub.
What's happened to you? "She should be jumping all over me,
wanting cuddles, being energetic" "and wanting food, and she's
just cowering in the corner." "So I'm worried that this dog's
had something seriously" "traumatic in her past
or lack of socialization." "Something's going on to make a six
month old puppy behave like this." Hey darl.
Lisa has now called in specialist Justin Wimpole to do further tests.
Poor girl's very nervous aren't you? So we'll try some liquid see how we go.
Bit touch and go I think still. We'll try go slow with her.
"So the test we're doing on Gypsy is actually like a live X-ray."
"So when she actually swallows, you'll see the food going down"
"and what we're hoping to find is the area where that food is"
getting stuck. Nah it's just not going to
happen. What about
a bowl of some food? Come on Gypsy.
Justin's had no luck. Their fluoroscopy,
"this test we're trying to do is an absolute failure."
"Hi Gypsy, hi honey. We haven't got a diagnosis "
"we don't know what's going on with Gypsy,"
"we have to move on to the next thing,"
"which is a CT scan and endoscopy under anaesthetic."
We're just trying to help. "She doesn't quite get it
that we're trying to help." No.
Gypsy. Gypsy.
It's only food sweetie pie. At SASH Lisa's trying one last time
"to persuade the terrified Gypsy to eat."
Come on Gypsy. "The six month old shepherd finds it
impossible to keep food down." It's ok honey, it's alright,
it's okay. "Gypsy's owners Roy and Hazel
have now been called in to help." It's ok honey.
Gypsy was Roy's surprise "70th birthday present after their
previous shepherd passed away." She's very,
very loyal and when we find out about this,
I thought we're not going to have her long.
"Yes I think that's the worry, that they'll find something really"
"horrible and untreatable or something like that"
I think that's the big worry. See what she does.
Now Gypsy what's this I'm hearing about... Settle, settle come here, come here.
"If Roy and Hazel can't get Gypsy to eat,"
"the puppy will be forced to undergo invasive tests."
Wait. My goodness.
I can't believe she's eating. "We tried
very hard to get her to eat." "But within minutes of eating, Gypsy
is becoming visibly distressed." She's really looking agitated now.
She's feeling sick. Just
regurgitated, poor thing.
"This poor dog has really just been living with this chronic battle"
"her whole life and no wonder why she doesn't want to be touched."
"She's got constant heartburn and that must be agony."
Gypsy now needs a CT scan but Lisa decides to send her home.
"The puppy is just too nervous to stay in hospital."
"We're a bit like people with kids having tests"
" ya know, bit anxious about what they'll find out and so forth."
I'll be glad when it's over. "- Hello.
- Hello." Hi Gyps, Gypsy...Gypsy.
Six month old Gypsy is back at SASH and she's not impressed.
It's okay Gyps. She's not happy to be here. "- No, no.
- Gypsy is so anxious in this hospital " she's scared of vets,
"she's scared of anyone except her parents."
Alright Gyps, we'll look after you sweetie pie. Okay.
"Lisa is hoping to find out today why the puppy can't keep her"
food down and is in constant pain. Gypsy come that's the way, okay. Bye-bye.
I really feel for Roy and Hazel they're so distressed
and anxious. "They've had Gypsy
since she was a young puppy."
I feel like a mum at preschool. I do love her a lot.
"The investigation starts with a CT scan."
Very suspicious. But it's inconclusive.
"We've had a really good look at the CT"
"and as it gets lower down towards the heart,"
there's some definite narrowing. "So obviously something is making
that area a lot more narrow" "and that's
where the food is getting stuck."
The team needs more information. "A camera is now being put down
Gypsy's mouth" through her food pipe.
"What they're looking for are abnormalities inside the esophagus."
There we go "so you can see there's a severe
narrowing here in her esophagus" "-That's really narrow.
-Yeah so we can get through with " our little scope but you
"imagine a whole lot of dog food just can't get through there,"
"causing her a lot of distress and making her regurgitate."
"And imagine with all that saliva just sitting there,"
"she's probably got constant heartburn."
No wonder she doesn't want to be touched. "Gypsy has a condition called
a persistent right aortic arch." "Now, it sounds all fancy,
but basically" "it means that Gypsy's
got an extra vessel in her chest" "near her heart
that is constricting her esophagus," her food pipe.
Gypsy now requires "urgent surgery to open up her food
pipe." "Her regurgitation problem
has already caused her" "to be underweight and there could
be far more drastic repercussions." "They could inhale some of that
material that comes up." "It could cause them to choke in
their throat or a worst case scenario" "that could cause a terrible
infection in their lungs" "and then she's dealing
with pneumonia as well." "So it's something
we really have to fix." Good girl.
Gypsy's going to have surgery. "The surgery would be open
chest surgery." "So that's the part of the esophagus
where the narrowing is." "So they will have to open up
her chest, have a look in there," "then she'll have to stay
in hospital for quite a few days" after that to recover.
It's just that, you know, your dog and especially someone like Gypsy
then you find out she's got something like this. Kind of hurts a bit.
I know I get emotional.
Okay. "The surgery is big and it's risky
and it's painful." It's chest surgery.
"But the benefit that she might go on and be able to eat"
"like a normal dog certainly outweighs all of that."
"- I need a hug? - You need a hug?"
You'll be fine. We'll look after her I promise.
"It's going to be a long night, but we will"
"you know, we will give her all the love in the world."
They are so nervous. "There's some big things ahead
and hopefully" we can get her through this.
I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying here alright hun?
At SASH "Gypsy
is about to have her chest surgery." Good girl, yes you are.
You're a good girl. Good girl.
"Even though Gypsy's had some sedation,"
she's still really, really nervous. "Just see the look in this dog's
eyes," she's just terrified.
"So I'm going to stay in the room until she's under anaesthetic"
"just so that she's got a familiar
face." "Specialist surgeon
Andrew Marchevksy will attempt" "to fix the rare condition she has
been suffering from since birth." Gypsy's got persistent right aortic arch
which is a congenital abnormality "that basically ends up
with a narrowing of her esophagus." And as a result,
when they try and swallow food, it just comes straight back up.
"If she keeps doing that for the rest of her life,"
"eventually she's going to end up with pneumonia"
and that can be catastrophic and they can die from that.
Bleedings always a potential problem "in the thorax there's lots of big
blood vessels right near" her heart. You've just got to be really careful.
That's the actual band of tissue there, that we're going to be cutting out.
"So we're just going
to cut one side like that." And then grab the other side.
"Now you can see that band is gone and now soon as we've cut that,"
"you can just see the esophagus expand."
"I've promised Hazel and Roy that I would be there"
every step of the way. How's it going?
Well. "-I knew you'd be interested.
-Yep." "I mean,
it's looking as good as we could hope,"
we'll see how she goes. Alright.
"It's going to be a long recovery process,"
Gypsy's had big surgeries. You did really well,
sweetie. You have a good sleep.
"We're just going to have to wait and see how she goes day"
by day. One step at a time.
"I am going to go and get your mum and dad."
What do you think? What do you think about that?
You want to see mum and dad? Yes I do.
"It's been 24 hours since Gypsy's chest surgery."
Today her owners, Hazel "and Roy will find out
if the operation has worked." I was bit emotional all day, well you know like
"pretty apprehensive, wondering how it was going to turn out."
"- Hello. - How are you?"
"- Good how are you? - Good, good."
"- How's our little baby? - You ready? Come on."
"I don't want her getting too excited, but I know she will."
Gypsy hello darling. Hang on Gyps sweetie I'll open it in one sec.
I just don't want her "to get too excited
because she's had chest surgery," "and as soon as she sees
them, she's just wanting to jump" all over them we're trying to keep her calm.
"But the poor little girl is so excited to see mum and dad."
Just stand here. Not too much excitement hun.
Good girl. It's not dry food just yet.
"It's a little bit more solid than liquid"
"so we'll transition it very slowly."
"But this will be a really good test."
Wait, wait. "Will Gypsy
finally be able to eat a meal" without pain.
Good girl, good girl. Off he goes again.
Happy for her. She's your baby
isn't she? Oh how goods that.
She can reach her potential now because I think this
"was going to only get worse and we could have lost her and that's "
unthinkable. "Last time she would have
already brought it up by now." Yeah, oh absolutely
"she would have been in great distress by now anyway."
"-How does that make you feel? -Very good."
Excellent, excellent. "-It's exciting.
-And she's smiling," smile on her face.
She's just like a different dog. "I can't even describe the progress
that we've had." "This is one of the most
exciting things I've seen." "I saw how hard it was
for this little girl to eat," "and now she can eat
like a normal dog" and that is just priceless.
Hello! Come on in.
"At SASH, it's been three days since Gypsy's risky surgery."
"Roy and Hazel had almost given up hope of they're little girl"
having a normal life. What an incredible reunion Gypsy was
jumping all over Hazel "and then jumping on Roy
and back to Hazel and Roy." "And she just didn't
know where she wanted to be," but she just knew she feels good
"and she feels happy and life is great."
You're looking well aren't ya? Did we come to get you?
We were always going to come and get you. You got your girl back.
You got her back. And you miss, do I get a goodbye hug?
"I got such a warm hug from Roy and Hazel"
and the first time they ever hugged me was to say please look after our little girl
"we hope she gets through the surgery."
"And now they've given me a big hug because everything's worked out"
"and they're getting they're little girl back home as a normal dog."
It's just wonderful. See you later, thank you.