By Ashley Pemberton via SWNS
A cat is ‘lucky to be alive’ after being shot in the face with a shotgun.
Miracle feline Dexter had his mouth rebuilt by vets using cutting-edge procedures and state-of-the-art equipment.
It’s not known how the six-year-old family pet was shot but he suffered severe damage to his tongue, mouth, nasal cavities and soft tissues of the head.
But vets carried out the tricky procedure which saved his life and rebuilt his entire mouth after his jaw bone was shattered.
Grateful owner Rachel Driver from Wakefield, West Yorks., said: “We first realized there was a problem when we found a lot of blood on our patio but no sign of Dexter until much later.
“When he arrived back home, his eyes were bloodshot, his jaw obviously broken and we took him to the emergency vet.
“The first vet said it was blunt force trauma and said he needed to be transferred to Paragon where further tests were done.
“I was then informed he had been shot with a shotgun. We were incredibly shocked.”
Dan Kenny, the small animal surgeon at Paragon, was one of the vets who led Dexter’s life-saving surgeries, along with orthopedic colleagues.
Dan said: “This is an unusual case in the sense that facial shotgun injuries are very rare.
“Given the imaging findings and the extent of his injuries, Dexter is incredibly lucky to have survived.”
The surgery Dexter required is tricky at the best of times, vets said, but his case was further complicated due to the nature of his soft tissue injury and the fact he was missing a large fragment of bone from his hard palate.
Dexter has now made a full recovery following the operations and is back with his grateful owners.
Rachel added: “Dexter is a different cat now. He’s far more loving to us and doesn’t leave the house for very long.
“However, he’s happy and he was most definitely saved by all the wonderful staff at Paragon.
“Dan was the most amazing vet whose care to Dexter will never be forgotten, we will always be grateful.”
