By paNOW

Chewy hanging in after intense surgery

Dec 2, 2017 | 12:00 PM

So far, it has been an extraordinary battle of survival for stray dog Chewy.

A dog-lover in La Ronge picked up the emaciated canine last week and took it to Prince Albert before a friend then drove the dying animal to the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) in Saskatoon.

“He was on the operating table for like six hours,” Chantel Ursu told paNOW. “Basically they removed part of his intestine and bowel, they had to castrate him and remove all of the gravel and garbage in his intestine.”

If that wasn’t enough, the dog had a circulation issue with his legs that needed work and then developed an erupted abscess in his intestine.

Ursu, who works at the local health centre, found Chewy last week in a desperate state.

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“He couldn’t go to the bathroom or eat or drink. He then started to throw up. I knew he was in trouble so I had to do something about it,” said Ursu.

That’s when she got a friend to drive the pug-cross in his semi to WCVM where the surgical team went to work.

“The surgeons actually told me it is so rare to have an animal come in with so many complications,” Ursu said. “They haven’t seen too many cases like this.”

Ursu says the vet bills have racked up to over $6,000 so far but people have already been responding generously via her Facebook page with about $2,500 coming in by Friday.

Despite the severity of Chewy’s internal problems he’s expected to make it. And Ursu, who has volunteered with the SPCA, isn’t giving up on him.

“This guy is still young, only about one year old, and he’s still got a life to live. The surgeons think he can have a good quality of life if he can get through this, so that’s enough for me to know that I need to do something.”

panews@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princealbertnow