Award for dog after leg is amputated

FURRY Fizz is now back to full health despite undergoing two operations - one to amputate his leg.

He is the latest recipient of the Veterinary Hospital's Braveheart award after having his leg amputated and a food pouch removed.

The 20 month old male hamster is owned by Emma Davenport, a 20-year-old student who lives in Peverell.

In January of last year, Fizz was taken to the Veterinary Hospital with a badly swollen and discoloured front leg.

Some thread had become wound tightly around his leg constricting the blood supply.

The leg had turned black and blue due to gangrene and poor old Fizz's leg had to be amputated to save his life.

Emma said: "After his leg was amputated, it was the night before an exam so I was quite stressed, he recovered very quickly so I hoped that would be all that he would go through."

The operation did not seem to worry him as within a few days he was back to his normal self and very active.

However, this plucky hamster developed another worrying problem just over a year later.

"I noticed this lump which got bigger and bigger so had to take him back to the vet who thought it might be cancerous," says Emma.

"I was very worried as I am very attached to him.

I'm at university so its kind of just me and him," she said.

He was examined by vet Sue Bird who found he had a large solid swelling on his side just above where he right front leg had been removed.

She strongly suspected a tumour and as Emma was reluctant to lose him without trying to help him, he was booked in for an operation.

Sue anaesthetised him and removed the large lump which turned out to be an impacted food pouch.

Hamsters have these food pouches in which they store surplus food, one on each side just beyond their mouths. They are able to move food out of them using their front legs in a rubbing or squeezing motion, but in Fizz's case, having no leg on that side, he was unable to do this.

Food that had accumulated, became impacted over a period of time, leading to this painful hard mass on his side.

Fizz made an astonishing recovery once again and was able to return home later the same day as his operation.

Sue examined him five days later and found that the wound had healed already, but he had a slight rash where his hair had been clipped.

Emma said: "It's been quite stressful but hopefully that will be it now.

"He's fine and the vet said he's recovered really quickly, although he is still a bit bald on one side."

Hamsters often only live for about two to three years, so for this little fellow to have survived these two episodes suggests he is an exceptionally brave and tough example of his species!