​Swollen Dachshund Has To Be Deflated By Vets

We all get days when we feel a bit swollen - usually an hour or two after devouring a massive roast on a Sunday afternoon, or having spent a few days going a bit too heavy on the buffet at the all-inclusive.

But one poor little pooch wasn't swollen because he was a greedy bastard like the rest of us... he was genuinely, actually swollen.

Four-year-old Dachshund Trevor (argh, we know!) wasn't looking his usual tiny self, having suddenly expanded so much that he looked like he'd been inflated by a bicycle pump.

"He'd blown up like a balloon," owner Fran Jennings told the BBC, explaining he had swollen to three times his normal size.

To get ol' Trev back to his wee ways, vets had to perform a minor operation to 'deflate' him.

Willows Veterinary Group

Jennings, who hails from Lymm in Cheshire, said that she rushed Trevor to the emergency vet after the dog began to experience breathing difficulties.

She continued: "We put him straight in the car and took him to the emergency vets and they had never seen anything quite like it.

"Whatever it was, it affected his breathing so we had to leave him there while they tried to find out what was wrong."

Willows Veterinary Group

Turns out Trevor was suffering from sub-cutaneous emphysema - a collection of air under the skin - thanks to a hole in his windpipe.

"He looked like a big fat seal. His whole body was like a blob," added Jennings' daughter Jessica, who shows sausage dogs at Crufts.

"It was horrible seeing him like that. We had to deflate the air out of him, it was weird.

"But now he's back to his normal self, chasing the chickens and we wouldn't have him any other way."

Willows Veterinary Group

Vet Michelle Coward of Beech House Surgery in Warrington managed to relieve the pressure and stitch up the hole in Trevor's windpipe, meaning he returned to the petite size that sausage dogs are well-loved for.

Coward said: "I have never seen a case like this before and it was a new surgery for me.

"There were no external injuries that would explain how air had got under the skin, so we suspected that an internal injury to the airway could have been allowing the air in.

"Every time he took a breath, some of the inhaled air escaped through a hole in his windpipe."

Topics: UK News, Funny, UK, Animals, Dogs

Jess Hardiman

Jess is a journalist at LADbible who graduated from Manchester University with a degree in Film Studies, English Language and Linguistics - indecisiveness at its finest, right there. She also works for FOODbible and its sister page Seitanists, which are both a safe haven for her to channel a love for homemade pasta, fennel and everything else in between. You can contact Jess at [email protected].

@Jess_Hardiman