A FAMILY pet from Galashiels has defied the odds after being knocked down by a car and rupturing her spleen

Labrador Teal suffered devastating internal injuries after being knocked down.

And it took a team of eight vets and nurses to save her life.

The black lab was out for a walk with devoted owner Jackie Paton when disaster struck.

Vets believe the much-loved family pet would have bled to death had it not been for the quick-thinking of Jackie and husband, who rushed the dog to the surgery in Gala Terrace.

An ultrasound scan showed heavy internal bleeding and there were fears a major organ could have ruptured.

Teal underwent a delicate two-hour operation, where it was discovered the eight-year-old had a ruptured spleen and lost a pint-and-a-half of blood.

Clinical director at Border Vets, Jim Ross and his team managed to stem the blood loss and removed part of Teal’s spleen, before giving her a transfusion of her own blood.

Jim, who had joined the practice as new Clinical Director only a month earlier, paid tribute to the teamwork that helped to save Teal’s life.

He said: “I was initially concerned because Teal had heavy internal bleeding and we had to find the cause as we didn’t know if it was a major vessel.

"When we opened up her abdomen, it was full of blood, so we performed an autotransfusion, where blood she was losing was filtered and put back into her veins to avoid having to find a donor.

“We discovered that the spleen had ruptured where she had been hit by the car and it was bruised and badly damaged. We then had to assess if other organs were damaged, but there was no further visible trauma or blood loss.

"She was very lucky it was the spleen rather than another organ.

“Because she lost so much blood, she wasn’t out of the danger zone after surgery. Fortunately, blood tests showed she was regenerating her own blood cells.”

After a tense 48 hours following surgery, to make sure she recovered, Teal was allowed home.

Jim added: “Not only did the owner react very quickly, but the whole team at Border Vets pulled together and stayed behind long after their working day had finished to ensure the best possible outcome for Teal.

“I’m over the moon with her recovery as she looks great and I can’t praise the fantastic teamwork by everyone at the practice enough.”

Teal lives with Jackie, her husband and their three sons, at their home in Galashiels.

Jackie said: “She is an obedient dog but I think she misheard the command while we were waiting to cross the road.

"I’ve never been in such a panic in all my life. Although there wasn’t a mark on her, she appeared fine for a short while however very quickly she deteriorated and became very poorly and couldn’t move very well.

“I couldn’t see a positive coming out of this situation and was worried about having to tell the children she had been put to sleep because she is part of the family.

"But I knew she was in the right place at Border Vets. It’s such a relief that she is doing fine and is back to her old self.”