A dog lover has praised a dedicated ophthalmology referral vets for twice saving the sight of her amazing pet. Experts at Linnaeus-owned Eye Vet in Cheshire have carried out two intricate operations on Labrador Tollie, who has seen an incredible 20 of her puppies donated to the Guide Dogs, Canine Partners and Dogs for Good charities.
Iona Mathieson, an advanced practitioner in veterinary ophthalmology, first operated on Tollie in 2013 after her eye had been punctured by a thorn.
Iona said: “Tollie had been out playing in the woods and came back with trauma in the right eye, which turned out to be an embedded thorn.
“The thorn had punctured the right cornea, with Tollie suffering from a prolapsed iris. We performed surgery the same day and repaired the iris, reinflated her eye and reformed the anterior chamber.
“Tollie was in a very serious condition but her vision came back in the eye.”
This year, Tollie was back for more surgery at Eye Vet after focal damage to a lens developed into a cataract and, once again, Iona’s expertise saved her sight.
Tollie’s proud owner Helen Forbes, from Birkenhead Park, said: “We’re so grateful to Iona for her incredible work and all of the team at Eye Vet for their care and support.
“When Tollie had her accident in 2013, we thought she had lost her eye as the eyeball had punctured and was completely deflated.
“Much to my surprise, Iona was able to save it and Tollie made an excellent recovery despite the damage she had suffered.
“In the last five years, though, Tollie developed a cataract and Iona has recently operated to restore the sight in her eye once again.
“We couldn’t be happier. Tollie’s a much-loved family pet who’s made a real contribution to great causes.
“She’s had three litters of pups, 12 of which have been donated to Guide Dogs, three to UK charity Canine Partners, three to Dogs for Good and two to the Guide Dogs organisation in France.
“One of Tollie’s pups, Bailey, has had 11 pups of her own, with several of them having also been donated to Canine Partners and Dogs for Good.
“In fact, so many of her puppies have been donated that she now has some in the Guide Dogs’ breeding programme, which means she has grandchildren, and maybe even great grandchildren, making their own contributions in the future.
“The dynasty that Tollie has now created is truly remarkable and gives the whole family a real sense of satisfaction.”
Eye Vet Referrals is a fully-equipped referral clinic with cutting edge ophthalmic equipment which enables them to provide gold standard veterinary care. For more information, visit the website.
