Liberty Update
Its over 24 hours since Liberty had life saving surgery at Northcote Veterinary Surgery.
The surgery involved opening the abdominal cavity, locating the shunting vessel which was rather a challenge as it was burried under layers of tissue and closing this vessel to re-direct its blood through the liver.
Closure of the vessel must be carried out in a slow and gradual manner. This is achieved by the placement of a cellophane band around the vessel. The band causes the gradual closure of the shunting vessel over a four to six week period. This gradual closure allows the previously under-used blood vessels within the liver time to develop without producing an excessively high blood pressure within the portal vein (portal hypertension).
Liberty was diagnosed with a portosystemic liver shunt just 10 days ago. This was detected by a specialist ultrasound scan.
A portosystemic liver shunt is a blood vessel anomaly that results in blood from the abdominal organs (small bowel, large bowel, stomach, etc.) being diverted to the heart and bypassing the liver. This means that toxins are not filtered out by the liver and in essence Liberty was poisoning herself.
She was suffering with seizures due to the toxins and has never thrived due to her not absorbing nutrients… and our last hope was this dangerous liver shunt.
Unfortunately this surgery carries huge risks both during the surgery and for 72 hours after surgery too..
The surgery itself went really well however post surgical complications are often fatal.
24 hours following surgery Liberty is doing really well and so fat has had no complications… just another 48 hours constant monitoring to go to get her out of the dangerzone.
Huge thanks to the amazing team at Northcote Veterinary Surgery and the amazingly skilled and talented surgeon Dr. Roger Wilkinson who came in to do the surgery.
We are still fundraising to cover the cost of Liberty’s surgery.
The surgery itself cost £1200, the pre surgery diagnostic scan was around £300 and post operative care and scans are estimated around £500 if there are no complications.
If you would like to help all the ways you call donate are on our website: https://www.bcwr-kittens.co.uk/donate/
Many thanks