Wrexham dog defies the odds after major operation saw half his jaw removed

In November 2019, Vicci Roberts took 12-year-old Sam to the vets, after finding a growth on his gums.

She said: “Our vet Rebecca ran a biopsy that revealed there was actually cancerous cells within this growth which could spread throughout the rest of Sam’s jaw.

“We were told that in order to prevent the cancer from spreading, they would need to remove the localised area around the growth, which was a large part of his lower jaw.

“With Sam being quite old I was very nervous and apprehensive to put him under general anaesthetic, but I trusted Rebecca wholeheartedly and knew that he was otherwise completely healthy, so it really was the best decision to make for him.”

The growth was unfortunately confirmed as cancerous by the vets, and so Sam then had to undergo a serious operation to remove a large portion of his lower jaw, in order to stop the cancer from spreading even further.

Although now luckily cancer-free, Vicci, from Wrexham, has since had to help Sam adjust to a new way of life, learning how to eat and drink again.

Vicci added: “The team removed the half of Sam’s jaw on one side, leaving behind just three remaining teeth at the back, as well as a large portion on the other side.

“It did take a few weeks for him to fully recover, as it was a very intense surgery and there was a lot of swelling afterwards. We had to keep going back to the practice for injections and pain management, but the team were absolutely amazing, always making a fuss of him when he came in - it was almost like he was a celebrity.

“The main hurdle we have had to overcome was teaching him to eat again. I now blitz all of his meals up so they are like a soup that he can easily lick up. I can also hold treats and vegetables at the back of his jaw where the few remaining teeth are, and he can then manage to chew them. Labradors are very driven by food, so he’s definitely made it work.”

Vicci said Sam has had a huge change in lifestyle and although looks a lot different with his tongue hanging out he has adapted really well.

She said: “I’m relieved the cancer has been eliminated and now he can continue living his life, even if he does get a cold tongue every now and again.”

Rebecca Hughes, owner and veterinary surgeon at Vets4Pets Wrexham Plas Coch performed the surgery; a more unusual operation to be carried out in veterinary practice.

She said she has only performed this procedure twice, including on Sam.

She said: “Benign growths on the jaw such as the one Sam first presented to us a few years ago are quite common, but then when it re-grew a biopsy revealed this one was now a sarcoma.

“We knew how easily this cancer could later spread throughout the rest of Sam’s jaw, so we knew the best thing to do for him would be to remove half of his jaw on one side, and a large portion of the jawbone on the other side, as we felt on the x-rays the cancer was on both side, so we couldn’t risk leaving it.

“This surgery is quite brutal, and the results would obviously affect his abilities to use his mouth in the future.

“However, after treating Sam for many years, I knew how healthy he was otherwise, and didn’t want the cancer to shorten his life by leaving it when there was something we could do to combat it.”