06/10/2026
BORIS'S INCREDIBLE RECOVERY STORY 🐶
️
A few months ago, the lovely Boris came to see us after his breathing had progressively become more difficult.
Boris had sadly been involved in a car accident during Covid, when treatment options were more limited. Although he had appeared to cope well for some time afterwards, his breathing had gradually deteriorated until it became a serious problem.
Our wonderful locum vet, James, saw Boris when he was very unwell and immediately took chest X-rays. They revealed something incredibly serious — Boris had a diaphragmatic hernia.
We believe this may have been related to the trauma from his accident years earlier. A hole had developed in his diaphragm — the muscle that separates the chest from the abdomen — and, over time, Boris’s abdominal organs had gradually moved through the hole and into his chest.
His liver, stomach, intestines and part of his spleen had all moved into his chest cavity, leaving very little room for his lungs to expand. This explained why Boris was struggling so much to breathe. Because his organs had been in his chest for such a long period of time, we were extremely concerned about whether he would survive the surgery.
What followed was a very long and challenging operation. While our surgical team carefully returned Boris’s organs to his abdomen, two of our nurses were supporting his breathing and circulation throughout the procedure. The hole in his diaphragm was extensive and required specially ordered artificial graft material to repair it.
Once the diaphragm had been repaired, Boris’s lungs had to be very slowly reinflated to reduce the risk of serious reperfusion injury and allow him to gradually start breathing on his own again. But there were still more challenges.
Because so many of his abdominal organs had been sitting in his chest for so long, his abdominal muscles had become contracted and there was initially very little space to accommodate everything again. We had to close his abdomen carefully and gradually using tension-relieving sutures. His liver and intestines had also suffered from prolonged compression, so Boris needed intensive treatment and monitoring while his organs recovered.
The next 72 hours were incredibly intensive. Boris stayed with us overnight and received round-the-clock care and treatment from Sarah and Archie, alongside our fantastic nursing team. Sarah performed his surgery, and every member of the nursing team played an important part in his recovery, providing the one-to-one care he needed.
And today, we are absolutely delighted to say that Boris has made a complete recovery. 🥹❤️ His journey was extraordinary, and he showed just how incredibly resilient our pets can be. We are so proud of Boris — and we couldn’t think of a more deserving winner of our Pet of the Month award. 🏆🐾