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It’s bottoms up for a puppy which received life-saving surgery after being born without a butt.
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It’s safe to say Lucky, a bulldog, was appropriately named after vets performed the life-saving measures. The five-month-old was born with Atresia ani type 3, a rare congenital defect that meant she did not have an anus.
Her owners noticed she was struggling and took her to the vet, who referred her to specialist at Linnaeus-owned West Midlands Veterinary Referrals (WMR), near Burton-on-Trents, Staffs, in England.
Vets performed life-saving surgery to give her a proper bum. The pooch underwent a complex operation this summer to build her a new rear from scratch.
“Lucky was, in fact, unluckily born with a congenital defect that meant she had no anus,” said veterinarian Chris Lancelott, who headed up Lucky’s treatment, as reported by the New York Post. “It was a severe case of a condition we call an ‘Atresia ani type 3 and rectovaginal fistula.
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“In layman’s terms, I needed to create an anus, reposition the rectum and attach the bowel to this new anus.
“The surgery is challenging in these cases as type 3 atresia means the closed bowel is far away from where the anus should be.
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“First, we removed the fistula (abnormal internal passageway) and then carefully dissected the rectum to mobilize it.”
After the three-hour operation, Lucky spent a week recovering and learning to relieve herself.
She has since returned to her home in Rugeley, Staffs.
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“We realized within the first week of Lucky being born that she wasn’t ‘plumbed’ correctly and, as a result, she suffered from water infections and constipation,” her owner, Frances Silk, said.
“Our local vets suggested we try to get her to between eight and 12 weeks old, when she might be big enough to undergo an operation.
“After a thorough investigation and detailed discussions, we decided to go ahead with the operation to correct her issues.
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