Gunner's Story

Update - September 2013:
We posted a picture and the story of our Yellow Lab, Gunner, last Spring when he had tie-back surgery at the U of M for laryngeal paralysis. Gunner has had the nicest summer. Here is a picture. Couldn't keep him out of the water. He's 13 1/2 and still doing excellent! Thanks again to all at the U of M Veterinary Medical Center.

Original Story:
We brought Gunner, our Yellow Lab into the University of Minnesota, Veterinary Medical Center recently for Laryngeal tieback surgery. The prospects of which, for an old dog like Gunner, were uncertain.
 
He was basically smothering; at night he could barely breathe, it was difficult to watch a wonderful old dog go that way. At nearly thirteen; we had questions as to whether we should proceed with surgery or accept the consequences of no surgery. Listening to him struggle to breath at night, just didn’t seem right, as Lab’s go, every day is usually a good day; no matter what, so, we felt we should at least look into surgery.

We met with the wonderful people of the VMC at the U of M. The primary interfaces were with Trisha, Kevin (Dr. Haynes) and Kerry (Anesthesiologist). What an incredible experience. Dr. Haynes took the time to explain the surgery and set expectations; we left the initial appointment knowing the details, risks, costs and what to expect out of the surgery. They did an analysis (blood work, x-ray) to make sure the surgery made sense; then Dr. Haynes took the time to explain each step to us; a week later we brought Gunner in for surgery. It went exactly the way they described it. The surgery went well.

One can’t say that surgery is always successful, but in our case, Gunner is now two weeks out of the surgery; breathing normally and acting like he is 2-3 years younger. This weekend on our walk; he even began to run. When it came time to pay the bill, it was actually less than we expected and extremely competitive.

We found the whole group highly competent, highly professional and deeply caring. If you are contemplating a major surgery for your animal or are just looking for regular veterinarian services; I’d highly recommend a call to the University of Minnesota Veterinary Medical Center. They did an awesome job.

- Cory