Ruby’s Crucial Brain Surgery
Ruby, a lovely Domestic Longhair Cat who at a grand age of 13, was referred as an emergency to our Neurology team as she had suddenly appeared off balance, vacant and not quite herself.
Edward Ives, our Head of Neurology and Neurosurgery alongside Alice Prodger, our Intern in Neurology undertook a neurological assessment, and this revealed that there was a problem with her brain.
They talked to her owners who agreed for her to have an MRI scan to identify the cause of the problem. The scan revealed a large mass on the left side of her brain that was severely compressing her surrounding brain tissue.
A type of benign brain tumour called a meningioma was suspected by our Diagnostic Imaging team, which is the most common brain tumour seen in older cats. As the long-term outlook can be good in such cases following surgical removal, Ruby returned to see us for brain surgery the following week.
Her anaesthetic was carefully planned by our Specialist Anaesthetists and surgery was performed by Ed. He managed to completely remove the tumour and Ruby was up and about just one day after surgery and is back to her normal self only a few weeks later! Her owners were delighted that she has recovered so quickly.
