A dog had a lucky escape after a tumour the size of a football was found on his spleen.
Marty the 11-year-old Golden Retriever needed emergency surgery to save him after the cancerous growth, which weighed 1kg, was discovered.
Owner Jane Gallacher, from Stirling, faced the tough decision of going ahead with the risky operation or taking her beloved pooch home to die.
Marty had been taken to a local vets for treatment.
But due to the complexity of the tumour they couldn't help so the worried family were referred to Linnaeus-owned Veterinary Specialists Scotland (VSS) in Livingston.
Our sister title, Edinburgh Live, reports that the West Lothian dog's owners were terrified of what would happen, and it emerged the swelling had ruptured, causing potentially fatal bleeding.
Marty went under the knife, with vets working hard to control the bleeding and remove the 1kg tumour.
But the surgery was successful and the well-loved pet is now free to recover at home with his family.
Jane, from Stirling, said: "We faced the possibility of taking Marty home to die or a potentially complex operation which may or may not save him.
"Our vet advised his best chance lay in him being transferred to a specialist-led veterinary centre for surgery and in-patient care and Joanna at VSS said she would operate on Marty that evening.
"We were so very grateful and knew that without surgery Marty might die over the weekend.
"When we met Joanna late on the Friday afternoon, Marty trotted off down the corridor behind her as though he knew his life was in her hands.
"We all trusted her from the start. She explained the plan and was entirely honest about the risks and so kind throughout, promising us she would call when the surgery was over that evening.
"When Joanna called, she told us Marty’s spleen had ruptured due to the large tumour but that his body had stemmed the bleeding itself and that, amazingly, he had not lost too much blood and therefore did not need a blood transfusion.
"She then told us the mass that she’d removed was the size of a football!
"We felt so bad as we’d been cutting back his food a bit thinking he was a getting a little bit heavy – well, he’s more than 1kg lighter now!"
Joanna explained: "Marty had been referred to us as an emergency for investigation and surgical management of haemoabdomen due to a suspected bleeding mass on his spleen.
"A CT scan was performed which revealed a large mass, some 20cm across, within Marty’s spleen and free fluid within the abdominal cavity which was likely to be blood."
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