Tomas is a four year old male St Bernard who weighs in at over 80kgs - large, but still 20kgs less than his buddy Ben! Tomas presented with an unusual but very real problem. The heavy skin folds on his face and head were gradually becoming more and more droopy as time went on. The sheer weight of the skin meant that when Tomas put his head down to drink or eat, large folds of it occluded his eyes and made it impossible for him to see. This progressed to the point that Tomas was having difficulty seeing, even when in the normal sitting or standing positions.

These massive skin folds around the eyes, nose and mouth were causing several serious problems. Initially Tomas kept getting skin infections, or pyoderma deep in the folds due to the accumulation of saliva, sweat and food particles. This necessitated many courses of antibiotics and a lot of hard work on Tomas's owners part in trying to keep him feeling fresh and clean. Latterly, however, Tomas became more and more withdrawn due to this complete lack of vision and stopped playing with the other dogs in the house. He became very depressed and miserable, losing all sense of confidence. It was obvious to both of us and Tomas's owners that his quality of life was almost non-existant.

After much thought and consultation, we decided to perform a plastic surgery procedure to return his vision and improve his quality of life. The operation is called a stellate rhytidectomy and involves removing a huge area of skin from the top of Tomas's head and the back of his neck. The skin of the forehead is then advanced backwards and sutured to the bone and tissue at the back of the skull in order to anchor it in place. The massive wound is closed meticulously with sutures under the skin and several special surgical drains are placed to prevent accumulation of fluid under the wound.

Tomas was under general anaesthetic for around 2-3 hours and made an excellent recovery. Within weeks of the 'face lift' operation, his owners reported that he had completely regained his confidence and zest for life, not to mention having normal vision restored!

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