A medical scare has a sheriff’s K9 recovering from emergency surgery

The handler of a dependable Manatee County Sheriff’s Office K9 had to rush his partner to the animal hospital this week for a condition that required emergency surgery.

“He’s always right there every time we need something done,” Manatee County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Dave Bristow said of K9 Rocky. “He’s tracked down a lot of bad guys.”

Rocky, a 7-year-old Dutch shepher, became sick Wednesday. His handler, Deputy Tom Franklin, rushed Rocky to the Desoto Animal Clinic where he received an emergency examination.

There, a veterinarian diagnosed Rocky with intestinal torsion, which can be fatal.

A Vet Care Express Ambulance rushed Rocky to the Veterinary Surgery Center of Sarasota. A surgical team was there waiting for Rocky and quickly performed the procedure, which took about 45 minutes.

A colonic torsion occurs when the dog’s colon twists onto it’s blood supply, Scott Rose, chief of surgery at Veterinary Surgery Center of Sarasota, said.

“That type of body shape — like Great Danes and German shepher — because their chests are so much longer than wide, that can create lots of mobility in the stomach,” Rose said. “And when you have really active dogs like police dogs who are doing more activity than a household pet, they’re at risk for intestinal torsions.”

During the surgery, Rose said they went ahead and took measures to keep the twisting from happening again. Rocky has already had the preventative surgery done on his stomach.

According to the sheriff’s office, Rocky’s surgery was successful and he is expected to have a full recovery, though it will be a few weeks before he returns to duty.

Rose said Rocky should be ready for light training in about two weeks and could return to service in about a month, as long as the incision is healing properly.

Bristow said Deputy Franklin is caring for Rocky during his recovery, but that the ordeal was scary.

In a Facebook post, the sheriff’s office called it a Christmas miracle and praised the work of all those who helped care for Rocky.

“The MCSO says thank you for the extraordinary efforts and compassion demonstrated by the Desoto Animal Clinic, the Veterinary Surgery Center, and Vet Care Express,” the post read.

“Cases like this... certainly make us feel very good about what we’re able to do when we can help them. These dogs do so much their community, it’s amazing for us to be able to help them out any way we can,” Rose said.

This story was originally published December 22, 2017 at 11:54 AM with the headline "A medical scare has a sheriff’s K9 recovering from emergency surgery."