Sam is a very special patient who is world-famous at RVC!
In 2025 he had a very bad accident, which required our team to pull all of its resources and expertise together. He needed round-the-clock intensive care and monitoring from our day and overnight Emergency Veterinary Hospital teams.
Sam stayed in our hospital for several weeks. His treatment included a blood transfusion, a urinary catheter, a feeding tube and multiple lines, multimodal pain relief, multiple wound surgeries with extensive bandaging, fracture repair using an external fixator, and major dentistry.
Within a few days in hospital, it became evident that Sam was a very special dog. As soon as he was able to, he showed us his sweet, gentle, and incredibly tolerant personality, and how much he wanted to pull through.
He took great comfort in cuddles with the nurses, who would sit with him and provide gentle reassurance whenever he needed extra support. He even wanted to get up and walk when he really shouldn’t have been able to! His determination to just get up and get on with things was inspiring and really helped both his progress and our team while caring for him.
Although he had every reason to, Sam never complained once throughout his many treatments.
Sam is incredibly lucky to have the most dedicated and caring owners, who visited daily. Sam clearly couldn’t wait to get home to them. Their care at home and attention to detail have played a huge part in his recovery.
His journey involved being awarded a certificate when he graduated from the hospital due to a shift in the amount of care required. There is now just a single plate in 1 leg, a significant change from a few months back when there was alot of metal hardware across his limbs..
It’s fair to say that Sam has a pretty big fan club at RVC. From reception to nurses, vets, and admin staff, everyone knows who he is, and there are frequent enquiries asking how he’s doing.
Although Sam’s journey with us is not quite over, he is well on the road to recovery, and we hope he will be back on the job with his best mate in the very near future.
