This is the story of Alice and her owner who travelled from Western Australia to compete in the Weimaraner breed category at the Royal Easter show this year.
Alice and her family were staying in the Blue Mountains for a few days before the show. On March 26th, Alice was going for a bush walk in Hazelbrook with her owner. While playing with another dog, Alice got slightly spooked and fell off a cliff some 20-30 meters! Initially it was presumed she was dead or severely injured.
Firefighters and police were called to start a search party but the bush was too thick to locate her. A friend and local resident who knew the area well was called and from the description of where she fell, started on foot to search for her. After some time he located Alice who was standing not far from where she would have fallen.
Alice waged her tail with happiness when she saw him. Astonishingly, she didn’t move far from where she fell and waited hours for help to arrive! What was even more incredible was that she walked out with the local resident back to her owner! Alice was then taken immediately to a local vet in Hazelbrook. Dr. Adam examined her.
Despite walking into the clinic with no obvious injuries, Alice was suffering from shock. She was shaky, exhausted and her gums were pale. She had some small superficial grazes on her but thankfully no major injuries to her body were found. She was immediately treated for shock. Alice was placed on intravenous fluids and she was given pain relief.
Dr Adam then performed an abdominal ultrasound to check for any internal damage from the fall. The ultrasound showed no internal bleeding or major injury. Alice wasn’t out of the woods yet! She was still suffering shock and was very disorientated and exhausted. There was a chance she could have deteriorated very quickly if not closely monitored.
Dr. Adam therefore recommended she be transferred to WellPet Vets 24HR Western Sydney Veterinary Emergency Service operating out of Nepean Animal Hospital. There she would continue her treatment for shock and ensure she was closely monitored overnight. Alice arrived at Wellpet Vets and Dr. Rachel examined her condition and performed further testing on her blood.
The blood testing checked her organs functions. Her test results confirmed she was suffering stress and exhaustion consistent with the shock from her fall. She continued on intravenous fluids and pain relief whilst in WellPet Vets ICU ward. There she received close overnight monitoring and regular pain relief. Her blood work was repeated the following morning to check for any changes.
It confirmed no significant change, indicating no internal damage. This meant that Alice was give the all clear to fly home and was discharged the next morning. Her owner was amazed that she was found and even more ecstatic that she escaped with very minor scrapes! Unfortunately she missed her chance for breed champion at the Easter Show this year, but thankfully she is ok and will try again next year!
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