DEVOTED dog owners Chris and Janice Easdown made a mercy dash home from holiday in Spain when their labrador Lilly was struck down by a life-threatening infection.

They cut short their vacation in the sun and rushed to the rescue of their stricken pet who was hot under the collar after contracting Tetanus.

The two-year-old golden labrador collapsed and had a seizure when she became ill with the infection which is so rare it affects only one in 10,000 dogs.

But she pulled through after two weeks of treatment and made a miracle recovery with her worried owners at her side.

Janice Easdown, of Blenheim Close, Wilmslow Park, said: "I was devastated. We dropped everything and came back four days early when our son phoned us. We just stood at the airport and waited for flights back.

"Lilly went into a seizure and we rushed her to the vets in Macclesfield. They admitted her straight away - we nearly lost her!
"She is still far from perfect - it will take up to 12 months for a full recovery."

To aid her recovery, Janice has been taking Lilly to hydrotherapy sessions at a pet hospital in New Wrexham where, she explains, her pooch is more pampered than ever.

"It is a proper dog hospital and they have a special heated dogs' pool which is good for their muscles. She always was pampered but it is getting a bit over the top now."

Wright and Morton vets Janet Brenton and Claire Phillips worked round the clock with a team of nurses to help Lilly pull through.

Claire said: "It's pretty rare and certainly the more experienced vets here have only seen one or two cases in their careers. The owners recognised it very quickly, she was shaking and trembling and having fits because the muscles were contracting all the time and it made the body temperature go up.

"We treated her with a lot of cold water bathing and drugs. She couldn't move herself and an awful lot of nursing was required.

"A lot of these dogs end up being considered for euthanasia on welfare grounds but the nurses made sure she was going to get well. She is such a bright and young dog it seemed a shame to not try everything with her and she did respond extremely well. One or two of the nurses got very attached to her. She was well worth it!"

Janice praised the vets saying: "They gave me a lot of hope. They were amazing and kept telling me that she would be okay."