On Christmas Day, Zorro was being minded by some family friends who also have a dog. Christmas turned to horror when Zorro chased his mate across the top of a saltwater swimming pool cover and fell in. We’re not sure exactly how long Zorro was in the pool before he was spotted by the carers’ 12-year-old son. He pulled Zorro from the pool not breathing and started to do mouth-to-mouth breathing.

Zorro was taken straight to the AEC in Mount Waverley where he went into respiratory arrest on arrival. Our team of experienced vets and nurses performed CPR on him for 30 minutes, until thankfully, the AEC team were able to restart his heart and remove the water from his lungs.

Zorro was treated with oxygen and fluids and remained in the ICU department for the next 36 hours to make sure he did not need to be placed onto a ventilator to help him breathe.

Blood tests were performed over a 24 hour period which fortunately showed that the salt levels in Zorro’s blood stream weren’t dangerously altered. Zorro was discharged and sent home for 2 weeks rest and has since made a full recovery….he was truly the Christmas miracle!

His owners wrote to us by e-mail:

“We want to thank you and your team again for your wonderful care of him. We can’t believe we still have him, considering he was retrieved from the bottom of the pool not breathing and then suffered a heart attack on the table. His recovery has been miraculous. He’s as happy as ever and is the talk of the neighbourhood. (He’s been getting more visitors than us!).”