EYES RIGHT!

Chief can see clearly now after a little nip and tuck in the safe hands of talented veterinary surgeon Mike Woods

- KESHIA AFRICA

A FACELIFT for a dog may sound barking mad – but when your best friend is struggling to see because of all the wrinkles and folds, going under the knife can turn out to be a howling success.

Such was the case for Chief, a three-year-old basset hound who has a new lease on life after a little nip and tuck.

Bassets are famous for their droopy eyes and jowls, their expressions giving new meaning to the term hang dog.

Sometimes, however, the force of gravity can get a bit much – and for Chief it was severely impacting his life.

The skin around his eyes was so floppy it was affecting his vision. “As he grew and became bigger, so did the problem with his sight,” says Chief ’s owner, Tracey McDermott, who lives in Dublin, Ireland. “We would call his name and he’d lift his head and try to see where we were, but you could see he was struggling.”

By the time she took Chief to Dr Mike Woods, a veterinary ophthalmologist, there was an entire fist-full of loose skin on her pet’s head.

Mike told her the best solution would be to give the hound a full facelift – or rhytidectomy as it’s formally known – and brow lift.

And so earlier this year Chief went under the knife in a procedure that took two hours and resulted in the removal of a kilogram of skin.

Mike, speaking to YOU via video call from his office at the Primrose Hill Veterinary Hospital in Dublin, explains an incision was made behind Chief ’s ears to remove the excess skin, which was about 30cm in length.