When Boomer, a handsome German Shorthaired Pointer, came in to VCA Becker Animal Hospital, his injury looked dire. That’s what veterinary technician Alex Flynn remembers when she showed up to the hospital treatment area a couple of weeks before Christmas.
“I was shocked,” Alex recalls. “I felt a chill go through my body.”
Claudia Cardenas, a veterinary technician also on duty at the time, says she initially thought it might be a joke. Was Boomer wearing one of those gag head clips that make it look like you’ve been hit in the head with an arrow?
Unfortunately, it was not a joke—Boomer had been shot with an arrow. A crossbow bolt, to be specific.
“I was expecting him to be on his side and unresponsive,” Alex says. “But when I got to the treatment area, he was standing on the table, just watching and wagging his tail while the doctor examined him.” The crossbow bolt was still in his head.
How serious was the injury? The team at VCA Becker was about to find out.
“The Dog Should Have Bought a Lottery Ticket”
Luckily for Boomer, VCA Becker is a full-service veterinary hospital, open 24 hours a day for all medical needs, including emergencies. The hospital is staffed with highly trained individuals like Dr. Fletcher Przybyla, the doctor on duty when Boomer was brought in.
After stabilizing Boomer and making sure there was no significant bleeding from the wound, Dr. Przybyla went to work with the team to get a set of x-rays that would tell them exactly where the crossbow bolt sat in Boomer’s head. Most frightening was the possibility that the bolt had hit the brain or the eye.
Alex says the team administered pain medication to make sure Boomer wasn’t uncomfortable during the x-rays. Dr. Przybyla and the team had to be cautious while positioning Boomer for imaging, taking care not to bump the arrow in case it had penetrated the brain or optic nerve.
After seeing the x-rays, Dr. Przybyla joked that “the dog should have bought a lottery ticket.” Images confirmed the crossbow bolt had penetrated Boomer’s skull, missed the brain, entered the sinus cavity, and completely missed the eye.
Boomer was a lucky boy.
Removing the Foreign Body
Thankfully, Boomer’s owner Ben Gomez and his family had done exactly what the VCA Becker team advised them to when they discovered the injury: They removed the sharp end so it wouldn’t get caught on anything but left the bolt in Boomer’s head. If a pet has been impaled by an object, removing the object before getting to a hospital could cause dangerous bleeding.
Ben told Dr. Przybyla to do whatever it took to save his dog, so the team quickly went to work in the surgical suite to remove the crossbow bolt. After Boomer was put under general anesthesia, the team first cut off the feather-like end of the crossbow bolt (called a “fletching”).
Alex, who was helping with Boomer’s anesthesia, remembers: “They pulled it straight out, stayed as straight as possible, and Boomer’s vitals were good.”
Bleeding was very minimal, says Dr. Przybyla, and they were able to flush the wound with clean fluids and suture up both sides.
Boomer stayed at VCA Becker overnight for observation but went home the next day. Because the wound was in his head—a dangerous location for potential infection—Dr. Przybyla prescribed powerful antibiotics for Boomer to take at home.
On Ben’s mind to this day is the question of how Boomer was shot with a crossbow in the first place since the family doesn’t own one. Family members discovered Boomer in the yard with the crossbow bolt in his head. Ben has since built a large privacy fence to protect him.
"Not Boomer’s Time to Leave This World”
After 14 days, Boomer was greeted by smiles and congratulations from VCA Becker team members when he returned to get his sutures removed. The wound looked great, according to Claudia, the veterinary technician who had first spoken to Ben and his family.
Because of the injury to the sinus cavity at the front of his skull, only time will tell if Boomer’s sense of smell will be affected. But the fact that his appetite has never lessened is a good sign, according to Dr. Przybyla.
“Boomer’s case is one for the record books,” he says. “His situation was dramatic in its presentation and dramatic in its back story, but the medicine side was thankfully straightforward. The fact that he is doing as well as he is now makes it a really positive case.”
Ben gushes about the treatment he received at VCA Becker that terrifying day in December. Team members immediately rushed Boomer into treatment, but continually kept him informed throughout the process.
“I can’t say enough good things about how great they are,” Ben says.
He calls Boomer’s recovery a miracle.
“On that day, it was not Boomer’s time to leave this world. And he’s still full of energy and the happy dog he always was.”
If your pet is experiencing an emergency, it can be hard not to worry. You can take comfort in knowing that VCA is here for you to provide expert emergency care when you need it. Find the VCA Animal Hospital nearest you.
