A brave Jack Russell had to have almost half the skin on his back removed after a slow cooker full of chicken CASSEROLE fell from the kitchen counter.
Buddy was home alone and hungry in December when he began tugging at a tea-towel resting beneath the slow cooker.
The cooker fell and slopped scalding chicken casserole all over the 13-year-old pooch, burning much of the skin on his back.
His owner, Bethany Randall, 42, said her husband Steve, 48, had been working from home but had gone out for an hour when Buddy tried to get at the casserole.
She said: “Bits of chicken casserole were over the walls and the sofa. It looked like a murder scene.
“I came back from work and Buddy was cowering under some fabrics in a bag. He was shaking.”
Bethany, from West Molesey, Surrey, gave Buddy a cold shower to try and ease the pain after finding a burn on his leg before rushing him to the vets.
He was given treatment and sent home, but was forced to return to the vets when his owners realised an infection had developed beneath his fur.
Doctors were then forced to remove 40 per cent of the skin from Buddy’s back and monitor him in hospital for 12 days while they battle to save him for third degree burns, which they described as “the worst” they had ever seen.
Buddy was finally allowed to return home two days before Christmas – but not without daily trips to the vets, where his burns were treated with sugar to speed up the healing process.
The family thought they might have to put their beloved terrier down due to his age.
But Bethany said: “We thought we’ll see how it goes, and it’s great we did. Apart from being a bit bald he’s with us. He enjoys going for walks.”
Now, the veteran pooch is thankfully live and kicking – albeit permanently dressed in a home-made T-shirt.
