London: An ailing Bloodhound has got a new lease of life after his owners spent over 10,000 pounds to treat him and transform him from a "grumpy old man."
Five-year-old Junior, who bears a striking resemblance to cartoon dog Droopy, has been transformed after having three operations and 39 stitches, his owners said.
Junior, who has just added a tummy tuck to last year's facelift, has run up a surgeon's bill totalling more than 10,000 pounds in just two years, Daily Mail reported.
The dog suffers from a rare condition which causes excess skin to develop. The folds last year came close to blinding him, forcing his owner to opt for surgery.
Now his owners Denise and David Smart from Selby, North Yorkshire have have had to put Junior back under the knife to remove excess flaps which were dangling around his belly and stopping him from running.
Junior's facelift in 2010 cost 1,200 pounds, while the latest surgery, a tummy tuck cost 1,500 pounds. Further surgery and vet bills come to 6,000 pounds while medication tops 1,000 pounds, the report said.
But his owners say they had no reservations about getting surgery for their pet.
"He must have felt awful for so long. He's like a child to us. It's taken years off him and he does look like a young man again," Denise said.
"Before the operation he was fed up and looked like a grumpy old man. Now he's more mobile and he's got a new lease of life."
After having two benign tumours removed his chest area, the skin on Junior's belly began to droop and became infected.
He was taken to the vet at the start of the year and has since has three operations and 39 stitches to give him a taut belly, the report said.
When problems with Junior's sight first became apparent, the couple made repeated visits to the vet looking for a solution. At first the vet removed an eyelash.
But his condition did not improve and he began suffering from a problem called entropion which could have led to Junior - the offspring of a Crufts champion - permanently losing his sight.
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