This basset hound is looking paws-itively beautiful after undergoing a facelift to remove over 2 pounds of sagging skin.
3-year-old Chief always struggled to see due to his drooping eyelids, so his owner, Tracey McDermott, 40, OK’d a five-hour procedure earlier this year to give him a new leash on life.
“As he grew and became bigger, so did the problem with his sight, so we were increasingly concerned about him,” McDermott, from Ireland, told SWNS.
Basset hounds are known for their floppy ears and wrinkles, per the ASPCA.
“We would call his name, and he’d lift his head up to try and see where we were, but you could see he was struggling,” McDermott added.
To combat Chief’s eye issues, McDermott initially used eye drops — but soon realized he needed something more extreme.
The pampered pup was taken to a Dublin veterinary hospital, where surgeon Mike Woods removed a large section of skin from across Chief’s neck and adjusted the position of his eyelids and eyebrows.
Woods had long believed a facelift would help Chief’s quality of life, but he wanted to wait until the dog was fully mature to perform surgery on him.
“Chief had a typical basset hound anatomy, but was suffering from severe upper lid ptosis (droop) and lower lid ectropion (slack and saggy), which had left him struggling to blink and to see properly,” Woods explained.
“I performed a coronal rhytidectomy (facelift) to remove a very large amount of skin from across the dorsal cervical (neck) region close to his ears.”
Woods describes the surgery as “long” and “challenging,” but Chief is happier than ever because he can see clearly once again.
He is back home with his very relieved owner.
“Chief’s sight has significantly improved thanks to Mike, and it’s had a really positive impact on his quality of life,” McDermott said.
“He was always a happy dog who got on with life in his own way despite the problems he had, now it is great to see him so well — and, of course, for him to see us.”
Chief isn’t the only pooch to undergo plastic surgery.
Dr. Edgard Brito, a vet and plastic surgeon in São Paulo, Brazil, has performed nose jobs, facelifts and testicular implants on dogs.
He even injected Botox to perk up the ears of a Doberman.
