A Great Dane’s life was saved with the help of a ground-breaking treatment at a Glasgow hospital.

In a first for Scotland, four-year-old Merlin, who weighs a whopping 10 stone, underwent a procedure called cell salvage.

The pooch was losing blood because of a life-threatening twist in his intestine but getting sufficient donor supplies for such a large dog can be challenging as well as hugely expensive.

The Vets Now clinical team used a procedure the groundbreaking procedure which effectively recycles the dog’s own blood.

In Merlin’s case, blood that had leaked into his abdomen was recovered, before being washed and filtered in the cell salvage machine, and then returned to him by way of transfusion.

Merlin’s owner, Graeme McClain, of Saltcoats, North Ayrshire, praised the hospital staff for saving his dog’s life and said he feared he would lose Merlin as his condition worsened.

He explained: “Merlin had an operation at our local vets after they discovered his intestine had gone up and attached itself above his stomach meaning they needed to put it back to where it should be.

“Afterwards, he went into Vets Now for routine post-operative care and overnight observation, but the vet said his heart rate was elevated due to an internal bleed so he had to go into emergency surgery.

“There was a high risk of losing him at that point. Two operations back to back and being knocked out twice with general anaesthetic is not good for any dog.”

The Vets Now team discovered Merlin had lost three litres of blood but they used the hospital’s newly-acquired cell salvage machine to recover the lost blood from his abdomen.

It was the first time the procedure had been carried out in the hospital.

The Royal Veterinary College in London is the only other place in the UK which has the machine and there are a few reports of them being used in the US, but it’s not commonplace.

Cell salvage is recommended in cases involving significant blood loss, especially when adequate blood products are not readily available. It has been proven to be a safe and effective way for vets to manage haemorrhage.

Sheila McLellan, an emergency and critical care veterinary nurse at Vets Now Glasgow, explained how the new equipment had proven to be a lifesaver.

She said: “Due to Merlin’s size - Great Danes are about 70kg - we knew we wouldn’t have enough blood to replace what he was losing so we used our cell salvage machine for the first time.

“This allowed us to take Merlin’s blood from his abdomen and feed it into the machine which essentially washed and filtered the blood, allowing our emergency vets to give it straight back to him.

“Merlin is such a splendid looking dog and really something of a gentle giant. We’re so glad we were able to save his life.”

Owner Graeme was also impressed with the new treatment, adding: “It seems an extremely clever way of re-using the dog’s own fluids and something I had never heard of — it sounds like a great breakthrough.”

Graeme’s family have always had Great Danes which he says make great family pets.

“They are really good natured dogs. They are placid, laid back and good with children as well as being a stunning dog to look at too. They are just big gentle giants,” he said, adding that he and his partner, Charlotte, couldn’t thank “Vets Now enough for everything they did to save our pooch.”