Clamp left in Rottweiler by vet in Kent two years ago

Gracey is now recovering at home after having the clamp removed

A dog has had to have a metal clamp removed from its stomach after it was left there following a routine operation in Kent two years ago.

The medical instrument was found lodged in Gracey, a five-year-old Rottweiler.

The instrument was left inside the dog during an operation to have her spayed at a veterinary surgery in Maidstone.

The clamp was only found when Gracey was X-rayed for another condition two years later. The original vets surgery has apologised for what happened.

Owners Trudi Deja, 47, and Michael Summers, 50, of High Halden near Ashford, took Gracey to be spayed at Mote Park Veterinary Surgery in Maidstone.

Afterwards, Ms Deja said they noticed a change in their once playful dog.

Locum vet

She said: "After a few months, the dog seemed miserable and when you went to give her a cuddle she would growl at you.

"It seemed she had grown up and was not quite the same happy dog she was. We did not think at any time that there was something lodged inside her."

Trudi Deja is looking after Gracey at home

The problem only came to light when Ms Deja took Gracey to a specialist for an examination.

"I thought it was a joke at first," Ms Deja said.

"I kept expecting one of my friends to jump out of a cupboard and say it was a wind-up."

Gracey is now recovering at home following an operation to have the clamp removed.

Ms Deja said: "I think she was always feeling discomfort and that if she chased a ball, or picked something up, or went off and chased a rabbit that she was going to be in pain.

"She is a much happier dog and she does not mind having a cuddle."

In a statement, the Mote Park Veterinary Surgery apologised to Ms Deja.

They said the operation had been carried out by a New Zealand vet who was working as a locum with the surgery.

"We are sorry for any distress this has caused her or her family," they said.

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Clamp left in dog after operation