A family has expressed gratitude to specialist vets for saving their dog after being warned she might not survive the night.

Five-year-old cocker spaniel Luna was rushed to a Preston vet after vomiting large amounts of blood.

Her owner, Lisa Hagen, was informed that Luna's gall bladder might have ruptured, putting her life at risk.

However, after being referred to Kentdale Referrals in Cumbria, European diplomate in small animal surgery Jan Beranek managed to stabilise Luna and perform a complex operation.

Luna is recovering from her illness (Image: Supplied) Mr Beranek said: "Luna had sudden onset of vomiting blood and had an established diagnosis of gallbladder mucocele – which sees the gallbladder fill with sludge.

"If we didn’t remove it, then it would have eventually ruptured.

"We can’t stress enough how important Luna’s local vets were in recognising the urgency of her condition and referring her to us.

"We performed an ultrasound to confirm the diagnosis before carrying out a successful two-hour surgery."

Luna's owners were amazed by her swift recovery after the procedure.

Luckily, Luna is back to her old self (Image: Supplied) Ms Hagen said: "We were so happy when we heard there was a chance Luna would survive with surgery, as we had previously been told she may not make the night because our local vets suspected her gallbladder had already ruptured.

"She recovered brilliantly and so quickly.

"She’s now back to being a busy and happy spaniel."

This is not the Hagen family's first experience with the Kentdale team, as their previous dog also required surgery at the small animal hospital.

She added: "We are so happy to have Luna back to her old self and so grateful to Kentdale.

"Vets there had previously performed knee surgery on our old dog and both experiences with them have been outstanding.

"I’d recommend them to anyone."