Hi all, I'm new on here and just wanted to seek some advice/guidance as to what to do!
9 weeks ago, as a result of accidental mating with my aunties chi, my mum's chihuahua gave birth to 4 beautiful pups. However, although 3 were born perfectly healthy, one of them (Tiny Timmy) was born half the size, weighing less than 60g! As expected, his strength declined very quickly when he was out numbered when competing for food. Due to the fact that my mum is a vetenary nurse, I have had much experience with hand rearing various new borns so taking on the task of bottle feeding him every hour for the first month of his life was something I was used to. Due to his size and lack of strength I didn't expect Timmy to pull through, however when he did I'd formed such a bond with him that I was in complete awe, and had fallen in love! I gave my mum £250 to allow me to keep him and have been inseperable ever since!
However, although to the eye he is completely healthy, running around, chewing socks and terrorising his brothers and sisters, when we took him for his first vaccinations last week we discovered terrible complications. We found out that Timmy had a terrible heart murmour (his heart sounded like a machine gun), which was left un-noticed on previous vet checks. In the past week he has been for 2 scans and Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) was diagnosed. PDA is a congenital heart disease which unfortunately brings about expensive specialised surgery, without surgery Timmy would be lucky to make it past 12 months. Due to the fact that it is 'congenital' it is an operation that insurers would not fund, leaving me to pay for the £2500-£5000 operation myself. However, being a 19 year old student living away from home, bringing in a part time wage and having spent the remainder of my student loan on scans, it is a price that is just not feasable for me. As my mum is a student vetenary nurse (earning a pitence herself and unable to offer financial help) we will be able to get the operation at a discounted price, however it will still be several thousands of pounds. Initially, out of shock, I had pondered with the idea of letting the disease take its natural toll but I cannot bear the thought of watching him die when he is just a baby. So, having faught for his life once, I am going to fight for it again and try everything I can to fund the operation to give him a chance.
If anyone has any advice, suggestions for fundraising, or other ideas I would be extremely grateful. Thanks, Hannah.
9 weeks ago, as a result of accidental mating with my aunties chi, my mum's chihuahua gave birth to 4 beautiful pups. However, although 3 were born perfectly healthy, one of them (Tiny Timmy) was born half the size, weighing less than 60g! As expected, his strength declined very quickly when he was out numbered when competing for food. Due to the fact that my mum is a vetenary nurse, I have had much experience with hand rearing various new borns so taking on the task of bottle feeding him every hour for the first month of his life was something I was used to. Due to his size and lack of strength I didn't expect Timmy to pull through, however when he did I'd formed such a bond with him that I was in complete awe, and had fallen in love! I gave my mum £250 to allow me to keep him and have been inseperable ever since!
However, although to the eye he is completely healthy, running around, chewing socks and terrorising his brothers and sisters, when we took him for his first vaccinations last week we discovered terrible complications. We found out that Timmy had a terrible heart murmour (his heart sounded like a machine gun), which was left un-noticed on previous vet checks. In the past week he has been for 2 scans and Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) was diagnosed. PDA is a congenital heart disease which unfortunately brings about expensive specialised surgery, without surgery Timmy would be lucky to make it past 12 months. Due to the fact that it is 'congenital' it is an operation that insurers would not fund, leaving me to pay for the £2500-£5000 operation myself. However, being a 19 year old student living away from home, bringing in a part time wage and having spent the remainder of my student loan on scans, it is a price that is just not feasable for me. As my mum is a student vetenary nurse (earning a pitence herself and unable to offer financial help) we will be able to get the operation at a discounted price, however it will still be several thousands of pounds. Initially, out of shock, I had pondered with the idea of letting the disease take its natural toll but I cannot bear the thought of watching him die when he is just a baby. So, having faught for his life once, I am going to fight for it again and try everything I can to fund the operation to give him a chance.
If anyone has any advice, suggestions for fundraising, or other ideas I would be extremely grateful. Thanks, Hannah.
