Operation for Luna

Hi, my name is Linda and I am raising money for our beautiful Romanian rescue dog Luna .

When our handsome Champ of 16 years had to be put to sleep we were completely beside ourselfs with grief and  were certainly not looking to replace him.  That was  until a friend sent us a photo of Luna and it was love at first sight.


We were told that she had been found on the streets of Romania just outside the airport at a petrol station.  The lady that found her was in fact on her first visit to Romania to help the charity rescue dogs abandoned on the streets. Luna was in a bad way.  Completely matted and very timid.  She was taken back to the rescue shelter and immediately took the hearts of the owners, who took her into their own home until a forever home could be found for her.  
We notified them that we wanted her and the process began to bring her over.  There was a heart in mouth moment when we were told that she had been unable to continue her journey to us as her chip didn't match her passport (human error, which was rectified) and she was soon on her way.

We drove 3 hours to pick her up and the love we felt for her when she was brought out to us was incredible.  I took her from the shelter owner and she just wrapped her front paws around my arm and wouldn't let go.

We got her home and like most rescue dogs she had her little problems.  She was frightened of the TV,  she was frightened to walk through doorways and frightened of men.  Over time she got over most of these but does sometimes still have fear of some men.  

A more loving, good natured dog we couldn't have asked for.  She is so beautiful as you can see from her picture, we are always stopped and asked about her with people wanting to stroke her when we take her for a walk.
Back in January 2016, having been away for a week leaving Luna with my husband, we walked in around 11pm so excited to see Luna.  The excitment soon vanished as we were greeted by Luna backing away and screaming and I do mean screaming ... like a human.  It was horrible and heart wrenching to hear.  I quickly found that she had a lump on her side which turned out to be an abscess.  We took her to the vets they drained it and dressed it.  With a course of antibiotics it healed.  A week later it came back, burst open, another visit to the vets, they had to put in a drain and more antibiotics.  

Again, once the antibiotics stopped it burst open again.  The vets dressed it, more antibiotics, an operation to remove scare tissue in the hope this would prevent further outbreak.  
But unfortunately that was not to be the case.  A swab was taken to find out why it wouldn't heal.  The result came back saying that she had MRSP which like MRSA is a super bug which prevents wounds from healing.  

Luna was in agony.  Her screaming had the veterinary staff on eggshells and jumping out of their skins each time.  The screams are ear piercing and they said they had never heard anything like it before.  On advice from the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) the hole in Luna's side was made bigger to allow more time for antibiotics to be administered.  
For Luna and for us as a family this was almost a breaking point.  Luna was in so much pain and her wound had to be dressed twice a day.  Emotionally it was unbearable.  To hear her screaming in pain was too much for us all as a family.  A  desperate and very tearful call to my veterinary nurse friend for advice on how to handle Luna who had now started trying to bite us.  She told us how to muzzle her using a tie, so with tears pouring down my face  I quickly cleaned and dressed her wound.  The next day the vet had heard about our emergency call the night before and said that it was too much for us they were stepping in and taking over all the care to give us a break.  The wound dressing would have to be cut to once a day and the appointment would have to be the last one of the day to prevent cross contamination.  They also amazingly said they would waiver the consultation charge as they knew that at the time of the original problem Luna was not insured and that, although she is now the insurance would not cover existing problems.  The vet and the staff have all been incrediable, treating Luna as one of their own.  And we lovingly call the vet Aunty.  She has gone above and beyond and you can clearly see that Luna has won her heart too.

So the beginning of this month, September (now 8 months on and Luna still with a hole in her side) had reached a point where we believed after two clear swabs that we had finally won the battle.  One more swab to go .... the results came back that it was back and had changed to MRSA and were told that we had to be even more carefull when dressing her wounds etc.  She also has developed an ear problem which we are treating with antibiotics too.  The news it was back was heart breaking. 

There was one more antibiotic we could try for 3 weeks and then if that didn't work the only option would be to take her to the RVC for them to operate in the hope of cutting out deep bug infested tissue.

As I'm sure you can imagine we have by this time with no pet insurance spent thousands of pounds (Approx £4,000) which to us is a huge amount of money as unfortunatley we had no saving.  The operation at the RVC  will cost thousands more and with no guarantee at the end.  We were in shock.  The thought of loosing our beautiful Luna that we rescued from the streets of Romania to a super bug does not bear thinking about.  She is imbedded deep into our hearts.

Tonight 15th September, my visit to the vets brought devastating news, the dressing was covered in green puss that wasn't there last night.  The 3 weeks are up and the bug has not gone away.  The vet couldn't believe it.  She was praying like us for a miracle.  She said she would speak to the RVC but told us that unfortunatly if we can not raise the funds needed for the op we would have to face the unimaginable and put her to sleep.  The vet herself is having trouble accepting this but knows that we are unable to raise the funds for the operation as the money we have already invested has left us in debt, behind on bills.  She knows how much we love her and how much she and the staff now love her as she truly is one of the most adorable dogs you could ever come across.

Any and all donations received would go towards her operation, medication and after care by the RVC.  They have said that she would have to stay there, we couldn't care for her at home which is another reason the for the cost being so high.  In the event of any monies left over these would be donated to saving the life of another much loved pet.

We love her so much. She is the most beautiful, happy 4 year dog.  She won our hearts from hundreds of miles away when in a bad place/state on the streets of Romania. The pain of loosing her now is unimaginable.  


So thank you for reading Luna's and our story and  I hope that you are able to help in anyway possible.  No amount is too large or too small. 

God Bless you for your kindness.

Linda.