Hi, our names are Sally, Rob, Grace and Jo.

We are trying to raise funds to help our much loved Italian Spinone, Gilbert, recover from a severe case of Pancreatitis. Gilbert is only six years old and is the most gentle, funny, loving boy. One of those, 'more special in a way you can't explain' dogs.

We all love him dearly.

Gilbert has recently undergone bilateral TECA surgery (Total Ear Canal Ablation) - basically they have removed his ear canals, making him largely deaf. The surgery should prevent the constant infection and ongoing pain associated with that.

This was done on Tuesday 25th March. We had been battling his ear infections (antibiotic resistant pseudomonas) in both of his ears since the late summer of 2023.

After seeing a very dedicated consultant dermatologist since January 2024, we finally had to admit defeat and, wanting him to live a pain free life, we agreed to a referral for the surgery for the first ear.

We had to wait for Gilberts insurance to renew, as we had already exhausted our 2024 limit, as well as everything we had also spent since the insurance ran out.

On seeing the level of ulceration on the day of the operation, the surgeon suggested he remove both ear canals. We had not anticipated this but agreed. One op, one recovery we thought, less trauma for Gilbert.

So Gilbert came home and was recovering quietly at home and seemed to be doing well.

Then we very sadly had to have our older Spinone, Luca, put to sleep yesterday - he had been diagnosed with a Bronchoalveolar Carcinoma back in September. We were lucky to have the extra months with him, and he was still enjoying life, until last week when he became very anaemic and deteriorated quickly.

Not great timing for Gilbert to lose his life long friend, but sadly necessary, and this has possibly added to the stress of Gilberts surgery and becoming deaf.

Last night, Wednesday, 26th March, Gilberts recovery took a turn for the worse. He stopped eating, vomited several times, and was restless overnight.

This morning we took Gilbert straight to our usual veterinary practice, where they ran bloodwork that showed he likely had Pancreatitis.

They admitted Gilbert there and then, got him hooked straight up on intravenous meds and scanned his abdomen to confirm what the blood work had shown. He has a pretty severe case of Pancreatitis with fluid in his abdomen.

Their recommendation was to see if Gilbert responded to the intravenous therapy and scan again to monitor the amount of fluid.

Gilbert responded well to the intravenous therapy but we have had to move him to a 24 hour referral hospital, for some ongoing supportive care, and more monitoring - potentially for several days.

Unfortunately Gilberts insurance is highly unlikely to cover several nights stay at the referral hospital while he hopefully recovers from the pancreatitis (and his surgery).

The invoice for Gilberts care at our own vets today, for the intravenous therapy and the scan is £1100 already.

The quote for his overnight care at the 24 hour vets tonight alone is £1000 so we know any length of stay will be very expensive and our policy will not last very long.

Our insurance company has been excellent so far, paying out the maximum for our claims for Gilberts ears. But we all know the worry of waiting to see if they will accept and agree a new claim.

We desperately want Gilbert to get well and are very worried that the cost could prohibit us ensuring that he gets that chance.

We are in pieces at losing Luca yesterday and wonder if the stress of that, on top of the stress of an extensive surgery, could have contributed to Gilbert becoming so unwell so suddenly.

We would be so grateful for any donation anyone could offer to help Gilbert, and we appreciate the state personal finances might be in with events over the last few years.

And we know there are so many other good causes you could all be donating to.

Thank you