Hi, my name is Sylvia and I'm asking for support to help our lovely Staffie cross boy Charlie. I wouldn't usually have done anything like this, however, things have taken a bit of an unexpected turn in Charlie's care and frankly its costing a lot more money than expected and planned for.

Charlie has a medical condition that is very painful for him called elbow dysplasia. He has suffered all of his life with this and for years I've had him backwards and forwards to the vets, who have never really been able to address it with various painkillers and procedures. Anyway, it got to such a point that it really impacted on his life. He could no longer go for a walk without experiencing severe pain. The look of sadness and defeat in his eyes as he turned back from his favourite walks to head back home was gut wrenching for us to watch and his mood was becoming very low. His world was becoming smaller by the day.

So I began researching. I had a gut feeling there must be a better option for Charlie than living a life based on painkillers and endless trips to the vets that couldn't offer any other alternatives. Finally I found a specialist Vet in Surrey who has completed 3 groundbreaking procedures where he has successfully custom made elbows for dogs in Charlie's position. This is a fairly new procedure and there are only has 3 years of data. All replacements are doing well so far and 3 dogs have 3 more pain free years each. The vet assessed Charlie and believed he would be able to perform the procedure successfully for Charlie too. However, he did point out from the beginning there may be a one percent risk of problems developing, however the alternative was for Charlie to have his leg fused and lose complete use of it which can cause its own issues in itself. So I made the decision to go ahead. Little did we know Charlie would fall into that one percent catagory

The procedure went ahead, according to plan, at the beginning of November and Charlie returned home for his aftercare. I stuck rigidly to the aftercare plan for Charlie and watched him like a hawk. I slept at the side of his bed every night, kept his area clean, limited his movements and supported his outside toilet trips, as agreed. He had all of his medications on time. However, a week post surgery his wound started weeping and looking angry. We wasted no time contacting the vet and returning Charlie straight away to his practice.

The Vet reopened his wound the day of his return and washed it out with the appropriate treatment, at the same time running a series of tests to pinpoint the exact problem. After a nail biting 5 days, lab cultures have returned. Charlie's wound has become infected with a bug that all dogs carry on thier skin normally. He can't pinpoint when it would have worked its way inside but obviousley all we can do now is being done to treat it. Sadly, there is a 50/50 risk Charlie may lose his leg completley.

Charlie is now being barrier nursed on an isolated ward at the practice in Surrey. The nurses are changing thier uniforms 12 times a day as they go in and out to care for him. He has a drain in his leg at the minute, draining away the infection but the big risk is the bug seeds onto the elbow replacement. We won't know if that had happened for another month. If so it is likley the replacement will fail.

Obviousley all of the above incurs further costs, at a time my own earning power has plummeted. Medications and hospitalisation for Charlie have been unforseen. Accomadation and travelling up and down the country is time consuming and expensive. For those who are not aware I have had my own health issues of recurrent ovarian cancer which I am still having active treatment for and which I have been forced to retire on medical grounds from.. So it has been a very rough year and all of this with Charlie has happened at a far from ideal time. My own funds, aside from Charlie's insurance cover, have depleted over the last weeks and any insurace Charlie did have has gone, plus extras from my savings I had put aside for this, in case.

So I'm now asking for your wider support. Please, ANYTHING you can spare would help us and we would be eternally grateful . The funds from this will directly benefit Charlie's care, treatment and support through this horrible time for us all. I will provide regular progress updates. The vet maintains contact with us every day. Even sharing this page will help if you can't afford to donate there may be people you know who would

Thank you so much! Love and heartfelt appreciation

Sylvia and Charlie ♥️