Dear donors,

It is with a heavy heart that we must inform you that we needed to put little Adaline to sleep last night.

We found out late afternoon yesterday from Adaline’s vet that her MRI scan had shown marked (meaning severe) hydrocephalus and that she, in effect, had more water in her cranium than brain, and whatever brain was there was severely malformed. We concluded that all options for treatment and recovery would not result in her being able to make a full recovery and lead a life without chronic and intolerable pain.

This was probably the most heartbreaking thing we have ever had to do and, up until her diagnosis was confirmed, we were confident that with either treatment or surgery, Adaline could have made a full recovery. However, when we went to see Adaline last night, we were in no doubt about what needed to be done. We stayed by her side throughout the whole procedure and even though she entered the quiet room screaming, she was surrounded by the people who loved her, and we can only hope she knew that. She seemed to recognise us and calmed down. She went to sleep to her favourite song with her Mr Dinosaur next to her.

We only got to be with Adaline for 4 weeks. However, to quote one of our sci-fi heroin’s “we loved a lifetime’s worth.” Any pain we feel is utterly eclipsed by the joy she gave us and we do not regret for a second having her in our lives. We loved to come home to see her wagging her tail, she enjoyed gobbling up her Butternut box and have a small piece of cheese alongside her doggy siblings, Graham and Mabel. We realise in hindsight that many of her little quirks were probably signs of her condition, but we loved everything about her. She was courageous enough to mask her condition for nearly a month and gave us almost four weeks of her precious little smile. She was a fighter, just like Sarah Connor. We will never forget when she first started walking outside, and her running alongside me up the high street. She met so many people in those first few weeks, Stuart took her to the London School of Economics, she went to Church twice, she shared some sausages with her siblings at Tiempo Lounge. People would call across the river in Grove Park to ask about her and came to say hi to her at the pub on Christmas day. This little girl was nothing but pure joy in the limited time we had with her.

We are grateful to everyone who donated to her GoFundMe. We are going to update the fundraiser as we have accrued several thousand pounds in costs for her which, for the reasons explained previously, weren’t covered by insurance. We were really hoping she would be able to make a recovery and that we could share her journey with you. We were looking forward to her sunbathing on the balcony with her sister when the spring came, going to the beach, going to puppy meet-ups. We had so many plans for her and we’re so sorry that none of you will be able to see this now.

Warm regards,

Stuart and Sarah