We have a gorgeous Cattle Dog X, Hugo, who is just shy of his 8th birthday.

Hugo loves to snuggle and hold hands, is always happy for a treat and likes to accompany his people everywhere to keep them safe.

While I was in ICU last week for a surgery that didn’t end well, Hugo started showing signs that he wasn’t well.

Having finished a course of steroids for an ear hematoma and seeming to be fine when I left for the hospital on Thursday morning he started to deteriorate slowly. I’ve been told he started to get a bit wobbly on his back legs, didn’t want his dinner and had vomited some of the water he’d drunk.

Thinking he may have a stomach upset or had maybe been bitten by something in the yard, his carers called our local mobile vet (as he’s usually terrified of being in a car). The vet thought maybe he’d injured his spine playing and that’s why his back legs were so weak and that he had a bit of gastro. He had some acupuncture and was put on some painkillers and anti-nausea tablets to see if they would help his condition.

Over the weekend he stopped walking altogether unless he had a towel wrapped under his back legs and someone hoisted him up and assisted him with walking outside to go to the bathroom. He was still off his food but drinking plenty and seemed to be on the road to recovery.

On Monday, Hugo DEVOURED a poached and shredded chicken breast was drinking plenty and was trying hard to get mobile by himself. We thought we had turned a corner and he was on his way to being his usual cheeky self.

Yesterday, though everything went downhill rapidly. He couldn’t keep any water down but was so thirsty he was gulping as much as he could and it was this horrible revolving cycle. He had reverted to not walking unaided again and we knew it was time for a trip to the Emergency Vet Hospital regardless of how much he didn’t want to get in the car.

Once we were at the vet his decline was even more rapid and they were completely baffled as to what could be wrong with him.

He’s up to date with his tick treatments so they didn’t think it was that. His belly was completely full of fluid but he was so dehydrated from all the vomiting during the day that that made no sense either. His blood tests from 4 weeks ago from when he had the haematoma showed nothing remarkable. He was placed on iv fluids, had a catheter inserted because they couldn’t get him up to the toilet quick enough with how much fluid they were giving him, had an ultrasound and X-rays of his stomach to see if there was a blockage but there was nothing and then the blood tests came back. His course of steroids has caused him to develop diabetes and acute pancreatitis. His glucose levels were through the roof and he had gone into diabetic shock.

Hugo had his iv fluids overnight to rehydrate him and a large dose of insulin through his iv too to try and stabilise his glucose levels but try as they were nothing was working as it should.

He is now slightly more stable, has had multiple blood tests, electrolyte infusions, iv fluids, iv insulin and iv pain killers to try and stabilise all his levels and manage the pain caused by the pancreatitis.

When we left him last night the estimate cost given by the veterinary team was $3500. That’s an insane amount of money for us but he’s our baby and we were brining him home. With the amount of acute care he required overnight and how long they now feel he will need to spend in their emergency hospital that figure has ballooned to $8000-$10000 which is something we simply cannot afford.

Now that he is out of the woods and recovering from the diabetic shock - he’s even got his tail wag back - not continuing with treatment to have him fully stabilised and get the pancreatitis under control isn’t an option.

He still has to spend another few nights in the Emergency Vet Hospital before being allowed to come home where he will require 2 insulin shots every day for the rest of his life.

We are finding as much money as we can however need help to keep our little man alive and give him the best chance possible.

If you can help in any way, any amount would mean the world to us as he is an integral part of our family.