Hi, I'm Lauren and I am doing this Go Fund Me to help towards my dog Otis' surgery to get his eye sight back.

Otis was a healthy, happy dog and then in April he snapped his cruciate ligament and at the age of 10 had to have surgery. He has done remarkably well in his recovery and everything has gone great, we were almost at 7 weeks recovery and I noticed Otis' left eye looked very cloudy, he went to the vet and they weren't too concerned, a week later though Otis appeared to lose sight in that eye completely. We were told it was a cataracts but he seemed ok and the other eye was working well so no need to put him through more surgery. 4 days later, Otis woke up completely blind in both eyes!

It was a shock and because it has happened so quickly, Otis hasn't had time to adjust and is sadly bumping into things and is jittery and nervous, particularly on his walks, as he is confused by his surroundings. We went to see a specialist eye surgeon 'Optivet' in Havant and they believe that Otis will be a good candidate for eye lens removal and they have given a prediction of a 70% chance of full sight to be resumed. They are hoping to be able to remove the damaged lenses in both eyes and insert artificial lenses, as long as there isn't too much damage caused by the cataracts, then this should be doable. If, there is more damage than thought once they operate then they will remove the lenses and not insert the artificial lenses but this will still be life changing for Otis as he will get short sight vision back.

There are of course risks, Otis could get infections which could lead to having to have one or both eyes removed but this is rare. If we do nothing and simply help Otis adjust to life with no vision then he is at risk of the cataracts causing inflammation and infections and he has a 50% chance of having to have one of both eyes removed. So, it seems it is worth the risks of the surgery to go ahead with these odds.

I have always been a responsible dog owner and insured my dogs, I have 3 dogs and all are insured, for illness for life and always have been, but Otis' insurance cover is 7k. His recent cruciate surgery has already used up 4k of that 7k insurance which leaves us with 3k left. His eye surgery, in both eyes, is estimated at 6.5k so I have a potential shortfall (if the insurance pays out the remaining 3k) of £3,500.

Optivet want to carry out the surgery this Monday, the 17th June, they have expressed that time is of the essence as the longer we leave it the more damage the cataracts is doing to the eyes and the more unsuccessful the insertion of the artificial lenses will be. I have never asked for help before and I am actually embarrassed to be doing so but my personal circumstances have considerably changed and I do not have the money to cover this shortfall, especially at such short notice.

I have been encouraged to start a Go Fund Me page for my baby boy Otis in the hopes that we can raise enough money to help him have this surgery and allow him to be able to see again and live life to his fullest.

Anything at all will help and I will be forever grateful for the generosity and support that we receive.

I am very happy to answer any questions at all that people may have regarding the financials and will be more than happy to share the invoices.

Thank you all for taking the time to read our story.

Lots of love from me and Otis xx