Hello all, my name is Kirsty and me and my partner Andy are looking for as much help as possible in order to help get our baby Meika diagnosed and put on the treatment she needs. Meika is an 11-week German Shepherd puppy, and her life has so far consisted of lots of hugs however, lots of appointments at the vets. She is so loved already by all of our friends and family, and we hope to have many more years with her to make lots and lots of memories. She is our baby! But myself and my partner have never experienced something so traumatizing from the moment we picked her up until now, it is like an endless nightmare for our girl. This is so unusual for us to be asking for your help and support, but our vulnerability is at its lowest and has given us courage to ask for help. We want this to be an opportunity for Meika to finally get a diagnosis and get the treatment she needs to lead and fulfil her life. If you are interest in this story, please continue reading

We understand everyone goes through tough times, we can relate and appreciate this because it is a part of life everyone struggles; and so far, we have maximised our efforts to help Meika however, this hasn’t been enough, and now we are asking you for help.

We chose Meika through gumtree, firstly, the breeder advertised her to be a boy, we did not care either way, he or she, the pup was beautiful. It was only family who told us that she was a girl and we finally got this confirmed through the vets via an email, that the little boy Zeus we brought home was actually our baby girl Meika. We fell in love with her the moment we laid eyes on her, we knew she was the missing piece from our puzzle. We have never had to deal with purchasing a puppy before and trusted the breeder, she seemed genuine when we collected Meika on the 1st January 2022, the breeder had showed us some papers that were written in German, stating that both her mum and dad were KC Registered but she was not. I can’t read in German, nor can my partner so we assumed it was exactly what she called this out to be, the mother or father was not there at the time we collected her at 7 weeks and 3 days, due to the lady confirming Meika was completely weaned off mothers’ milk and was eating- which was correct. She confirmed Meika was a happy, healthy 12 week old pup and was ready to go to her new home- which was very much incorrect. However, like I said, she seemed nice, and I trusted her. I put my appreciation and trust into this woman and was completely blinded by her lies.

When we took her home, we instantly got her booked in to be microchipped and vaccinated as she had no vaccinations and did not have a microchip when we collected her. We went to Abbey vets firstly as Rase vets, (the vets we are currently with) could not fit her in, and this is where the trauma started.

We went to the vets on the 4th January in order to get her the essential things she needs, (vaccination and microchip). We wanted to get her health checked to make sure everything was okay as we had noticed she had a head tilt and was quite clumsy on her feet. We had an initial feeling the breeder was not fully honest in terms of her age, and contacted her via text message to query her age again, once Meika was home with us, the breeder decided to tell us that she accidentally mixed Meika up with the boy who she had sold prior to us collecting Meika, and in fact she was only 7 weeks when we collected her. We had mentioned to her about the head tilt and updated her on getting her an appointment and the lady was very sympathetic, offering us fees to cover a percentage for vet bills, in which we kindly appreciated. The initial consultation for Meika consisted of her getting her microchip, and refusal of her vaccination because they wanted to further investigate the head tilt. They had assumed it was an ear infection and put her on a dose of steroids and antibiotics for 2 weeks to see if this would go away. They mentioned she was showing signs of vestibular disease from which could potentially be a severe inner ear infection (of which they were treating) or a potential brain problem. We kept our positive attitudes, paid for the bill and medications, and took Meika home. We informed the breeder on what the vet had mentioned, and received no reply. On the 11th of January, we decided to get Meika pet insurance so that we can help cover the cost of any illnesses and just to make sure she gets the best possible help she can. We changed over the vets to Rase in Scunthorpe and had a further appointment two weeks later on the 18th of January 2022, once the course of steroids and antibiotics had finished. The vets had confirmed the head tilt was still very much there, and required further investigating from which they took a full-profile blood test to see everything was okay. Again, we paid for the vet bills as required because we just want our baby to get better.

During this time, I had to ring the emergency vets because we had to witness our baby girl suffering from a severe dizzy spell that led her to fall to the floor, army crawling around the room whining because she was scared. The vets have suspected this is a partial seizure, that occurs from the dizziness caused from the head tilt and imbalancement, however nothing has been diagnosed. This happens on a very regular basis when she plays, if she is having fun with her toys, she will have an episode, and it is daunting to have to sit and watch our girl go through this knowing we physically cannot help her at this time. From the blood results, they had seen there was a differential change in her liver, that could potentially be giving her a liver shunt. The vet suggested this could be causing the head tilt, clumsiness and these ‘partial seizures. At this point, our finances have been very low and the trauma from all this negative information had really taken a toll on us. We are only human; we are trying the best we can for her☹.

After another attempt of contacting the breeder to confirm all of these issues, she had blocked me. There had been no help with vet fees, and the fact that she had blocked me was very suspicious. This is the least of our worries currently, however, I am hoping to get justice in the end for putting us through this, with no acknowledgment of telling us she was poorly. We understand this is no fault of our own, we have tried our best we can for our girl but we have finally decided its time to ask for help.

After another costly visit to have a bile examination, the results showed further issues within her intestines, and unfortunately is not the cause for her head tilt. We say unfortunately because of the next steps taken for practise is an MRI. When we got told this, my mind went blank, I cried for days, researching the prices of an MRI, being the minimum amount required a £2000. Not only financial struggles, I can’t cope but to hurt for the pulling around Meika has already, and yet still continuing to go through at such a young age. This has really affected us emotionally.

We have gone though our insurance, and quired any help they can possibly give us with regards to the MRI, due to the funds required- we can not physically afford her treatment. It turns out our policy has a 14-cooling period. This is essentially how any conditions that are looked at within the first 14 days of the insurance, are not valid. Leaving us with this MRI, being classed as a pre-existing condition, on the basis that they will not help us finically in any way shape or form. Of course, we should’ve been more vigilant looking at the cover this insurance gives us, but we never thought for a second, we were going to have to deal with such a poorly puppy.

The worst part yet, is the nightmare is still not over. The vets have got to refer us to a neurological vet, in order for Meika to get this MRI, to finally complete any diagnosis of what this can be as well as putting her on the correct medication. This cannot be done until we get the funds so now is a very challenging time for us and any donations will be so very thankful on our behalf. The vets have confirmed until she received this diagnosis, she is unable to get her vaccinations, because they have stated and I quote ‘Meika is a very poorly pup, giving her these vaccinations without knowing what is wrong with her, can kill her!’. We just want our baby girl to lead a healthy happy life.

Further consults with Meika have now got to be put in place due to her being blind in one eye, and over the last two days has progressed a red glow in her glass effect, blind eye. The vets are wanting a consultation regarding this, as they assume it could potentially be blood within the eye that needs to be drained, yet this again could require further investigation. This is just more stress and money we physically can not fork out at this time, and we just wish every day she will be better. We understand this is life, and we have got to get through this, the challenges we are being put through will only make us stronger.

We have currently tried and done everything in our power for our girl, and it has most definitely come to the time where we are asking for your help. This has caused many heart aches for myself and my partner, let alone Meika I can not dread to know how she is feeling on the inside. At least she knows she is loved unconditionally. This is a very vulnerable moment we have had, sharing our story with you all; we just want her to get better.

Thank you so much to everyone, who has read Meika’s story; it means the absolute world to us! And I’m sure Meika will be giving you all lots of kisses in the future when she is better