Please help me save my baby!!!

Once the leader of the pack — the funniest, craziest little character — everything changed overnight for my beloved dog, Rosebud, after she began to develop a brain tumour.

Hello to everyone reading this. My name is Isabella Clapson, I’m a 20-year-old university student studying Psychology and Criminology, and the proud mum of my 11-year-old dog, Rosebud.

About a year ago, on the 15th of November 2024, I started to notice changes in her behaviour. She became unusually clingy, refusing to go anywhere alone in the home she’s lived in for over half her life. She’d isolate herself in small rooms, stand staring at walls, and stop making her playful howls and barks. Soon after, she began losing balance and coordination, struggling even to jump on the sofa like she used to.

Then came the fainting episodes — where she’d collapse, go stiff, howl, and lose control of her bladder, completely unresponsive. It was terrifying. For a while, these episodes seemed to stop around May, and she began improving again — running, eating well, playing, and even howling with joy sometimes. But she was never quite the same. She was still flinchy when touched and occasionally snapped at our other dogs - her biological babies! - and us, when overstimulated.

Then yesterday, everything changed again. I heard her crying in pain from another room and found her having a severe seizure. Within 30 minutes, she had multiple long-lasting fits, foaming at the mouth and paddling her legs. I administered medication designed to stop seizures (under my mum’s instruction), but nothing helped. With no transport and home alone, I ran to my neighbour’s house and begged for a lift to the emergency vets.

At the clinic, she continued seizing despite medication. We were then advised to rush her to a specialist veterinary hospital. After more medication and tests, we were given three impossible choices:

1️⃣ Euthanasia (which we couldn’t consider without trying everything),

2️⃣ An immediate MRI under anaesthetic (too risky at that time), or

3️⃣ Overnight observation at the hospital, followed by an MRI in the morning if she stabilises.

We chose to give her that fighting chance. Against all odds, she made it through the night, stabilised, and successfully underwent her MRI.

The results showed a slow-growing brain tumour. It’s not curable, but it can be treated effectively and reduced with radiation therapy, making her tumour something that she can live with. The estimated cost of this treatment is between £6,000 and £12,000 — a figure which we will not be able to easily pay.

We will do everything in our power to support her through this, but we desperately need help. Rosebud is still full of life, love, and light — she just needs a chance to fight.

Any donation, no matter how small, would mean the world to us and go directly toward her treatment and medication. Even if you can’t donate, sharing her story would be an incredible help.

Thank you for reading and for being a part of Rosebud’s journey.

With love,

Isabella, the family, and Rosebud.

* Please feel free to reach out to me by email (isabellaclapson + @gmail.com) if you have any questions or would like to know more about Rosebud's situation.