Help Shannon's little mate Bruce

As many of you will already know, Shannon’s beloved pal Bruce has very sadly sustained an incredibly serious injury to his little back. Bruce’s injury was sudden and unexpected, given his age of only 5yo. While playing in the park, he collapsed suddenly, in obvious pain & distress and no longer able to move the lower part of his body. He was rushed in for emergency surgery, where they discovered that a badly slipped disc in his back had caused extensive damage to his spinal cord; paralysing him from the ‘waist’ down.

Bruce is now awake and recovering from his surgery. Unfortunately at this point he is not responding to pain-tests in his legs. The vet is unsure if this is due to lasting neurological damage OR a result of painkillers numbing his legs temporarily. It is now a waiting game for Bruce & Shannon & it will not become clear for a matter of weeks, what quality of life Bruce can hope to enjoy in the future. Regardless of the outcome of the surgery, Shannon has been advised to prepare herself for a very hard road ahead, for the both of them.

Shannon is still finding out information herself and is understandably devastated. We will update this page as she finds out more information.

This is what she knows so far: he will need to recover in a cage/carrier, under sedation for the next few weeks. During this time he’ll require 24 hr care and will be unable to use his bowels or bladder without help. If he has retained movement in his legs, he will still require a long course of rehabilitation. In the awful event that he does remained paralysed, but his pain is manageable, he will need to be rehabilitated and later-on taught to use a set of wheels attached to a harness, to move the back half of his body. He may still remain incontinent. If faced with this prognosis for Bruce, Shannon will face a very hard decision. 

As you can imagine, the cost for surgery alone has delivered a huge financial blow to Shannon, despite having pet insurance. And the road ahead, whichever direction it takes, will present even more expenses. So we are asking you, if you’re in a position yourself right now to be able to help out, please put your paw in your pocket and give what you can toward Bruce’s care and treatment.

Those of you who know Bruce will know he’s a top little bloke. He’s a hard worker at Clarity Records and helps out with hugs and licks at home wherever he can.

Any financial assistance, love and warm thoughts you can spare for him and Shannon will make a huge contribution to easing the pressure.  

As we said, the page will be updated as we know more about Bruce’s prognosis and can provide more information on costs, for better transparency on where your assistance is going. Should the funds we raise exceed the cost of Bruces's care, the remainder will be donated to a yet-to-be-determined animal charity. 

Love, licks and eternal thanks xx