Help Little Hugo

Hello, 

***I'm looking for anyone who can help me give my very poorly puppy a life saving operation ***

So my darling little boy Hugo is my first baby, he is a 16 week old Jack Russell puppy. On Monday 12th July i rushed him to the emergency vet clinic as he was very distressed, pacing round the room using the wall to guide him, pressing his head into corners, drooling excessively and acting completely non responsive to the fact i was there, he couldn't see me! 
It broke my heart handing Hugo over in the car park of the surgery (due to the Covid19 restrictions) , the vet did the necessary initial checks and i was told they suspected a problem with his liver. They ran bloods and placed him on a drip with fluids and medications to start treating the suspected problem, the blood results came back and they continued treatment for a suspected Portosystemic Shunt. 
I had never even heard of this, so for anyone else who doesn't know its basically an abnormal single or multiple blood vessel which directly joins the blood supply from the intestine to the main circulation, so a significant volume of blood is bypassing the liver and entering directly into the blood flowing back to the heart......this is usually congenital, something that develops abnormally in the foetus. NOT GOOD :(

He didn't come back to me that night, the first treatment they gave him was not successful and was told not to get my hopes up, they then administered the second round of treatment, whilst i waited hours for the next call for an update. After 2 rounds of medicine, to help flush out the nasty stuff in his body he started to perk back up, wagging his tail and using his puppy charm to get lots of cuddle. After thinking i wasn't going to see my baby again, he came home to me Tuesday evening and i cannot even tell you how happy both me and him were to see each other!

I now have 2 options, the first being him only living for 1-3 years on daily medication and a strict diet, which i cannot even begin to think about. The second... the lifesaving surgery, which is the treatment of choice where possible! This operation would be to close the shunt as best as they can in the under developed blood vessel, a successful op like this goes on to give 85% of dogs a normal healthy life after they have recovered. This is my best option to give this wee boy the life he deserves, roaming the Cornish clifftops with me and splashing around in the sea and also so he can continue to be over loved  by all my kisses.

So the reason i have created this page to ask for help.....

I have Hugo insured but will only be able to claim up to £3000, i have been told by my vet that the specialist scan needed to check the shunts location and the surgery will come in at £8000. I have been advised by the vet i have a few weeks to make the decision and now i ultimately need to try and raise the remaining £5000 so i confirm the surgery is the option for us. I just want to put this out there to ask anyone who can, to help give Hugo this option so he can grow into an adult dog and live a healthy happy life as i cant even think about him only having a year left at such a young age. I cant express how much even just the smallest donation would mean to us but if Hugo could lick your face .... he would!

Thank you so much for reading this and sending you all the puppy cuddles and kisses for your help.

Lots of love Jo & Hugo x

https://vetspecialists.co.uk/fact-sheets-post/portosystemic-shunts-fact-sheet/