Saving Cole: Our Springer Spaniels Fight for Life

Hi, our names are Dudley and Tara and we are hoping for your help to raise some funds for our gorgeous Cole.

Cole is an 11 year old English Springer Spaniel who lives an ordinarily happy life with us in Sussex. He is a retired working service dog who has one of the most extraordinary temperaments, he is incredibly gentle and fully believes he is more human than dog!

On 22nd April he was so thoroughly unwell that we rushed him into our local vets. In no time at all the vet wanted to get him into surgery having found the dreaded “foreign object” in his digestive tract causing a significant blockage and the reason behind him being so poorly.

This surgery proved too difficult for our local vet and we were consulted to seek the assistance of a a specialist. Very late at night we transported a gravely ill Cole to the specialist in Guildford.

The blockage was in a very difficult position just before the colon, this is a complex section of the intestines and the tissue integrity from inflammation and restriction was an unknown and had potential to be compromised. Worst case scenario we would be moments away from potential sepsis from a rupture.

The veterinary surgeon was able to go in and remove 8 inches of Coles intestine where the damage had been done. Over the coming days Cole underwent a minor surgery each morning to review the repair and ensure the integrity of it.

Five days later we were able to visit him to give him a big cuddle, see the cover photo. He is so very poorly but we could see in his eyes that he is such a fighter but with very little energy all he could do was fight off falling asleep whilst we stroked him and spoke to him.

We are certainly not out of the woods yet, we are “cautiously optimistic” is the term the vets are using. Monitoring his vitals, bloods etc and we receive updates twice a day sometimes more.

So why the gofundmepage?

Whilst Cole is a retired ex service dog unfortunately the dog charity that usually assists and funds dogs in this scenario have refused to offer any help. We are not entirely comfortable in asking for any help at all but ultimately the care Cole needs is significant and prolonged.

If you could offer any help at all, it might be 50p, it could be £5, we have no expectation with this other than to do everything we possibly can for Cole.