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Our dog Benji needs to learn how to walk again

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This is our patterdale, Benji. He was a rescue puppy handed in to the vets where I work 3 years ago. He was the naughtiest puppy ever, destroying everything in the house but the love he had for myself, my shih tzu and particularly my husband was unreal. As he got older, he became mature- cheeky but not a naughty dog and well and truly part of our family (we don't have children so these dogs are our lives).  A week ago on 21st August, my husband called home from work to find Benji stiff on his hind legs so he took him to the vets and he was given a pain relief injection to which he responded to that evening. Through the night I noticed that he was unsettled but thought he could still be sore and looking for somewhere comfortable for what we believed was a pulled muscle. The following morning we were distraught to find him completely paralysed. His limbs were rigid and he looked frightened. I took him straight to the emergency vets who said it was neurological and needed a specialist so the next task was to find a referral centre that could see him ASAP. Myself and my friends at work tried almost everywhere without any luck and my boss gave me one last place to try and luckily for Benny they could see him that day. Work were amazing with me and allowed me to leave to get him sorted as soon as I got the referral. Benji had a ct scan then mri scan which revealed a disc protrusion in his cervical vertebrae causing compression and therefore paralyzing him from the neck down. Benji is only 3 years old so we felt that operating was definitely worth a shot and hes always been such a strong little dog so surely he could manage the recovery period. The vets made him comfortable overnight then operated the next day. Myself and my husband were beside ourselves worrying as the vet had told us that it was a very risky op as the compression was so bad that he couldn't access it the usual way so it was adapted.  When the vet called, he explained that the op itself went to plan however, on recovery Benji had crashed. No heart rate. No respiratory rate. Nothing. He had died. However the team performed CPR and after 15 minutes, they got our baby back. You can imagine our response to this! They told us that he was stable now and being closely monitored and that it would be a long recovery process to find whether the op had been successful. So here we are today a week post op and hes back home where he belongs! He is unable to stand at the moment but now has use of 3 of his little legs. Hes lost muscle tone but can move his legs even though he's not able to stand or walk. The vets have given us physio to do with him at home and im lucky that I am able to take him into work with me. He starts hydrotherapy next week and he will need regular physiotherapy until he can walk again.  I've never done a go fund me before but we could do with some help as Benjis insurance cover is upto £4000 and our bill looks to be nearing £6000 with all the follow-up treatments too. Myself and my husband are working hard to find the rest of the money but if anyone could help us it would be greatly appreciated. Thankyou for reading Benjis story x

Organizer

Rachel Pilling
Organizer
England

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