This is Willow, the 11 week old, happy, lovable Dachshund Puppy.

Willow was wrongly diagnosed with a mild heart murmur and given to a new family who were told she would grow out of the heart murmur. A week later she was diagnosed with a severe heart murmur costing £5,000-£10,000 to operate. They were understandably overwhelmed by the information and handed her back to the breeder; who said they won't be seaking treatment. Without intervention, Willow will die before she reaches 1 year old.

When we heard about Willow we had to help her. We spent days contacting heart specialists to make sure if we found the money was it possible to treat her. We were told yes!! This was enough to make up our minds.

We drove the 4 hour round trip to collect her. The same day she was assessed by our vet and a referral was done. The following day she was seen by an emergency cardiologist at Liverpool University. After sedation and scans it was confirmed that she was born with Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA). This means blood is over circulating in her lungs and too much blood is returning to the left side of her heart. Secondary to this the left side of her heart is enlarged and dilated. Without surgery she will die of heart failure.

The amazing team at Liverpool University are hopeful that if immediate surgery is a success she could be cured and live a happy life.

She needs keyhole surgery to attempt to implant a device to plug the PDA. This will cost £4,000+. If this doesn't work she will need open chest surgery costing £3,000+. We are remaining positive that the keyhole surgery is successful first time.

We are doing our best to find the funds ourselves but with our children and current pets this unexpected cost from the little angel is not something we have.

We are hoping that anyone who has been touched by Willow's story and is in a position to spare any donation towards her surgery could please help. Thank you so much for reading.
Love from Willow, Gill, Emma and Michaela