**UPDATE**

Gatsby had his surgery and it has been a quite long recovery process for him. He has been super resilient and has pushed through and we are (fingers crossed) almost back to normal capacity when it comes to eating and drinking!

It has taken the best part of 4 months of hand feeding him soft food and trying to make sure he was drinking enough - especially through those extreme heat waves we had!

But we are there, we still have our boy and he is happy as ever, back to chasing his brother on the beach and finding the best sticks and sniffs in the forest!

We are the Taylor’s!

Myself and my wife have been together 13 years with Gatsby, our beautiful 8 year old cockapoo. He brings so much joy into our lives that we cannot even begin to think about life without him!

He has been a huge asset to our family, supporting my wife (who has struggled in the past with anxiety, depression and agoraphobia). Now after years of building confidence she is able to go out on her own - this is testament to Gatsby joining the family!

This year we registered Gatsby as a therapy dog, he’s so loving, gentle and attentive, it's perfect for him! He makes everybody smile! He is waiting for his last assessment and is on the verge of becoming the BEST little therapy dog!

However….

We recently got some devastating news, which is why we are writing this appeal.

After a routine check up at the vet, they found a growth on Gatsby's gum and after lab testing, was diagnosed with an Ameloblastoma - an invasive oral tumour.

Our vet told us we had 2 options - palliative care or euthanasia.

We were absolutely devastated, we were told to go away and think about what we wanted to do. We did some research and found we needed to see how extensive the tumour was and if it had permeated the bone, we booked him in for an X-ray the next morning. When we went to the vets the next morning there was a lot of pressure to euthanize him, but we made it very clear that this was not a decision we were going to make without looking into all of our options. The X-ray subsequently showed that with intervention Gatsby had a chance! We pushed for a referral to Willows in Solihull as they are Oral tumour specialists.

We got our appointment and drove 3 and a half hours to Solihull (we live in Devon) - we've been blown away by the service we have received from Willows, they are excellent! We were given a couple of options for Gatsby's care, the best option being surgery to remove the tumour - removal of 2 / 3 teeth and part of his jaw bone to remove the tumour completely! There is also the potential that he might need some electro-chemotherapy treatment depending on results from pathology.

Cost breakdown:

We have already had the original surgery at our vet that has cost us £1700, the consultation appointment and diagnostic tests at Willows in Solihull came to £3500 and we have been estimated another £3500-4000 for the additional surgery he needs. We have unfortunately now maxed out our Lifetime Premium insurance policy for this year.

Deducting our Insurance cover, we need to try and raise £6,700 for Gatsby's surgeries and future treatments.

If we were to exceed the amount, or not need the full amount we vow to donate the additional funds to an animal charity to help other doggies.

Thankyou for reading and for donating, it really gives Gatsby the best chance! Absolutely every little bit helps!

Forever grateful!

The Taylor’s

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