This is Misty's story so far. Three months ago as I was leaving work I saw Misty, with her previous owner, and a young couple. Misty was collapsing and couldn't stand up, so I stopped the car to see if they needed help. A long story, but it turned out that her owner was trying to sell her to the young couple he was with, in hindsight probably as he had realised she was poorly and he didn't know what to do. Naturally that sale didn't happen as there was clearly something very wrong with her. He wasn't in a position, financial or otherwise, to look after her. So Misty was due to be put to sleep.

We couldn't let that happen without knowing that would be the best thing for her, so we agreed to take her off his hands, despite having two grumpy old lady dogs who aren't appreciative of a boisterous 21 month old massive staffie cross constantly trying to play with them! We had never meant to keep Misty permanently, as our older girls aren't coping with her very well.

Thanks to many very kind people we managed to raise enough money to get her to a specialist vets to find out what was wrong with her. At first it was thought by our local vets to be a spinal injury, but thanks to an amazing specialist vet she was diagnosed with a rare condition called Myasthenia Gravis. MG is a serious condition which can be fatal - when we took her in not only could she not walk, but she also could not hold food down, as part of the condition is her esophagus doesn't work properly to push food to her stomach, so dogs with this condition can very quickly die from either aspirational pneumonia or malnutrition. She lost 6 kg in the first few days she was with us.

Thankfully as she was diagnosed very quickly, she responded really well to medication, and with her regular medication she is able to walk and eat again and just like any other dog.

We have tried for the last few months to find a perfect forever home for her without success :-(. Not surprisingly - dogs homes are already full of staffies, so asking someone to take a big, boisterous, untrained staffie with a condition is a very big ask . She will need ongoing treatment and medication which currently costs about £60 a month (provided we don't actually need to see the vet), and although her condition is currently stable, that could change at any time, it varies so much from dog to dog. She is unable to be insured or vaccinated because of her condition, so future vets bills are a certainty.

We don't know where Misty's future will be. If we don't find her perfect forever home then she won't leave ours. When she came to us her claws were so long - she had been kept cooped up in a one bedroom flat and we don't think she had ever been exercised, trained or socialised with other dogs. She is the most loving dog, and such a young girl. She has been responding so well to the training we've done with her so far, and it has been a pleasure to see her living the happy life a dog should.

We want to give Misty the best chance of a long happy healthy life, with whoever that will be - if her perfect forever home is out there, we don't want the financial side of it to be a factor in them not stepping forward, so we are hoping to raise money towards Misty's future care. Or if that perfect forever home doesn't materialise, then at least we will always be able to do the best thing for her. We are so very grateful for money which has already been raised to give Misty the chance of the long and happy life she deserves.

Thank you so much for reading this and considering helping Misty. If she knew, she would give you an extra 750 licks!!!