Kuma bear is a 15 week old Akita and an awesome wee pup. When we first got him, I noticed his eyesight wasn't right, his depth perception seemed way off, and while he could see moving things fine, if I stood still it was like he couldn't see me at all.

So I mentioned it at his vaccination appointment and they checked his eyes and noted his blink reflex wasn't consistent. We got a referral to Neil Geddes ophthalmic specialist at St Clair in Kirkcaldy. We were told he had microphthalmia, a congenital condition that means his eyes are smaller than normal and he has cataracts covering 50% of his vision. The prognosis is pretty good, if his eyes grow then his vision will improve as the cataracts themselves won't progress. Worse case scenario - he could develop glycoma and need his eyes removed. Despite this we left feeling hopeful, he could and would cope really well, even if he ended up losing sight in both eyes.

A couple of things have happened between now and then. He choked severely on his food to the point I had to intervein. First time, I put it down to just one of those things, second time he was eating really fast, so decided he needed slow fed. Third time despite being slow fed, and I started to get really concerned that something just wasn't right, perhaps the blink reflex wasn't the only reflex not working.

So, I have been doing some neurological testing at home. He is showing signs of vestibular disease, his cranial nerves are not acting as they should :( Having spoken to both Neil again and the senior vet in Dundee both separately said it sounded like hydrocephalus, either congenital or caused by a brain tumour. The outlook for our wee puppers is not at all good. His knuckle reflex is also very slow at times and all these points to brain stem problems.

We are making the most of having Kuma with us. He is still loving life for the moment, he is behaving like a normal puppy should, full of cheek and sassy, and of course very, very cute.

He isn't in any pain or suffering, I would never let it get that far.

We have no idea as of yet how long he has left or what exactly is causing these problems, to find out would involve an MRI and CT scans. Our insurance has used a get out clause and is refusing to pay, and we simply cannot afford the £1000's of pounds that his treatment will cost. First step is an MRI to find the cause of the problem. We have been quoted £1800-£2000. The alternative is to do nothing and hope for the best but I want to give this little guy the best chance of survival.