"Hi my name is Patsy and along with my dad Matthew, Mum Jen and human siblings Sam, Molly, Ella, George I moved from the UK to New Zealand in November 2017. Whilst all my humans made the journey across the globe relatively unscathed unfortunately I did not. After many weeks of being poorly and seeing my family upset I have fought really hard and managed to come home to them. I am now bravely trying to walk again and looking forward to runs on the beach, and digging in the sand which is my favourite thing to do!"

During Quarantine our beautiful girl became paralysed. No one knew why. We said our goodbyes to her more than once, the promise of ocean swims and runs on the beach with her were slipping away from us and we were powerless. It took almost three weeks and numerous procedures to confirm she had blown a disk in her neck and required difficult and expensive surgery (not to mention the bills we already paid for testing and hospitalisation). Having been unable to move for so long Patsy's recovery was not guaranteed and the Vet had a very frank conversation explaining euthanasia was a viable option and wouldn't necessarily be a bad choice giving us only a 20% chance of a full recovery. We just couldn't do it. As long as there was a chance we were behind our girl. We knew Patsy was a fighter so we spent all of the rest of our savings on the operation and prayed. (Christmas was cancelled but non of us minded she was the only present we wanted)

Against all the odds our little trooper came through! She even came home and began the arduous recovery like the warrior she is. Finally Patsy began to stand and miraculously took some steps unaided (many celebratory tears were shed that day). We couldn't have been happier, we were going to get our baby back! The runs on the beach were becoming a reality! We were well into her rehabilitation, having started hydrotherapy the evening before, when we woke on Tuesday 9th Jan to find Patsy unresponsive. Dashing back to the vets we thought we were going to loose her on the journey there, our fears were confirmed when the vet rushed out and all hell broke loose. Patsy who had been though so much and overcome so much was moments away from dying.

She was again rushed to surgery to discover the pain medication from the neck surgery had caused an ulcer to burst in her stomach so violently it had perforated, bile and bacteria were leaking into her abdomen. Patsy had Peritonitis and was in grave danger. No one could believe this was happening. It was a complete nightmare. Not the start to our new life any of us hoped for - especially Patsy! Thankfully the vet managed to close the hole and stabilise her, now we waited. Four nervous days and bag after bag of antibiotics Patsy was AGAIN given less than a 20% chance of survival. We hardly slept. Our poor girl had been through so much that when asked about a DNR we entertained the option, how much was too much?

Thankfully that option was null and void as four days later we have brought Patsy home. AGAINST ALL THE ODDS TWICE. Whilst we are not completely out of the woods for another couple of weeks she is well enough to be home and now has more than 80% chance of recovery. The best dog (in our opinion) in the world has made it this far. Unfortunately our finances haven't and we have completely run out of funds. We have a new vet bill for $3800 and we are hoping you can help us in anyway possible. This is new for us, we have never had to ask for help before but we have got to the point where we have exhausted all our avenues and looking to your kindness. Having arrived with savings we now are now faced with debt, but one much happier a reunited doggy.

Thank you for reading about Patsy and anything you can afford to give, it means more to us that we could put in words.

Jen, Matthew, Sam, Molly, George, Ella and Patsy!

Watch her journey so far here- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pNmeJH_bKw

All money will go to vet fees. Anything additional raised will be donated to the Auckland Dog Pound to help stray dogs find new homes before their time runs out.