A week ago we noticed that something wasn‘t right with our much loved pug dog, Winston. He couldn’t seem to get comfortable or sleep, so was obviously in pain. After a trip to the vets he was put on anti-inflammatories. These seemed to perk him up, and we believed he‘d just suffered a bad sprain.

A few days later he developed new symptoms of facial paralysis to the left side if his face. Cue another trip to the vets, who had no answers. The following day Winston had become a bit wobbly on his feet and had nystagmus. At this point we were terrified. We got a referral to a neurologist, who performed blood tests, an MRI and a spinal tap. Waiting for the results was agony, and time had never passed so slowly.

The results indicated that Winston had a severe inner ear infection that was undetectable under normal investigations.

To say we were relieved was an understatement. We then thought the next course of action was a course of antibiotics, but we were told that surgery to remove his middle ear and ear drum may be necessary, but was unlikely.

We bought our baby home and over the next few days thanked our lucky stars and spoilt him rotten while we waited for the correct antibiotics to be prescribed.

Sadly we got the news that after further testing they had decided the surgery was the only way to go.

Another day full of being worried sick passed, but luckily the surgery went well. Winston now has months of rehabilitation ahead of him and we have a big vet bill to pay.

We did have insurance, but have gone over our claim amount by thousands. I have been doing pet portraits to raise money towards the cost, but this has only made a small dent in what we owe. We would be so grateful if you could spare even a pound or two, to help us get Winston all the care he needs.