5K Appeal for Hemo-Dialysis Technology in the UK
Please read the following Daily Mail story about serial cat killers in the UK (using Anti-Freeze) and read on how you can help directly engineer dialysis technology in the UK to save Animals from this condition and many others common illnesses which can be easily solved with dialysis.
The UK is behind the rest of the world when it comes to giving pets dialysis in the UK. This can save everything from cats, dogs through to horses etc. A team of people now have the machine required at the Royal Veterinary College (after much persuasion) but to make Hemo-Dialysis (or CRRT) possible in the UK the consumables to run the machine are required for the first year at the cost of £5000. This is all that is standing in the way of success. They have the machine, the experts from all over the world, the training and even the list of dying animals they can help up and down the country.
Please give anything you can to help us raise £5000 in order to make CRRT a reality in the UK.
Your money will not go towards funding charity CEO wages or expensive offices in London it will go direct on the consumables to engineer dialysis in the UK, your efforts will start a movement to save thousands of pets and animals in the UK from illnesses which are treated by default in most parts of the developed world (But Not the UK ) and paid for using insurance.
News Coverage
5K Appeal for Hemo-Dialysis Technology in the UK -
So we have all heard animal cruelty stories which have horrified us and unfortunately I have one of those stories also. I have had 3 cats but originally just 2 Phoebe and Paige and 5 years ago my beloved Phoebe died due to Anti-Freeze poisoning which devastated myself and my partner. With no real knowledge of the subject (or the illness) we were at the mercy of the UK veterinary knowledge on this subject which is practically zero. After 3 agonising days Phoebe died a horrible death. After she was buried I researched the poison and what we can do about treating it only to find out that we in the UK are behind the rest of the world when it comes to being able to treat this through CRRT (Dialysis). 1 Week on dialysis for a Cat / Dog / Pet should bring them back to a full happy life (at least it does if you live in the US or Europe).
Lightning struck twice, or did it ?
So with this we eventually got another companion for Phoebe’s sister (Paige) which could never bring her back but gave Paige something to keep her company until 1 year ago disaster struck again, we came home 1 night and found the same symptoms as Phoebe in Paige. No messing this time she was scooped straight up and taken to the vets and when they offered to just put her on a drip, I got on Google to find out what else could be done. 2 minutes on the Vets PC found the RVC (Queen Mother Royal Ventinary College) in Potters Bar who have the only critical care unit that could possible help Paige. After a few broken speed limits we got her there and the vets spent 3 days trying to save her. Throughout the process I went a little mad, within 24 hours I had convinced a baby dialysis unit, the RVC, and some vets from the US who know hemo-dialysis to all attempt the UK’s first animal dialysis case and by the third day we were all ready to roll. This in itself (with all the politics of doing something like this for the first time in a government institution) was an achievement but sadly the treatment relies on a catheter being placed direct into the jugular, unfortunately Paige was so small a normal catheter was to big (she would have to have one specially made). Paige was put to sleep sadly but in all the pain something good came from that day as myself, the RVC, the CRRT vendor who turned up to help all knew that the process has now been kick started to allow for dialysis to be pioneered in the UK. It was going to take time for the RVC to get the funding and also engineer a training programme in the current economic climate but I had faith none the less.
A Cat serial killer in my street
So the this is where the story gets more sinister I’m afraid. Un be known to me the same week that Paige died both my Neighbours either side were struck down with exactly the same thing, but across a 2-3 week period, if this was just anti-freeze left lying around then surely it would of dried up this time. So now I’m thinking this is someone deliberate, some old person who loves their garden but hates cats. So I thought the best thing for me to do was to put a poster campaign around the neighbourhood warning the neighbours. So me, a stapler and a friends dog posted 12-15 posters around the Neighbourhood. I was away that week but when I returned I had noticed that a lot of the signs had been taken down, I thought this was strange that the council had been this active in taking them down and it wasn’t until I spoke to a few of the neighbours that they said they could not of been up there for more than 24/48 hours. 1 Neighbour even said that on one lamppost there were advertising for a local rave and my poster got taken down but the advertising didn’t. So now 100% convinced the person who poisoned my cats took the posters down as they didn’t want people to be alerted to this issue. I put the posters back up and hired a private security firm to watch the posters across 3 nights to see if we could catch someone taking them down. This unfortunately didn’t work and some of the posters are still there today (a real mystery), unfortunately 8 cats in total were hit in my street across a 3 year period (too much of a coincidence to be an accident).
So with all this going on I turned my thoughts to Leo (the Cat I got when Phoebe first died), so do I give him away ? make him stay in or just let him go out ? 3 of the Neighbours that lost cats had 2 cats and the ones which were sadly poisoned were the street cats which were always out and were happy to scrap with the best of them, the cats that were not affected were the more homely cats which would not venture further than the back garden. So as Leo was scared of his own shadow (and when we realised it would be impossible to keep him in) we made the decision to allow him out, this unfortunately proved to be fatal and 3 months later we came home from holiday to find that Leo had the same symptoms and after 3 days and a long battle at the RVC Leo had to be put down also. The tragic view I learned after which I will never be able to forgive myself for is that because all of the dominant cats in the street were already dead Leo had more bravery to venture out further and which is why we met the same demise as the others. So my guilt for Leo and hatred for the person who was deliberately poisoning my beloved pets is what has motivated me on to ensure that even if they are poisoned they at least can rely on CRRT to try and save them.
Closure and making a change forever
So there is some good which can come from this tragic story. We have managed to negotiate with the CRRT vendor and the RVC and now they are going to put a Programme Live in Q4 2011 to enable the UK to have Hemo Dialysis for pets. The RVC has managed to get the sign off for the budget for the machine and also the programme to train the staff, the US vets are now helping the RVC to achieve this. All that is left is that the RVC needs the money raised to buy the years’ worth of consumables. This cost is only £5000 and I am posting my Just giving site to allow for the Money to be given to the RVC to start this programme. My Target is 10K as I am trying to get the money to be able to pay for printing materials and marketing ware to ensure that Vets up and down the country are aware of the technology and can refer cases, initially there will be 1 machine in Potters bar which will allow referrals from all over the country, as long as a Vet gets the animal to the RVC within 24 hours there is a good chance it can be saved. I am looking to raise the full 10,000 to enable the mass marketing and general anti-freeze awareness drive up and down the country to notify that the technology is available to try and save more animals. Once it is successfully rolled out the view is that the cases paid for largely by insurance will fund more machines. It is not just anti-freeze poisoning that CRRT can save there is a whole host of life threatening conditions that can be treated with Dialysis and if your Pet is insured then a standard insurance package will cover the treatment.
Really make a difference
So if like me you are a bit hesitant to give to charities not knowing how much their CEO gets paid, or home much their offices costs (and does it really have to be in west London). This is a gift aid like no other, CRRT will help animals from cats, to horses for a wide range of conditions. All that is needed is the 5K to for the consumables for the first year and I guarantee you that all of this money will go straight on the necessary materials needed to get the dialysis programme off the ground.
