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Audenshaw woman's desperate appeal to help her pet get urgent surgery

An Audenshaw woman is desperately appealing to the community to help her well-loved dog receive the hip replacement surgery she needs.

Susan Bava's five-year-old Rough Collie called Precious requires urgent bilateral hip joint surgery for hip dysplasia.

Susan recently launched a GoFundMe page, which has so far yielded £235. But the total required is an estimated £5,000 per hip.

Susan and her elderly mum Barbara Darling want to ensure Precious (pictured below) - who is popular among neighbours and regular dog walkers in the area - can have right hip replacement surgery first, before the same operation on her left hip.

Susan told the Reporter: “Precious is people and dog friendly and has a loving, affectionate and sweet nature.

“My 84-year-old mum and myself share a ground floor council flat on a housing estate in Audenshaw. My mum is in poor health and her condition has been exacerbated worrying about Precious. We are on benefits and thus cannot afford this specialised surgery required for Precious.

“We took out pet insurance prior to Precious starting to limp. Unfortunately if our pet developed symptoms or was injured within the first 14 days of starting, it would not cover the cost of the claim or any surgery required. Her symptoms appeared on day 11.

“At our first consultation, the vet prescribed Metacam pain and anti-inflammatory medication. At the follow-up visit, it was decided to arrange for X-rays under general anaesthetic as it would be too painful for Precious to have her hips manoeuvred in the positions required for the different X-ray images.

“She also had blood investigations to check for any underlying health issues. The X-rays were done within the next few days and on fetching her in the afternoon I was given the grim news that she had bilateral hip dysplasia worse on the right. I just burst into tears. It was devastating news as she is a young dog and was only turning five the following month." 


Susan's five-year-old Rough Collie called Precious 

Susan went on: “Precious arrived in the UK from South Africa in September 2019, after spending 12 months in kennels due to mum and I being swindled out of most of the money from the sale of our house back in SA.

“We were put up in a hotel for two months and then went into supported accommodation from January 2019 until the end of August that year. It seems so unfair that she is now incapacitated in the sense that she cannot run in our local field due to her hips and is always on a leash on her three daily walks to relieve herself as we don't have a private garden.”


Precious requires urgent bilateral hip joint surgery for hip dysplasia

Precious is on Numove joint capsules, which have stopped her limping, but Susan says she is still suffering badly. 

She adds: “During her walks she keeps having to stop and sometimes I even have to carry her a few yards and put her down again. She is just lying down all the time and is moaning and groaning in pain. It’s so awful.

“She also goes for once weekly hydrotherapy at Healthy Hounds in Dukinfield.

“Mum and I are desperate for financial assistance. Unfortunately most of our friends and acquaintances live in South Africa and we cannot expect their assistance with the rate of currency being as high as R23 to £1.”

Anyone who would like to donate to help Precious receive the surgery she needs can do so here: 

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