Pipsqueak’s Surgery

We live in a lovely little village outside Durban, which has very much a country feel though it is close to the city. We love our place and have chickens for our own fresh eggs, a cat we found as a tiny kitten in the cane fields, two big boerboels, which are 7 and 9 years old as well as our little baby dog, Pipsqueak. She is three years old, a year younger than the cat and George was always her closest friend. They have completely silent games as -after all cats don't bark- and are chilling together when it is time to peace out. Pippy, as she is called, never lost her puppy looks and sleeps in my daughters beds, swapping over every other night.

Painting this peaceful there are however, also a lot of abandoned dogs in and around Durban and I got in tough with an organisation called “Project Dog” and a lady called Quicha. Initially I was interested to find a successor for my big boy who is getting on in age but then we also agreed to foster puppies as Project Dog always struggles to find homes for the dogs they rescue. I was retrenched from work in December and had the time and it was still school holidays and my daughters were of course delighted at the prospect. Two little Africanis girls arrived on Saturday 7 July 2018 and adjusted very quickly. Our animals quickly accepted them with a sniff and a lick though George and Pippy's nose was a bit out of joint in the beginning. This however, at least for Pip, was over very quickly as there finally were some playmates her size!

On Tuesday ten days later disaster struck when my boerboel female turned on my 4kg Jack Russell grabbing her and shaking her around in what I think an act of jealousy. Pippy had been playing with the puppies in the garden and was probably not submissive enough. She let go when I ordered her to but the damage was done.We rushed Pip to the Ashburn veterinary hospital (+27 31 562 1037/ [email protected])prayin g she'll make it there. White as a sheet she was immediately whipped away on arrival to be treated for shock.

It turns out she had severe trauma to her chest with her lungs being worst affected and the squeeze on her rib cage was so hard that her diaphragm popped. Pipsqueak needs surgery to repair this, however the lungs first have to recover so she survives the operation. Until yesterday afternoon she was on oxygen and very strong pain medication as well as a drip.

The quote for the surgery alone is R10,000, which will only be a week after she was admitted to give her time to reduce the inflammation to the lungs. Until yesterday the care bill had accumulated to R7,300. After surgery she will have to stay at least another 4 to 5 days to recover before I can take her home where she will have to be kept confined for 3-4 weeks so she heals properly.

All taken into consideration I am facing a vet bill of around 25-30k Rand, which converts to approx. 1900 Euros, which I simply do not have. Therefore my appeal to whoever has it in their heart and wallet to help me out. I have never done this type of fundraising before and feel quite awkward but thought I give it a go nevertheless. Any excess funding I will in turn donate to Project Dog.

Thank you!