Beinn’s vet bills

Hi my name is Amy and I am a self employed pet portrait artist.

Im faced with a sudden injury to my best friend: a rescue border collie called Beinn who has had no previous lameness or health concerns and has enjoyed an extremely active and healthy life for the 5 years I’ve owned him.

I live in rural Scotland with my partner, Jonny, baby, Lawrie, and two dogs, Beinn and Luna.

Beinn is a 6 year old border collie who I saw advertised on Facebook as needing to be rehomed, in 2017.

At the time, Beinn had a lot of behaviour problems that I worried about taking on but, I thought these issues might be due to lack of exercise and training.

So, we took him home.

He proved himself a very intelligent boy, is very obedient and is my very best friend. He does everything asked of him.

He has put himself between Jonny and an aggressive dog, the other week my mum’s beagle ran in front of a car and Beinn tried to knock him out of the way: she had to keep a tight hold of him as Leo slipped his lead in front of a truck.

Beinn is hugely talented at balancing things on his head. His party trick is balancing an entire birthday cake on his head (Jonny even lit the candle). Even though he is 6 he has never lost his will to play.

Beinn has been by my side for all the ups and downs of leaving family and friends, having a traumatic pregnancy and birth.

He’s the reason I got through a mental breakdown in 2018. He would pester me for a walk each morning so I didn’t lose myself.

I walk him every day, through good times and bad.

Sadly, while out walking yesterday (with Jonny) Beinn suddenly fell down after catching his ball.

Jonny had to carry him hime. He telephoned me to ring the emergency vets, 40 minutes away, in Aberlour. He is currently unable to use his back legs and has been under observation for a number of days.

The vet initially suggested that Beinn has a slipped disc and possible nerve damage so was sent to Glasgow Small

Animal Hospital where he is under strict observation. At the movement vets presume he has had a spinalstroke, but we’ve no idea how I to afford the £3000 scan to know the full extent of the nerve damage.

Since September, I’ve been on maternity allowance with no income. We live outside of the PDSA charity catchment area and

his insurance will only cover a small

percentage of the vets bills that are quickly mounting up.

If you can help in any way we would be so grateful. Once I return to work, in April, I will resume portraits and I am happy to work in exchange for some help for my pet.

Please donate or message if you can help.

We don’t know what the result will be.

If there’s mild nerve damage and no surgery is required Beinn has a 95% chance of some recovery with medication and rest but as of now we feel the worst at he is a grade 3 injury. Further surgery will cost 8-£10,000 and not a guarantee of what recovery he will make, if any.

We need to find out what is wrong but the quicker we intervene the better the prognosis.

Thank you for reading our story and helping Beinn’s cause.