Milkshake needs your help ❤️

My heart has completely broken in the last few days. Sweet Milkshake was rushed in for emergency eye surgery to save him from losing his eye after it ruptured. They managed to save his eye with the surgery, but unfortunately the very next morning it ruptured again. He had to have another emergency surgery to have his eye removed. He has been through unimaginable pain in the last few days. Despite having the highest possible cover with our insurance company, Animal Friends, they have only agreed to cover some of the cost of Milkshake’s first surgery. Now we are asking for your help.

Milkshake has always helped others, from the funny uplifting videos we post to the volunteer work as a therapy dog he does with children and adult mental health hospitals. We love to help others but now we are in a position where we must ask for your help.

On Sunday I noticed that Milkshake’s eye was a little red and swollen. I cleaned his eye at home and when he wasn’t opening it the next morning we booked an emergency appointment with the vet who told us he had scratched his cornea and gave us different drops and painkillers. By the next morning Milkshake wasn’t improving. I decided that the safest thing to do would be to see an eye specialist so we contacted the vet again for another appointment for them to check his eye and refer us. An hour before our appointment, Milkshake’s eye ruptured. We rushed him to the vet and then to the specialist eye hospital in Cambridge (DWR). I was still hopeful that if he got specialist treatment in time that they would be able to save his eye.

He was in incredible pain and was kept overnight and put on morphine. The team prepared him for surgery the next day to try and save his eye with a corneal graft. He eye was too badly damaged to use his own cornea so the team used biofilm to repair his eye. After surgery he responded well and it seemed to have been a success. That is until the following morning I received the devastating call from the hospital that his eye had ruptured again.

After speaking to the specialists at the hospital I decided that it would be safer for Milkshake to have his eye removed. It was the outcome I had been dreading but I knew it was the safest decision for his wellbeing. He went into another surgery and his eye was successfully removed. I collected him from the hospital that evening, he was very anxious and scared. He is now home and is on strong pain killers, antibiotics, drops for his other eye and must keep his collar on until his stitches have fully healed. He will need further treatment from the specialist over the coming weeks and possible months depending on how his eye heals and how he recovers.

I owe it to Milkshake that he continues to receive the best care until he has fully and safely recovered from these two major operations. Whilst I was originally told his surgery would cost at the most, £3000, and had expected our insurance to cover this (I pay almost £70 a month just for his cover), the total bill has come to £6,685.85 so far, with more costs for his follow up appointments and medication to come later this week. This has made an already nightmare situation for us, even more stressful and worrying. I simply don’t have the funds and trusted that our insurer would cover these, given that Milkshake is on the highest cover possible.

This is Milkshake before this all happened:

At the moment, Milkshake is having to rest and we have been advised against taking him for walks. He has to keep his cone on at all times to avoid further injuring himself or pulling his stitches. He hasn’t been able to see the rest of his pug family since before he went into hospital as it is too risky that they could hurt his eye from excitement and bouncing around. So whilst he is resting and recovering he has been a little miserable!

As you may know, Milkshake is known around the world for his unique looks (his pink nose, blue eyes and beige fur) and adorable personality. He has gone viral for his cute videos dressed as baby Yoda and other funny antics. He loves spreading joy and making people happy. I am hopeful that with a full recovery, Milkshake and continue to uplift people and inspire them again, looking even more unique than he was before. I understand that the timing isn’t great as everyone is facing their own financial difficulties at the moment, but we would greatly appreciate anything that you can give to help.

For the time being I am doing everything I can to keep Milkshake safe, cared for and comfortable and in as little pain as possible. He is a strong boy and I know that he will eventually pull through this traumatic experience and get back to his loving, energetic and go-lucky self and continue to be an inspiration to people all around the world.

If you made it this far, thank you for reading our story and thank you for helping Milkshake!

*** Most of the photos/videos on his social media are from before his surgery as this only happened a few days ago.