Please Help Us Save Maia!

Anyone who knows us knows how important our dogs are to us. They're our whole life!

We found that Maia, my sisters fit, active, healthy 7 year old labrador, a few months ago was found to have mammary lumps. She was instantly booked in for emergency surgery, which she underwent and recovered from successfully. My sister (who suffers from generalised anxiety) was nervous to have her spayed in case she ran into issues, but was advised by our vet practice that this was the best course of action to reduce potential future risks of mammary lumps.

Maia went into the vets on Thursday 5th October at 8.30am to be spayed. The surgery went well supposedly and they released her back into our care at 3.30pm.

Maia was very groggy and tired, which we were told by the vets was due to the anaesthetic and pain relief. However, under an hour later, Maia was weak on her feet when going to the toilet and then went completely limp and unresponsive in my sister’s arms.

We managed to rush her back to the vets who suggested that she could be internally bleeding. She was rushed to Vets Now in Glasgow for emergency treatment. They advised that she might not make it as she was extremely weak, her heart rate was 240 (double what it should have been), her blood pressure was low, she was extensively internally bleeding and her organs were failing.

We were so scared she was going to die, as she was fighting for her life. When just that morning, she was perfectly fit and healthy before being spayed like the vets advised.

Vets Now had to get her stabilised before they could operate to stop the internal bleeding. We were told that she might not make it to surgery and if they put her under anaesthetic at that point, then she would have definitely passed away.

Fortunately, Vets Now managed to stabilise her after 1.5 hours, by resuscitating her with blood products and controlling her vital signs.

My sister was allowed in the room with her to say goodbye, just in case she didn't make it through surgery.

They prepped her for surgery, put her under anaesthetic and managed to stop the bleeding that was coming from where her right ovary would have been. She had many blood transfusions, plasma transfusions, etc. during surgery.

The vets advised that this situation after spaying is extremely rare and unfortunate.

The following day we were told that they had found multiple arrhythmias in her heart, when the normal amount after shock is just one. They said this could potentially cause her heart to stop randomly if the electrical impulses collide. She is now on anti-arrhythmia medication to try and combat this. The vets have advised that this would have been due to the shock her body was in.

They also found her platelet levels were dangerously low and this would stop her blood from clotting, which could cause spontaneous bleeding.

They advised us that due to the shock and starvation of oxygen, Maia might suffer long-lasting issues such as brain damage or heart conditions. Unfortunately the vets have since advised that her heart valve is distended, indicating tricuspid valve disease. This will be a lifelong issue for Maia, which will result in cardiologist input and medication. They have advised that this would have been caused by the starvation of oxygen when she was unresponsive and the shock on her body.

Maia is currently not eating and is refusing food, so today she had a feeding tube installed to hopefully help her gain some energy, since she hasn't eaten since Wednesday night before her surgery.

All of our dogs are insured with DirectLine, we pay a lot of money for her to have the best insurance cover possible. Unfortunately DirectLine have refused to contribute to Maia’s vet bill at all. They have claimed that because her condition is due to spaying complications, even though now she is being treated for heart arrhythmias, tricuspid valve disease, low platelet issues, dehydration and refusal of food, they're still refusing to put our claim through or provide us with any payment.

Therefore, we have to pay for Maia’s emergency vet bills independently. My sister has just qualified this month as a children’s nurse and is currently out of work until her NMC pin is live and she can apply for jobs. Therefore, my mum and I are attempting to pay as much as we can to help her to help Maia.

Unfortunately, we are struggling to raise the funds as quickly as we can, as the bill is looking close to £12K, plus more for her cardiologist appointment and treatment. Therefore, we are asking if anyone could donate anything they can to help Maia, we would be eternally grateful. We understand that times are tough but any little amount that you can spare would really help us. We are hoping to raise £5000 to help as much as possible and we should hopefully be able to cover the rest (we’ll just need to max out a few credit cards).

Any help to help Maia would be gratefully appreciated. We just want her home and recovering.