Craig only had $50 to his name when his best friend, Shy, fell seriously ill. Shy was usually a joyful 5-year-old Labrador cross but in just 24 hours she had become so weak she couldn’t stand up. Craig was frantic, fearing he would lose his dear dog if she didn’t get help immediately. Suffering from a permanent disability and struggling with the cost-of-living crisis, Craig had been rejected from all loan options. He scrambled to borrow $50 from a friend and raced Shy to the vet for an urgent consultation.
The wonderfully compassionate team at St Arnaud Vet Clinic went above and beyond for Shy and Craig. They immediately knew this was an emergency and worked as quickly as possible to confirm Shy's diagnosis: Pyometra – a life-threatening infection of the uterus which can happen to any female dog or cat that is not desexed.
Craig was stuck with an agonising decision between economic euthanasia or emergency surgery costing up to $3,000. Craig had no funds left and was terrified that he would have to say goodbye forever to his closest companion.
The caring team at St Arnaud Vet stepped in, urging him to contact Pet Medical Crisis for support. The vets were generously willing to start treatment if Pet Medical Crisis donated towards the lifesaving surgery. Without hesitation they donated $1,000, grateful for their willingness to help Shy.
The vets worked until 2am, doing everything they could to save Shy. They were shocked when they removed her uterus and it weighed a whopping 5kgs! The biggest pyometra they had ever seen. Shy would not have survived without this surgery.
The next morning the team at Pet Medical Crisis received wonderful news: Shy had made it through the night after her surgery was up walking around, wagging her tail and happy.