Helping Mary
Adopted adorable eight-month-old fluffy puppy requires specialist operation to free trapped spinal cord and have a chance of living a normal life
BACK in February of this year, La Nucía resident Bonnie Kincaid and her daughter Adriana, adopted a cute little bundle of fun, in the shape of a two month old fluffy puppy, from La Nucía dog home after seeing her on the association’s Facebook page
The new arrival to Bonnie’s home was named Mary and she quickly settled in as part of the family. It wasn’t until she was five months old, that Bonnie noticed something was definitely wrong with her. Up until then Mary, who Bonnie says was one of the happiest puppies they had ever seen, was a little bit clumsy, she used to fall over sometimes when playing with the larger dogs and never attempted to climb on the sofa, or anything else for that matter.
In May, as Mary was a really fluffy puppy, Bonnie decided to give her a haircut, and that’s when she noticed that she was not using her back legs properly.
Mary was taken straight away to their local vet, who confirmed their fears after taking x-rays, her little spine was like a rollercoaster, she actually had a hunch back. He immediately referred her to a specialist veterinary hospital (Auna) in Paterna, Valencia.
Adriana and her partner David, took Mary up to Paterna at the end of June for a consultation. They were told that Mary required an MRI, as they suspected her spinal cord was trapped. An appointment for the MRI was duly booked for early September, and Mary returned to Auna this Monday.
During July and August, it was clear that she was getting worse, she couldn’t go up or down stairs, had trouble going to the toilet and had very little control over her weak back legs.
After the MRI, Bonnie and Ad- riana were told that Mary has hemivertebrae (a congenital vertebral abnormality), five of her vertebras were unstable and that is where her spinal cord is trapped. The neurosurgeon gave the family some good news - that Mary’s problem is operable. In fact, they had operated on a dog with a similar problem, and a year later he is running about.
The operation consists in the surgeons straightening her spine as best as possible, and then holding it together with screws, to free her spinal cord.
The neurosurgeon is very optimistic for a good outcome. Mary will have to spend three days in the clinic after the operation to make sure everything has gone has planned.
Bonnie and Adriana expected to spend money after adopting her, as between Adriana and herself they have six rescue dogs, but they are not financially prepared for the cost of the operation, which amounts to €2,259.40. They have already had to pay €412.90 for the MRI. And this is where they have decided to ask for help, as they feel they must offer Mary the chance of living a near-normal life. La Nucia dog home have said they would share Mary’s story on their Facebook in the hope people can contribute towards the operation.
Bonnie this week pleaded in social media “If you can find it in your heart to help us give Mary as ‘normal’ a life as possible we would greatly appreciate it. Every little bit helps. We have opened a Paypal account helpmarywalk@hotmail.com to accept donations towards Mary’s operation”.
Bonnie’s colleagues, here at Costa Blanca News, sincerely hope that Mary will be able to have her operation as soon as possible, and will be chipping in to help the cute little puppy get back on her feet again.