In the last few weeks we found out that my 15-month-old bulldog is very sick and we need help. I've never done this before and I wouldn't do it now if it wasn't for him. My first bulldog came to me in 2008 and was with me for 12 years. Sadly he suffered from heart failure and after 9 months of struggling I had to make the decision and let him go. I grieved for 2 years when I adopted another little bulldog. When he was 2 years old, it was discovered that he was epileptic and had seizures. In August 2024, he had epileptic seizures all day long, so I took him to the animal hospital, from where I could never bring him home. He was not even 3 years old.

But I can't live alone without a dog. So this time I quickly decided that I wanted another puppy. It was very important for me to choose a kennel where I would definitely not get a sick puppy, because I knew that I would not be able to bear another sick puppy, neither financially nor mentally.

I have asked many breeders who they can recommend, who is really reliable? After many, many recommendations, I made my decision and Opal arrived. With pedigree, contract and health guarantee until 1 year of age.

For the last 3 weeks we have been going back and forth to the vet because he was in terrible pain. She spent several days in the vet hospital. For 2 weeks she was on steroids, and finally opioid painkillers, because that was the only thing that relieved her pain a little. This had not been done before because it was quite expensive for me.

The CT scan showed that she had a very rare problem that could only be treated surgically, so the steroids were stopped.

The diagnosis was atlantoaxial subluxation.

This means that his pain can only be relieved by surgery, but this condition is so rare that the first question was whether we could find a doctor who would do the surgery. The surgery involves using CT scans to create a custom implant to fix the first and second vertebrae so that the second vertebra doesn't press on the spinal cord and cut through it with one wrong move.

The surgery is very risky because the spinal cord and brain are very close to the affected area.

Opal has been on total immobilisation for 3 weeks now, is in immense pain for which she is on opioid painkillers and has lost 6 kilos in 3 weeks. He is in constant and immediate danger of death as one wrong move could sever his vertebrae and sever his spinal cord.

The breeder says I should put her down as the implants and surgery are terribly expensive and she doesn't think it's worth it. He won't pay compensation because our contract says the health guarantee is for up to 1 year and Opal is 15 months old now..

But I can't look my 15-month-old puppy in the eye and say I'm sorry, but I don't have the money, so I'm doing everything I can to raise the money for the operation.

Especially as he is the best tempered of my 3 bulldogs. He is incredibly friendly and patient, very very smart. He imagines that the whole world and all the people in it exist to be his friend and playmate.

So far I have spent about €1500 on his tests and treatment (x-rays, blood tests, CT scan, vet, hospital). The spinal surgery with the custom implant and post-op check-ups would cost about €3000 combined, which as a single "bulldog mum" I cannot afford beyond what I have already spent.

Opal has pet insurance, but as I started to send the bills to the insurer, interestingly, the pet insurance disappeared from the online platform where I had been paying and I was informed that the insurance had been cancelled. I have of course made a complaint and am currently waiting to see what will happen about this.

Unfortunately, if we were to get through this surgery successfully, she would need 2 more surgeries for about 2300 euros.

One would be an operation on both eyes as he currently has ulcers in his eyes due to his eyelids turning inwards.

In addition, he has torn cruciate ligaments in both back knees due to patella dislocation.

Even the smallest help would mean a lot to us. Of course I can show the test results, charts and bills to anyone.