A devoted dog owner has gone above and beyond to save the life of her best friend - her beloved pet chihuahua. Jac Williams, 54, sold her car and dipped into inheritance to pay £17.5k for urgent surgery to help her 10-year-old pooch Louie - and she has no regrets, despite the cost.
The tiny pup was diagnosed with mitral valve disease in 2020, which can be deadly without surgery, so Jac flogged her Nissan Qashqai for around £15k to cover the cost of Louie going under the knife. Jac, from Wareham, Dorset, said: "I started to see a decline in Louie's health.
"But he's only 10 years old and chihuahuas can live to 16 or 17 years old.
"I asked what our options were and the vet mentioned there was a surgery but it was quite new and very expensive and very specialised.
"The operation itself, without all the scans, was £17,500. Although it was an awful lot of money, I thought I owed it to him.
"He's such a sweet little dog, I love him to bits. He had the surgery and he's done absolutely amazingly. He's just a little superstar!
"I know it's a lot of money, but at the end of the day, if you love your dog that much, at least there's an option."
Vets discovered something was wrong with Louie's heart during a pre-examination before getting his teeth cleaned two years ago.
He was sent to a cardiologist who diagnosed him with mitral valve disease and told Jac about new life-saving open heart surgery - that came with an eye-watering price tag.
She said: "I spoke to the surgeon who said we really had nothing to lose but a lot of money because Louie would die without the surgery, and probably by the end of the year."
Jac, who is retired but used to work for the RSPCA, decided to dip into her inheritance to pay for the pioneering procedure.
Louie underwent a mitral valve repair at Royal Veterinary College in London and spent three to four hours under the knife.
His heart was stopped for between an hour and an hour and a half where Louie went on a bypass and had a blood transfusion during the repair.
The precious pooch then stayed in intensive care for two days and finally left the hospital after a week of recovery.
She said: "The week before he went in for his surgery, there was a massive deterioration.
"His breathing was bad, and when I handed him over, I really didn't expect to be getting him back again.
"I knew the surgery was his only chance. I didn't think he would come home."
Despite Jac's fears, Louie's surgery was a success and vets have been thrilled with his progress after seeing him again last week for his three-month check-up.
Thanks to Jac's unwavering support, Louie is now a healthy little chihuahua once again.
Jac, who pays tribute to surgeon Professor Brockman, said: "He's done absolutely amazingly. He's just a little superstar!
"This is a relatively new procedure. If it had been 10 years ago, he would have just been given drugs right up until the end and it's a horrible death.
"To have this option is just amazing, and so many people don't know about it.
"It's a horrible disease, you don't see it coming. It's a degenerative heart thing and the dogs end up going into heart failure which is awful.
"We didn't have insurance - I think insurance companies are a rip-off, to be honest with you. If they can wiggle out of paying out, they will.
"I used to work as a veterinary nurse years ago and when you want them to pay out, they never do, so we took the risk and said should vet bills arise then we will cross that bridge when we get to it."
Do you have a dog story to share? Email nia.dalton@reachplc.com.
