Hi Fairwinds, 

I don’t know if you’ll remember us, but we adopted our Westie, Finn, full name Finbarr (formally Toby) in April 2015 from Fairwinds. He’s been the heartbeat of our little family and spoilt rotten. He’s been in good health and a happy little little chap from day one. Things had been going wonderfully until one evening when I came home (November 2019) to find Finn limping. I thought at first he’s damaged a ligament but within 24 hours he was totally paralysed in his hind legs and unable to walk. I rushed him to the vets and he had an X-ray which showed he’s ruptured two discs in his spine probably from a fall injury. Things looked very gloomy and dire and we were advised to consider putting him down because he was in so much pain. But I looked into the possibility of an operation and found a vet referral in Burton – West Midland Referrals – who were willing to operate on him and give him a chance. The operation couldn’t guarantee he’d walk again but would relieve pressure on his spinal cord. So I went ahead and drove him there in some of the worst weather imaginable, through torrential rain and flooding and even had to sleep in my car that night. Thankfully all the sacrifices were worth it and Finn was able to take his first few step just three weeks after his operation.

A year on and Finn is back racing around, going for walkies, playing with the other dogs in the park and terrorising the postman. You’d never know he had a spinal injury at all, thanks to the skills of lead vet Andy Whittingham and all the staff at West Midlands Referrals for performing a miracle. Thanks also to the PDSA for his aftercare too. The vets at West Midland Referrals were so impressed with Finn’s recovery that they want to used his story as part of their veterinarian educational case studies and also in press and promotional material too. So this Christmas we were approached by the media to tell Finn’s story and he made it into the local press and was the Christmas feel good story. And now a pet magazine is interested in his story too. 

All the attention lately has been amazing, but the most important thing to me is that I have my precious boy back. Finn is my world and everyday I thank our good fortune to meet the chap at the Leicester Animal Rescue who happen to tell us about a little Westie who’d just been brought in, when we’d just went to see about adopting something ‘small and scruffy’. It was fate that we were there at the right time and the right place, and it was fate that I found my soul mutt. I’m happy to report that Finn is back to his old ways and being spoilt rotten just as he should be. In today’s climate, it’s good to have a happy story to tell.

Kind regards

Honor