A devastated West Lothian family have launched a fundraiser after their new puppy fell ill.
Samantha King, alongside her fiance and two young children drove to England from Livingston to collect their pup at the end of last month, but he was back home for only 15 minutes when he had to be put under critical care.
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The Daily Record report that the family have been left with a £3500 vet bill for their puppy, just a few days before their wedding on Thursday, March 17.
Marshall is an American Bulldog pup and is only 10 weeks old.
Recruitment consultant Samantha said: “We got Marshall as a wedding gift for ourselves after losing our last American Bulldog.
“We didn’t want to ‘replace’ our old dog like that - but it turns out they were related, so we saw that as a sign that we just had to get Marshall.
“When we got him home is when we first started to really notice issues. He was crying, struggling to breathe and stretching his neck out as far as he could trying to get a breath into his lungs.”
What should have been a happy day for the family turned into a nightmare when they had to rush to the PDSA pet hospital in Edinburgh after the family found him struggling to breathe.
The puppy was then put into an oxygen cube and the King family were told that Marshall had pneumonia, despite being assured by the breeder that he was in perfect health when they picked him up.
Marshall was already on antibiotics when he was picked up in England but the family were told this was just a precaution against infection.
Samantha added: “After a call with the vet we were told to get him to an emergency vet as soon as possible or he was going to die.
“When he was X-rayed, it showed advanced pneumonia and it was clear Marshall was in a lot of pain.
“It was very touch and go for a while - the vet told us there was about a 10 per cent chance that he was going to make it.”
After contacting the vet in England that had prescribed Marshall the antibiotics, he explained to the family that the breeder was told the pup was in no fit state to travel and should be left to recover with antibiotics.
The King family had Marshall insured on the day they got their dog, but as his health issues had been ongoing since before they insured him they weren’t covered.
Now the King family have now been landed with a £3500 bill just days before their wedding, and the breeder has not offered to cover any of it - leaving the family struggling financially.
Marshall was transferred from the PDSA hospital, to a vet in Polbeth, and then to a pet hospital in Dunfermline, where he stayed in an oxygen cube for four days.
The family were then called in to put the dog to sleep.
Samantha said: “We got called in to Dunfermline to say goodbye to Marshall as they felt the need to put him to sleep but when we got in the room he stood up and started wagging his tail at us he had never done that before.
“We asked for just one more day and that’s when he started to get better. They gave him a steroid and he was able to come off of the oxygen.
“A few more days and the vets could hardly believe it was the same dog. They let him out and now he’s home with us and on the road to recovery!”
Marshall is on four different types of antibiotics and is fed four times a day, but is recovering well at the family home in Livingston.
His lungs have been scarred by pneumonia and will never grow to full size, but the family say he is much happier and playful now.
If you would like to support the King family in paying their vet bill - you can do so here.
