East Preston family’s urgent plea to save their dog’s life

Charlotte Bennett, 34, of Eastern Close, set up a fundraiser on Monday in a bid to raise £15,000 for Otis, the family pet.

Otis, a Boxer, is just 18 months old, and last week became very ill very quickly after grazing his foot.

Following an emergency trip to the vets on March 7, Otis was diagnosed with a form of tetanus and was admitted to receive specialist care.

Charlotte said that tetanus is a rare and potentially fatal disease caused by toxins binding to the muscle receptors which affects the nervous system, spinal cord and brain, resulting in constant seizures and muscle spasms which can also affect the dog’s breathing due to muscle spasms within the throat or diaphragm.

She added: “Otis is currently experiencing the extreme effects of this toxin. His muscles are permanently stiff causing an inability to walk unaided.

“Due to the spasms he’s experiencing, he is unable to eat and swallow so he’s currently being fed through a feeding tube in his neck.

“He had emergency tracheotomy surgery last Thursday (March 10) due to his inability to clear any regurgitated food or mucus/saliva from his oesophagus which was understandably causing him extreme stress.

“He also has a catheter as he is currently unable to empty his bladder. In addition to this he had also started to display some early signs of pneumonia which is being treated with antibiotics.”

Bearing all of that in mind, Charlotte said the vets continued to reassure the family, letting them know Otis is okay to carry on with the treatment and that he has a strong chance of surviving this illness.

Otis’ condition, however, is taking its tole on the family, and especially Charlie, Charlotte’s eight-year-old son, who calls Otis his brother.

Charlotte said: “Ever since we’ve had Otis, Charlie and him have been inseparable, it’s almost like they are siblings and that’s what my son says. If you see one of them, the other one is always there and they play together like siblings do.

“We’ve had to be really careful about managing our son as well. He understands that Otis is unwell but with regards to the severity of it we are really trying to manage that.

“Throughout Covid, I know everybody had different difficulties and children responded to it differently, but my son was really affected with anxiety, so he can worry about things quite a lot.

“We are completely heartbroken, Otis is still fighting every day but with him not here its like the piece of your family jigsaw is missing.”

Charlotte said she was aware that in these current times, finances for everyone are tough and everything happening around the world is impacting on different household bills, but said the family would be grateful for any support, even if it was sharing the JustGiving page.

She added: “We are already so blown away with the response just from friends and family sharing it on social media.

“The generosity and kindness is incredible, everyone has their own struggles and not everyone wears them on their sleeve so you aren’t always aware of what people are dealing with, but just the compassion of people so far has been absolutely overwhelming.

“Any help that anyone can give we will be eternally grateful for because it will give Otis the ability to receive the intensive care.”

Charlotte added that to see Otis finally get back to his bubbly self again would be amazing.

The family have already raised more than £3,000 for Otis. To donate, see their JustGiving page or share the page on social media.

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