Tegan’s Big Chance

Many of our supporters will remember 6 year old Tegan, who came into our care in Autumn 2023 in a dreadful state. She could hardly walk, was clearly in pain, and needed emergency veterinary attention as soon as she arrived.

Thanks to your generosity, we were able to fund an urgent MRI scan which showed she had a ruptured disc in her spine. It was touch and go whether she would need surgery, but with weeks of careful rest, treatment, and endless TLC from her devoted foster family, she slowly recovered.

Once her pain was under control, we were able to focus on her overall health. Tegan’s skin and gut health were in a terrible state from a poor diet, and she was extremely anxious and fearful of new experiences and being touched, but with the right food, supplements, and ongoing care, she began to thrive. It wasn’t long before she looked and clearly felt so much better.

Sadly, over the past few months her foster carers have noticed some worrying changes. Tegan was becoming uncomfortable again – stiff in her back and legs and less happy on her walks. She was referred back to the specialists and they recommended continuing with her conservative (non-surgical) management plan that had been working so well, with some additional changes to her medication, with the expectation that it was a flare-up which would settle - but unfortunately this hasn’t happened.

To better understand what was going on, Tegan underwent a specialised health observations review  – BTRF regularly uses aspects of this to help with care of our complex foster dogs (in order to give our vets the information they need to guide treatment), but for Tegan we had to go a step further and produce the full analysis over a few weeks as she is so fearful at the vets that she simply shuts down and clinical examination gives little information about her pain.

This detailed process includes a comprehensive posture and movement analysis (in her own environment where she is relaxed and reviewing how she performs normal daily activities as well as how she walks and trots). It also looks in depth at relevant behaviour and other aspects of health which often go unnoticed but can be extremely important. It showed the extent of her pain, the impact it has on her day-to-day well-being and even found that she is becoming slightly incontinent at rest.

At only 6 years old, Tegan deserves the very best chance of living a long and happy life. After much discussion between her care teams it has been agreed that she would very much benefit from a visit to The Renew Centre in Gloucestershire, a specialist pain and rehabilitation clinic where she can have advanced scans (MRI), a pain trace, and other appropriate investigations and treatment to help her - all under one roof.

This is the right step for Tegan – but it comes at a cost. We need to raise somewhere in the region of £4,000 to help cover her care.

We have launched a CAF Donate campaign and our Autumn Auction 2025 will be run to help fund this vital treatment. Any donation, no matter how small, will bring Tegan one step closer to the future she deserves.

Please help us if you can!