I spent £17,500 to save my Chihuahua

A besotted dog mother has sold her car and used her inheritance to pay for a life-saving operation for her chihuahua. 

Jac Williams, 54, spent a huge £17,500 on a heart operation to save her dog’s life. 

Married Jac, from Wareham, Dorset, sold her two-year-old Nissan Qashqai for £15,000 and took the remaining £2,500 from inheritance, so that her chihuahua Louie could have a mitral valve repair.   

Prof Daniel Brockman led surgeons in a four-hour op using general anaesthetic at London’s Royal Veterinary College.

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.

Louie needed a mitral valve repair and spent four hours in the operating theatre before two days in intensive care 

Jac 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.

Louie’s (pictured) condition was picked up two years during a routine teeth  clean. Jac knew that surgery would be expensive but it was her only option

Jac raised £15,000 of Louie’s vets bills by selling her Nissan Qashqai. She raised the further funds through inheritance 

‘I knew the surgery was his only chance. I didn’t think he would come home.’

The dog’s condition was picked up by a cardiologist two years ago, before a routine teeth-cleaning. 

Jac, who is a retired RSPCA nurse, spent time finding out Louie’s options, knowing that surgery was going to be expensive and specialised. 

There are only three places in the world that perform the procedure Louie had to have, London, Cambridge and Japan. 

Jac said that she felt she owed to it little Louie to raise the funds as he’s such a special, happy little pooch

Louie is only 10 years old and chihuahuas can live to be 16 or 17, and since his surgery he has come on leaps and bounds

Jac, who is a retired RSPCA nurse doesn’t have pet insurance and so she and her husband were willing to raise the money themselves 

 Jac said: ‘The surgeon said we had nothing to lose but a lot of money because he’d die without it – probably by the end of the year.’ 

Jac and her husband don’t have pet insurance and so took the financial risk themselves. 

Louie is only 10 years old and chihuahuas can live to be 16 or 17, and since his surgery he has come on leaps and bounds. 

Jac said: ‘He’s done absolutely amazingly. He’s just a little superstar!

‘His surgeon was very pleased with his progress. Everything is looking good and we can gradually start getting back to normal with exercise with another checkup in February.’

The operation Louie had is a relatively new procedure, and if had been 10 years he would have been given drugs until the end.