This is Lexi, a five year old beautiful Boerboel, a rare mastiff breed, she is truly a gentle giant. Many of you will have met Lexi at one of our fundraising events. This beautiful well-mannered girl has accompanied her carers to Funday, Bark in the Park and the Christmas Fayre last year. Always the perfect Holly Hedge Ambassadog.

Unfortunately, Lexi hasn’t been lucky enough to find her forever home yet. And sadly, she’s also experienced more than her share of bad luck with her health.

Earlier this year, she needed part of her tail amputated and more recently was diagnosed with pyometra, a life-threatening condition that is extremely rare in spayed animals. Whilst receiving treatment the vets discovered that poor Lexi also had two internal tumours and we received the devastating news that she was living on borrowed time.

The vet advised without surgery to remove the tumours, her prognosis was very bleak. At just five years old, we knew Lexi deserved a chance of her happy fur-ever after. We were warned the operation was a high-risk specialist procedure with one tumour needing to be removed from the vena cava, a very large vein that brings deoxygenated blood to the heart. Lexi’s successful recovery would require her body to adjust to this major change in her circulatory system or her organs could start shutting down. Without the surgery, sooner rather than later we would be faced with the devastating decision to let her go, therefore we knew we needed to honour Holly Hedge’s promise to our animals, the promise of a brighter future.

Two weeks ago Lexi had this intricate lifesaving surgery at a specialist referral vet in Swindon. She was accompanied by her regular vet, so she had a friendly familiar face with her the whole time.

It was a tense time for her carers at the sanctuary awaiting news of her operation, but thankfully brave Lexi made it through her surgery. She is now recovering in foster with our kennel manager. We really hope that this procedure will provide Lexi with many more years to come so that she can find that forever home she so desperately deserves.

We are lucky that our regular vets at Vale Vets provide a discount to us, however Lexi’s operation with a specialist was carried out at full cost. Her medical bill to date is over £12,000. This year our total veterinary bill has already exceeded £180,000.

During this season of good will, we are asking our supporters if they might make a donation, however big or small, towards Lexi’s lifesaving veterinary costs and those of our other animals that are in need. Thank you.

Please note we are not currently taking applications for rehoming Lexi. We are waiting to fully understand her health and treatment needs to ensure we find the most suitable furever home for her.