Bruce Prudhoe

A CRUEL TWIST OF FATE (NOVEMBER 2019)

Bruce had deserved better from life and everything was all set ready for him to get it. Diane and Derek couldn’t wait to meet the lovely old fellow who was going to be warmly welcomed into their family but it wasn’t to be.

Sadly, Bruce took a turn for the worst and, peacefully, crossed Rainbow Bridge. At least, at the end, he was totally surrounded by love. Diane who was in floods of tears said “I can’t quite believe how raw the grief is even though we never actually got to meet our darling Bruce. We had made so many plans to make memories and cram a lifetime into a few weeks/months but it was not to be.

I know Kathryn and Lorraine are as distraught as we are. He will always stay in our hearts and we thank IRR from the bottom of our hearts for saving and loving him. The IRR family is the best”.

We have a lovely portrait of him and his ashes in a beautiful memorial box.

REST IN PEACE DARLING BRUCE 2007 – 4.11.2019

A SAD HISTORY

Bruce was a lovely 12yrs old Golden Retriever boy who was, cruelly, dumped in the pound in an awful state. It seemed so much worse for this gorgeous dog in his twilight years as he had been dumped knowing he would have to face a very uncertain fate. The people, who were supposed to love and protect him, did this simply so they could go off travelling.

Fortunately, IRR heard about him and rescued him but, on the day he was due to start his journey from Ireland to his new life in the UK, he ended up, fighting for his life, at the Veterinary Hospital where, the night before, he had undergone emergency surgery. He had been under the weather on the Monday so the decision was taken to pull him from the weekend transport in order to get him checked out. He was a little dehydrated from vomiting so he was placed, immediately, on fluids and antibiotics. After initial improvement, he deteriorated in the night and scans determined a tumour on his spleen. We received the heartbreaking call at 9pm telling us “we can operate NOW or let him go”.

This boy had already been let down by those who were supposed to care for him so the decision was easy, we would honour the promise we made to him at the Pound and we would do our best to ensure he was given every chance of a loving retirement. Lorraine’s answer was “If you think he’s strong enough and has chance of recovery then we’ll give him that chance”

Bruce was immediately rushed into theatre, his spleen removed and after difficult surgery and a lot of blood loss, we got the call we were all waiting for … he was out, surgery was successful and he was in recovery. The following morning brought more positive news telling us that he was recovering well and was alert.

Of course, veterinary expertise doesn’t come cheap and, once again, IRR needed the help of their loyal supporters. We were told he would be in the hospital for, most probably, another week or so and we were looking at an approximate cost of £2k to settle on discharge. Lorraine begged for people to donate anything they could to help this fabulous old boy and she also asked for prayers and sending healing thoughts to our precious oldie. That night (23.10.2019) Bruce was visited at the vet hospital by Kathryn and his foster mum. They told him all about his IRR family pulling together to make sure he gets the retirement home we had promised him.

They also told him how generous everyone had been so far (his fund currently already standing at £1752.50p) and how, if love could aid his recovery, then he’d be home in no time because the outpouring of love being shown for him was immeasurable. They doled out kisses and promised they’d be back to take him home when he was strong enough.

By 25th October, IRR hit the target for Bruce’s surgery and Lorraine said a huge thank you to the magnificent group of people who had all pulled together yet again. She told everyone “Our boy has been shown so much love and I’m sure it’s aiding his recovery. He’s doing well, the wound is looking very healthy and he is in good spirits so, hopefully, he is over the worst and will keep improving and be able to go back to his fosterer next week to fully recuperate before making his way to the UK to enjoy his retirement in his fabulous forever home in Northumberland with Diane and Derek who already had Ellie and two much-loved IRR dogs, Luna and Hugo.