Mildred, a tiny scrap of a pup was surrendered to DBARC in the autumn of 2015. She was only around 5 or 6 weeks old and very poorly. She was lucky to be alive and the care given to her by the DBARC team and continued by her adopter Debbi was life-saving.

Like her adoptive brother George, she has been born with micropthalmi - tiny eyeballs - plus a liver shunt and hypodypsia (no thirst ). She has to have a special diet and soup-like meals 4 times a day for fluids. This must continue for the rest of her life, there is no cure for her problems. When diagnosed with her liver shunt the specialists advised that it was too serious and dangerous to operate on. They doubted that with Mildred’s other complications she would live beyond a year.

UPDATE Dec 2018: She has proved everyone wrong and Mildred’s loving her life, aged a grand almost 3.5 years. The dedication of her family makes this possible, along with fundraising and the support and love from the DBARC team.

UDPATE: AUGUST 2ND 2019

Very sadly, we must report that Mildred died today. She lost a short battle against complications arising from her liver shunt and medical history. She was a brave little soul throughout her short, but marvellously rich life with Debbi and family. One which against all odds was almost 4 years - she would have celebrated her 4th birthday later this month. Debbi’s heartfelt words sum up the uniqueness of Mildred and the bond they shared:

She's left this huge hole. She was special, there'll never be another character like her. She gave just the best cuddles and lay on the sofa every night with me.