A young couple rushed back to Australia from an overseas holiday when their beloved Westie terrier was bitten by potentially killer ticks that their vet allegedly failed to detect.
Lauren and Josh Stevens were visiting family in New Zealand with their 16-month-old son Felix when they were told their dog, Oscar, needed urgent medical attention in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
“Oscar was being cared for by a pet sitter who rushed him to the local vet as soon as they noticed he was acting strange and wobbly on his legs,” friend Amy Fowler explained.
‘The vet said he was physically fine and had been checked for ticks, but suggested they do neurological tests.
“But by the end of the appointment, I couldn’t walk and was having trouble breathing.”
Oscar, 11, was quickly taken to SASH (Small Animal Specialist Hospital) where another veterinarian He immediately located two ticks: one on his eyelid and another on his neck.
“The ticks were removed and he was given anti-venom but his condition deteriorated rapidly,” he said.
‘After being in the ICU, he developed aspiration pneumonia and has since been put on a ventilator and heavily sedated.’
Josh and Lauren Stevens were visiting family in New Zealand with their son Felix when their 11-year-old dog Oscar was bitten by a tick.
Eastern Suburbs Vet Allegedly Failed to Spot Potentially Lethal Ticks on Oscar
Now Ms Fowler has launched a GoFundMe campaign to help cover the huge vet bills now facing the young Sydney-based couple, which currently exceed $25,000 and counting.
“The ventilation he needs to breathe while he recovers costs $2,200 per 12 hours, and he has been receiving it since Monday to give him the best chance of recovery,” he said.
Ms Fowler explained that there is nothing more the couple can do due to the mounting financial cost while also supporting their own son.
“They are selfless, kind people who don’t deserve to go through this kind of pain and stress,” Fowler said.
‘They are not the type of people to ask for help, but the generosity that the public has shown in helping has been overwhelming, to say the least.
“If Oscar can find the strength in his lungs to breathe on his own over the next 48 hours, he has a good chance of pulling through, but he will need additional hospital care before he can fully recover and return home.”
The couple hopes that Oscar will overcome his situation and be able to breathe on his own in the next few days.
“If he doesn’t survive, Lauren will donate the (excess) funds to an animal welfare charity or to SASH for research,” Fowler said.
Ticks are small parasitic insects that vary in color from reddish to black and feed on the blood of the human or animal host to which they attach.
Amy Fowler (pictured left) launched a GoFundMe campaign on behalf of her friend Lauren’s dog, Oscar.
The couple’s son, Felix, with his dog-brother Oscar
The couple hopes that Oscar will pull through and be able to breathe on his own in the coming days.
There are more than 70 different types of tick in Australia and they are most common on the country’s east coast; some are as small as a poppy seed or as large as a baked bean.
While there is no evidence that Lyme disease is caused by Australian ticks, there are similar diseases that people can contract.
According to NSW Health, early symptoms of tick paralysis can include rash, headache, fever, flu-like symptoms, tender lymph nodes, unsteady gait, intolerance to bright light, increased limb weakness and partial facial paralysis.
Experts say the best way to remove a tick is to freeze the area with a spray containing ether, which can be purchased at a pharmacy.
Removing the tick without freezing the area risks developing a condition called mammalian meat allergy, whereby people bitten by ticks develop severe allergies to certain types of meat, such as lamb.
