Light up our Memory Tree this Christmas
As we approach Christmas, the RVC’s hospitals are preparing to stay open and welcome the many critically ill pets that will continue to need our vital support over the holidays. We would like to ask you to celebrate Christmas this year by lighting up our wonderful Memory Tree which has raised £31,000 since its launch two years ago.
Our Memory Tree is adorned with beautiful leaves that all celebrate incredible pets, some who have been treated at the RVC and others who are connected to us through our supporters and the local community. This tree is special not just for the pets that it celebrates and remembers, but also for the pets it has enabled us to support through the funds we raise.
A very special Christmas Tree supporting some very special pets
Help us light up our Memory Tree. Find out more about how to donate this Christmas or how to dedicate a leaf on the tree.
How your donations help
In the last year alone, our Memory Tree has supported teams across the hospital, from our blood donors to oncology, neurology to anaesthesia and most recently we were able to fund high flow oxygen therapy.
Your support and generosity saves lives. Thank you for helping us to make such a difference to so many special pets this Christmas and always.
Please help us light our tree this year and provide more support to critically ill pets like Milo.
Christmas is such a wonderful time of year, but accidents do happen, especially when our pets are surrounded by so much temptation. Claudia Goldstein had been making Christmas cake for her family when she found an empty packet of raisins and her very sheepish looking Flat-Coated Retriever, Milo, next to it. Raisins can be extremely toxic to dogs, particularly in the quantity Milo had ingested.
Milo was rushed to their local vets but did not respond to initial treatment and was referred to the RVC. By this stage, Milo was in a critical condition and immediately connected to a dialysis machine to support his kidneys. Karen Humm, Senior Lecturer in Emergency and Critical Care, treated Milo and she recalls: “Milo was extremely unwell when he arrived. Thanks to the Animal Care Trust, we are the only animal hospital in the UK that has a Continual Renal Replacement Therapy (CRRT) machine which provides this type of dialysis for dogs, so we could treat his condition and monitor his recovery.”
After two weeks in the Intensive Care Unit, Milo made an excellent recovery, but their Christmas could have been very different. We are so grateful for the generosity of our supporters, making the funding of such vital and specialist equipment possible for our incredible RVC team. Claudia, relieved with Milo’s recovery, said: “Milo has always been a fan of Christmas and joins in with the festive spirit. We were delighted with the care that he received and are looking forward to having him at home for Christmas again this year.”