Family's beloved pocket bully needs life-saving surgery

Henny Hardy, 37, from Southampton, has owned Skylar since August 2023 – after her previous owner could no longer look after her.

However, after a routine vet appointment it was discovered that the pocket bully had a heart murmur, with heart scans costing Henny £500.

Skylar was then transferred to a specialist vet in the city – costing an additional £980 – where it was found that she was born with a blocked heart valve, which could lead to heart failure within a year.

The condition requires an emergency heart operation to repair the faulty valve.

Wanting to give Skylar as long and happy life as possible, Henny booked an operation for her fury friend to be carried out on May 7, which is set to cost £6,100.

“It’s devastating,” said Henny. “Skylar is so young, and we just want her to be fit and healthy.”

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“She used to be the life and soul of the party and everyone she meets adores her.

“Unfortunately, over the last couple of months you can see she’s regressed and now she can’t go on walks for more than 20 minutes, she gets tired quite quickly and now spends most of her time in bed.”

Henny has set up a GoFundMe page in a bid to raise approximately half of the overall fee needed for the surgery to go ahead.

“Before me and my daughter Dolcie took on Skylar – we had another dog called Kizzi, who sadly died of kidney failure, so it’s not something any of us want to go through again as it can be very upsetting,” said Henny.

She went on to say: “I’ve been saving as much as I can and am so grateful for all the donations we’ve received so far.

“It just seems to have been one setback after another and we would love nothing more than to see Skylar be a part of our family for many years to come.”