Bromley family’s heartbreak as one-year-old puppy put down

Sophia Hill’s daughter’s dog Prince was one of the pups to the family poodle and was a member of the Hill family since birth.

He was a gift to Sophia’s daughter, Lili-Su, and was said to have a “budding” relationship with the entire family.

Prince as a a tiny puppy

Sophia told the News Shopper that Prince became ill on New Year’s Day, with his health declining within a “number of hours”.

She said: “We started to notice Prince becoming poorly on New Year’s Day.

“It all happened within a number of hours.

“The usual symptoms for renal failure is excessive drinking or urine problems, but Prince had no symptoms prior to this.”

Renal failure, also known as kidney failure, affects the functioning of the kidneys and its related organs. When contacting the emergency vets, Sophia was told the treatment Prince needed would cost £5,000.

Sophia originally set up a GoFundMe page to raise money to help pay for the treatment but was soon left with “no choice” but to put Prince to sleep.

She said: “We called around 100 vets in the region and none of them accepted payment plans.

“It seemed like no one was interested – it was like they didn’t care that he was dying.

“There was no compassion from any of the vets. “We questioned the vets Prince was attending, as I felt like he wasn’t receiving the appropriate care.

“They were not happy with our reactions and decided to give Prince back to us, even with cannulas in his legs.

“We had no choice but to pick him up – we were left with no money and no medication.

“When Prince started to go even further downhill with his breathing, he started to bleed through his nose and was constantly vomiting.

“We contacted one vets and requested the payment plan again, but they declined and suggested we should go to the out of hours vets, but they also had no payment plans available.

“We had no choice but to put Prince to sleep.”

Sophia says Prince had an “amazing” relationship, with his owner Lili, as they spent every day together.

Prince and his owner Lili-Su

Sophia added: “My daughter’s relationship with Prince was amazing.

“He would let her know if the door was knocking or her phone was ringing, he would pick thing off the floor for her and he would get her socks out of the drawer for her.

Lili-Su, 20, suffers with a range of health issues including epilepsy, lung damage and severe speech and language disorder. Sophia said Prince was always there for Lili’s mental health needs.

Sophia added: “Prince was Lili’s anxiety dog due to her mental health needs.

“He would sleep in her room with her, if she became distressed, he would lay with her, he would come with her in the car to all her hospital appointments and he would be on her lap in her wheelchair.

“Their bond was truly amazing.”

Sophia spoke of the great memories herself and her family will forever hold of Prince.

She said: “We have so many memories of Prince, but my fondest ones include how high he could jump.

“I was actually going to join him to agility classes for dogs in the New Year - he could jump so high considering how small he was.

“He was such a lovely, caring soul and he was the most precious puppy ever.

The GoFundMe page will still be of use, as Sophia and her family are determined to find out what caused the one-year-old pup to become so severely ill.

She explained: “The GoFundMe page will soon be changed and used for the forensic autopsy - as we don't believe he should have died.

“We will also use the money for a review, the cremation and a gift for our daughter such as a locket for keepsake.

“We want to ensure others are not in this situation, the system hasn’t been acceptable, and we will forever miss Prince.”

“I hope we can get the necessary funding - which will be appreciated from everyone.”

You can donate to Sophia’s GoFundMe here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-puppy-prince-get-emergency-renal-treatmenf