A dog owner's journey of perseverance, hope and vet bills for her companion, who was severely burnt in a house fire in Cromwell four years ago, has hit another roadblock.
Sheena Bell says her English mastiff cross Demon requires more specialist treatment and if she is unable to find the money to pay for it, he will have to be put down.
Since the house fire in 2011, the 6-year-old dog had received treatments and support from numerous veterinary clinics around the South Island, from vets who ''did not want to give up'', Miss Bell said.
She now lived and worked in Alexandra. Previously, on a sickness benefit, she had lived for a while in Dunedin, where Demon received laser treatment for his skin problems.
More than $20,000 had already been spent on Demon, funded from fundraising via social media and a Givealittle page, vets who ''made bills disappear'', and Miss Bell's own income.
She said Demon healed ''quite well'' after the fire but had taken a turn for the worse, battling bacterial skin infections and a large wound on his back that refused to close.
She applied manuka honey to the wound and changed the bandages daily, ''which me and Demon are not happy about''.
''But as soon as the bandage is on and he calms down, you give him a treat and he is over it.''
She had learned fixing the wound required specialist treatment from a clinic in Christchurch.
Vetspecs senior clinical leader Dr Helen Milner, from Christchurch, said a possible treatment was ''negative pressure wound therapy'', which would require removal of the diseased tissue before going ahead with any reconstructive surgery.
Miss Bell said she would investigate a loan but was not confident, given she was working only 33 hours a week.
Dr Milner said the treatment could cost more than $10,000.
She sympathised with Miss Bell's situation and said it was ''quite debilitating for all concerned''.
