Sponsored Walk with Dinky Donkeys to help Betty the Donkey

Maverick & Goose, the Dinky Donkeys, are planning a (mini) epic sponsored walk across the Brecon Beacons in aid of their friend Betty's medical bills. The little Miniature Mediterranean Donkeys normally spend their lives pottering around a field or meandering off on a walk and a picnic in the Brecon Beacons National Park, but are preparing their little hooves for a 3 hour hike on 8th August. You are very welcome to join the boys and their handlers for the walk but any donations towards Betty's care will help ensure her future well-being. Should we raise any funds over our target, all excess raised will be given to The Donkey Sanctuary in recognition of their invaluable help to donkeys across the UK.

Please read on below for Betty's story......

We bought Betty the donkey from a supposedly reliable dealer to be a matriarchal influence on our little miniature donkeys Maverick & Goose who we take for low-level walks in the Brecon Beacons. On noticing a number of obvious things troubling her, we spent the last 3 months working with vets and the farrier to improve her health and also received valuable help from The Donkey Sanctuary along the way.

The initial more obvious problems included Seedy Toe on 3 hooves (causing her hooves to crumble and resulting in sore feet), severe lice infestation, it became obvious she was pregnant, and she was also having trouble peeing. Naturally, we confronted the vendor who immediately offered to take her back but we felt unable to do this as they had obviously neglected her health for some time.

For her peeing problem, cystitis was suspected as very common in donkeys so she was put on anti-biotics, but this failed to cure the problem. With further investigation from Honddu Vets she was found to have a bladder stone obstructing her bladder which is very unusual in donkeys, even more so in females as they can generally pass small stones before they become a problem. Very sadly whilst we were awaiting the surgery that was quickly scheduled, she gave birth to a stillborn foal which was most likely due to her having a latent virus similar to human chicken pox that can activate at points of stress.

Poor Betty also was developing sores down her back legs due to the constant ammonia as unable to void her bladder properly so we were applying sudacrem to sooth and act as a barrier. Naturally, until the main problem was solved this could not heal.

Cotts Equine Hospital in Narberth operated successfully on the bladder stone on 7th June after attempting unsuccessfully to break up the stone to allow it to pass naturally. Surgeon Shaun McKane was astonished to see the size of the stone they extracted and commented that he had never seen one of that size even in a large horse let alone a small standard donkey. The stone was roughly the size of her bladder and Shaun estimated that it would have taken 1 to 2 years to reach that size so she must have been exhibiting symptoms and suffering for some time.

You'll be pleased to know that Betty is now recovering well and starting to gain trust in her handlers, and we are so delighted at the kind care and attention towards Betty from both Honddu Vets in Brecon and Cotts in Narberth (where she had to stay a week to recover from the operation including being in a sling after the anaesthetic!)

The reason for this Crowdfunding is to try to raise some funds to cover the £1750 vets bills & costs that have been accrued which were completely out of the blue. This is purely for costs associated with Betty's stillborn foal, and her bladder operation, and any additional funds raised will be donated to The Donkey Sanctuary to help support their excellent work.

Wanting to do something to earn this money, we are planning a mini-epic sponsored walk with Betty's pals, two of our little Miniature Mediterranean Donkeys. The walk will be on 8th August, taking The Gap Road across the Brecon Beacons.

For little hooves it's a long way but we know the lads are up to the challenge! At the moment it will be Maverick accompanying the stoic Goose who is well up for the walk, but Bertie may well be up for the challenge! We also welcome people walk with us part or all of the way, so please check our social media for the start time which will be the morning but will depend on the forecast as to when to make it as comfortable for the Dinkies.

Thanking you in advance for sponsoring us and the dinky donkeys on this special walk.