We thought our puppy was just clumsy, but when he kept bumping into things, we knew something wasn’t right...
My son Liam sat on the floor and a little beige and white Staffy puppy waddled up and climbed on to him.
‘Mum, please can we have him?’ he said.
We were visiting a local breeder to choose a puppy from a litter of eight-week-old Staffies.
But judging by the way this one had made itself comfy on Liam’s lap, I think he’d actually chosen us.
'OK,’ I said. 'He's ours.’
When we took him home, he didn’t seem bothered by our cats, Tuxedo and Diggle. He just curled up in his crate and fell asleep, snoring gently.
'What shall we call him?' I whispered to Liam, 13.
'Eminem?' he suggested.
‘I know you love hip hop but we can't call him that,’ I replied, laughing.
In the end, we settled on Busta, after the rapper Busta Rhymes
Busta settled in well, but within weeks, we noticed he was really clumsy. He’d fall off kerbs and bump into trees on walks.
Worried, I took him to the vet who said, ‘There’s something wrong with his eyes.’
He referred us to a specialist who told us there was a problem with Busta’s retinas, which it was likely he’d been born with. It meant he was suffering from day blindness.
‘In the light he’s totally blind, but in the dark he has about 40% vision,’ the vet explained.
'Is he in pain?' I asked.
But thankfully, the specialist reassured me he wasn’t and if Busta felt OK, that was all that mattered.
Back home in Bedford, Liam and I started researching how to train a blind puppy.
We taught Busta commands like 'careful' and 'safe' to stop him bumping into obstacles. Liam even taught him how to use the stairs.
When playing, we’d throw cut-up sausages in the garden and he loved sniffing after them. It helped to build-up Busta’s confidence.
‘In the light he’s totally blind.'
But one day, we were out for a walk when I noticed he was hobbling.
'What's wrong, darling?' I asked, fussing over him.
When it didn’t improve, I took him to the vet, who said, ‘His knees don’t seem to be right.’
A week later, we saw the orthopaedic specialist who sent Busta for an X-ray.
It revealed our pooch had a ruptured cruciate ligament in one back knee and degenerative damage in the other, which the vet said was very unusual for a young puppy.
'We need to operate urgently,’ he told me.
I started sobbing. Busta already had so many challenges being blind. What if he never walked again?
The operation would cost an eye watering £4000, which I simply didn't have. But fortunately, Liam's dad covered it.
My heart pounded as I went to collect Busta after his operation.
'He was brilliant,' the surgeon said. 'Now, he just needs rest.’
I looked down at Busta and he wagged his tail, which made me burst into tears again.
Two months on, Busta is doing really well. He’ll need a second operation on his legs to help him walk better, so we’ve been fundraising to pay for that. Liam and his pals raised an incredible £300 after organising a raffle together.
From the moment Busta came into our lives, Liam and I loved him and we’ll keep fighting to give him the best life we possibly can.
And, no matter what challenges our Busta faces, he’s still the paw-fect pooch for us.
Gemma Lloyd, 34
• To donate visit gofundme.com and search for ‘help save Busta’.