Olympic star Greg Rutherford is facing a heartbreaking ordeal after his beloved dog Gus was refused a life-saving operation by his local vet.
Rutherford, who suffered a severe injury during the Dancing on Ice competition, noticed a change in Gus’s behavior and had him scanned, revealing a sinister mass on his spleen. Despite his fame and connections, the vet has expressed doubts about Gus’s ability to survive the surgery.
Rutherford has taken to social media to seek a second opinion and recommendations for local vets, desperate to give his loyal companion a fighting chance.
“Sorry to use Insta as Google but always prefer recommendations etc for this sort of thing,” Rutherford wrote on Instagram. “We got home to find out our lovely Gus is poorly. A visit to our local vet showed he has a mass on his spleen that can be operated on.”
“He’s lethargic and not quite himself, which is why we knew something was wrong. Normally he behaves like a pup!”
The Dancing on Ice star continued: “The vets we visited were quite quick to say oh well … we don’t know he’ll survive the operation to remove it.”
“Unfortunately the vet who previously knew Gus well left, so it kind of feels like they’re going off the back of locums seeing him and how he is at the moment.”
Rutherford urged anyone with knowledge of local vets to get in touch. “Does anyone local to us have any suggestions of where we could take him for a second opinion?”
“Vet’s have called this morning & confirmed they’re not happy to operate, but yet again it’s a new locum who hasn’t actually seen him.”
“In no way moaning about them, we just want to give our normally very healthy dog a chance.”
Last year, Rutherford shared a heartwarming video of Gus with his daughter Daphne, showcasing their unbreakable bond.
“These moments always make me so happy… and as with the second photo, always make me laugh,” Rutherford wrote.
Rutherford missed out on the Dancing on Ice final due to a freak accident. He later revealed that he accidentally gave himself a C-section during rehearsals when he slid through a skater’s legs and sliced open his abdomen.
The incident occurred as he practiced a move where he glided through the legs of professional skaters Brendyn Hatfield and Colin Grafton.
Rutherford also shared a video of the routine he would have performed had he appeared in the finale.
