Bury St Edmunds dog owner ‘devastated’ after springer spaniel becomes ill after walk

A dog owner from Bury St Edmunds has spoken of her devastation after her two-year-old springer spaniel Marley became critically ill after a walk last week.

Lisa Christie, who lives near the Oakes Road woods on the Howard Estate, took Marley and her two cocker spaniels for a walk last Monday evening on the nearby field as she normally would. But when they returned home, Marley was not quite himself.

She said: “He laid on the sofa and we had our dinner.

“He was quiet but we didn’t really think anything of it. When I said goodnight to the dogs, he didn’t move. He was totally unresponsive.

“We phoned our local vets and rushed him there. He couldn’t walk, he was completely out of it.”

The vets ran tests on Marley to see if his symptoms were trauma-related or neurological, but they weren’t sure what exactly was wrong with him so they referred him to Dick White vets in Six Mile Bottom.

The vet there believes Marley could have eaten recreational drugs.

“We thought we were going to lose him it was that bad,” Lisa added.

“We were devastated – me and my husband and my two grown up sons. He’s such a lovely dog.

“It was scary and he was so poorly. We didn’t sleep.”

Marley made a full recovery overnight, but has been put on rest and limited to 10-minute walks over the last week.

Lisa now feels uneasy about walking her dogs there again and said the woods is an area that is known for drug use.

She was particularly concerned that if her 14-week-old cocker spaniel puppy would have eaten whatever Marley ingested, he might not have survived it.

To other dog owners, Lisa said: “Just be careful, if they notice those sort of symptoms or is wobbly they should get their dog checked right away.”

Lisa said she now felt relieved that Marley had made a full recovery.

“It’s such a relief because we were expecting the worse,” she added.

“The vets were saying all the things it could have been so it’s a huge relief.

“I’ve been with dogs before when they have been put to sleep and it’s awful.

“It’s fantastic that he’s now better and that there’s no lasting damage.

“It could have been 100 times worse.”