Sheep

The first day I met Kurt in 2014, he needed an urgent lifeline. His days as a pet for the kids where he lived were over, and he was due to be slaughtered that day. Thankfully a last-minute change of heart by his human saw him coming to Gunyah to live his days out peacefully. 

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the last lifeline that Kurt needed.

In 2016, a very aggressive tumour began to grow just below his left eye. Kurt underwent surgery here at the Sanctuary to have the tumour removed. He recovered well.

Unfortunately, the root of the tumour went deep beneath his eye, so the tumour came back. Once again, Kurt underwent surgery at Gunyah. This time the only option was to remove his eye, so that we could get to the tumour root. This was done in 2018. Kurt recovered well and adjusted incredibly quickly to the world as he now saw it. 

In early 2023, a tumour appeared next to Kurt’s one good eye. The tumour was removed, though we were fairly certain by then that we were beginning to fight a losing battle with Kurt. It had been feared for some time that the cancer had spread a long time ago, and this was now looking incredibly likely. 

Kurt is such a big, gentle softie who loves a scratch and a pat. He’ll always show you which bit needs a scratch!

Everything will be done to make Kurt’s remaining time here at Gunyah pleasant. At the moment his quality of life is pretty good, even though cancer is invading his body. If we find that his quality of life diminishes due to the insidious invasion of cancer, a tough decision will need to be made on his behalf. For now, he is getting lots of extra pats, love and treats.