A CHESTER family are pleading with the public to help save their pet puppy after it was seriously injured earlier this week.

The family believe eight-month-old Mini had slipped under their side gate to their house and was later kicked by a horse in an adjacent farmer's field, as she had received a serious head injury.

After being taken to the out-of-hours Hartford Willow Vet Group, the vet told the family they should need to prepare for the worst, and if she recovered, she should be on the front page of a newspaper.

However, Mini has so far defied the odds and has responded to medical treatment.

Now Ami Swarbrick has set up a GoFundMe fundraising page on behalf of her family as they are seeking donations to pay upwards of £8,000 vets bills that will allow Mini to be treated at Liverpool Small Animal University Hospital to get an MRI and potentially neurological specialist surgery.

Writing on the GoFundMe page, Ami said: "Our little baby girl Mini is one of our own puppies – we have the mum and the dad, she’s only eight months old and is such a happy little dog she loves life.

"We live in the countryside and she got out and got kicked by a horse in the field behind our house.

"After searching for hours well into the night at 3am we found her in the farthest corner of the field with a big mark on her head. We rushed her to the out of hours vets in Hartford, where they said she had a massive brain trauma and things didn’t look good.

"He said if she survives this she should be on the front page of a news paper and to prepare for the worst!

"When she went in she was a coma score 9 [nearly in a coma] and then by the next evening she was a 14 [less severe]. She had improved a lot and I know she is a fighter so we said do whatever it takes we can’t give up on her.

"My son has autism also and he loves her so much he would be lost without her.

"The lump where she had impact is getting bigger and they are worried she has a fractured skull and her brain fluid is leaking out. The vet has advised she needs an urgent MRI scan and possible neurologist surgery."

Since the appeal launch, Mini has had a CT scan at Liverpool Small Animal University Hospital which showed a bleed on the brain and a fracture to her skull.

Mini then took a turn for the worse and required the use of a ventilator, which the family were told would cost £2,000 a day and Mini may not react well to it.

The family took the risk and, combined with antibiotics, Mini's condition has improved once more, is off the ventilator and can breathe unaided. She has had a feeding tube inserted into her stomach while she is sedated to prevent food or fluid going into the lungs.

Ami added: "We are now back at the point we were just waiting for the body to absorb the blood clot within her brain tissue and that could take a week or a few weeks we don’t know.

"So far she is staying strong and defying odds and I don’t think it fair to give up on the little puppy who loves life so much.

"In summary she can survive and return to a pretty normal doggy life, but this treatment cost adds up and we alone can not afford her treatment so we’re trying to spread the word about her story and raise funds to save her and bring her home."

The family have been informed Mini may have brain damage in the front part of the brain, but Ami added: "[It] might be personality so she might look like Mini but seem like a different dog, but luckily dogs don’t need a lot of their brain – they don’t do maths so that’s lucky.

"I’m so glad she’s fighting it’s good because her body is doing exactly what it should and quicker.

"I’m so proud of her and I’m glad we took the chance and it wouldn’t be possible without all these donations. Please keep sharing and bring my little girl home."