An adorable pup rescued from death in Romania needed his life saved a second time – when he was struck down by a deadly rare disease.
Super-cute crossbreed Flynn looked destined to be put down after he was found roaming the streets in Bucharest with no-one to take him in.
But, luckily for Flynn, kind-hearted Ciara McCormack and her partner Connor McGovern spotted his photo on a dog rescue charity’s website.
They fell for stray Flynn instantly, adopted him and gave him a new chance of life 1,500 miles away at their home in Glasgow.
Then, heartbreakingly, just when Flynn had overcome the many challenges involved of settling into his new domesticated life, he suddenly became seriously ill.
He stopped eating and seemed unsettled and lethargic, then began shaking uncontrollably and droolin
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As Flynn’s condition visibly worsened, desperately worried Ciara and Connor rushed Flynn to their local vets, who said his condition was so serious he needed to be transferred to the Vets Now 24-hour pet emergency hospital in Charing Cross, Glasgow.
With Flynn on the verge of cardiac arrest, the hospital team rushed him into intensive care and carried out extensive tests.
They diagnosed three-year-old Flynn with life-threatening Addison’s Disease, a rare condition caused by a lack of steroids in the body.
For four anxious days the team worked around the clock to stabilise Flynn and control the disease through extensive medication before he was well enough to go home with Ciara and Connor.
Ciara said: “It was really distressing to see Flynn so ill – especially when you think of everything he must have been through as a stray in Romania, where street dogs end up put down because there is no home for them, and then starting a new life here in Scotland.
“We adopted him in March last year and it took a while obviously for him to adjust given the totally different surroundings.
“Then this happened in August – just when it felt like he had really settled.
“We could see it was very serious and if we hadn’t got him help straightaway like we did then we would have lost him – which is just an unbearable thought.
“Since he came into our lives he’s been a part of our family and has brought us so much joy. We just couldn’t imagine life without him.
“We can’t thank Vets Now enough for looking after Flynn – we were so anxious, but they did a really good job of keeping us updated with multiple phone calls each day.
“When it was finally time to collect him, he was so relaxed and returning to his normal smiley self – you could just tell he’d been really well looked after.”
Deputy lead emergency vet Nicole Laws, who led Flynn’s care, said: “With Addison’s Disease the adrenal glands which sit on top of the kidneys don’t produce enough of two hormones: cortisol, which is a stress hormone, and aldosterone, which controls electrolyte levels.
“These hormones are crucial for many life-supporting processes and lack of these means the body can’t regulate its water balance properly.
“It can be very challenging to spot because the clinical signs begin quite vague but can progress quickly – but we caught it early and swiftly started the necessary treatment. 
“Poor Flynn really was very poorly indeed when he came in.
“His sodium level was the lowest I’ve ever seen in 20 years of practice.
“But the really pressing and most immediate issue was his very high potassium level which was putting him at severe risk of cardiac arrest.
“We put him on an ECG (electrocardiogram) straightaway to monitor his heart and gave him medications to protect this until the potassium levels came down. We then started fluids to rehydrate him and to rebalance his electrolyte levels.
“We had to do that very cautiously and very gradually – because sudden increases in sodium can lead to irreversible brain damage.
“So every step of his treatment had to be calculated, then re-calculated and then triple checked.
“Flynn was a lovely patient and very affectionate and quickly became a favourite with all the team.
“Seeing him bounce back and ready to go home brought great joy to all of us, especially given his background as a rescue dog.
“Ciara and Connor did completely the right thing seeking help so promptly – every minute matters in an emergency situation like this and if they’d delayed by even a few hours then we may well have been looking at a very different outcome indeed.”
Flynn is now back to his normal high-spirits – giving not one but two paws every time he’s asked and chasing after squirrels in the park.
He needs a blood test and injection once a month to keep his condition under control – but other than that is completely recovered.
Ciara said: “He’s just full of energy and brilliant fun to be around – to look at him now you’d think that nothing had ever happened!”