Watch the video of the miracle dog below.
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Video credit: Rumble
An adorable dog who was given just three months to live is still alive and thriving – 12 years later.
Shakey is now 19 years old and is now counted among the country’s oldest dogs. In dog years, his age comes out to be an amazing 133.
Vets diagnosed the Jack Russell cross with cancer just after he was adopted by Natalie Gould in 2007.
The woman from Evesham, Worcs, was left devastated after she learned that the poor pooch had just three months got to live.
Fast forward 12 years, Shakey is still thriving, enjoying his life as much as a dog possibly can.
Natalie adopted Shakey from the Dogs Trust Center she worked in.
Speaking to Story Trender, the 33-year-old said: “It’s been so wonderful to have Shakey in my life for this long – you certainly don’t see many 19-year-old dogs around.
“When Shakey was poorly, the priority was keeping him as happy and as comfortable as possible. His favorite thing was tennis balls so we played with them as much as possible as this is when he was at his happiest.
“The main reason why I decided to not put him through major surgery to remove half his jaw was because of his love of tennis balls – he came alive when he saw them and I knew that if his mouth was affected in any way, he would not have been the same dog.
“I just feel really lucky that I have had Shakey in my life for a lot longer than I thought I would. He probably is one of the oldest dogs in the country-it’s quite an achievement.
“And for an oldie, he’s still so playful, he’s just like a puppy- hopefully he’s still got plenty of life left in him yet.”
The mom-of-one decided to adopt Shakey just days after he was brought to the Dogs Trust shelter in Evesham. He was seven years old at the time.
“One of our transport drivers brought him in as he was quite malnourished, he was underweight,” Natalie said.
“He wasn’t in really good health so ended up taking him straight to the vet- he was on a drip for nearly three weeks because he was so underweight. I fostered him and he never went back.
“At the beginning he was very nervous, I had him at home in a cage and he wouldn’t come out for quite some time- he clearly didn’t have the best start in life really. The only thing that eventually made him to come around to me was a tennis ball- he absolutely loves tennis balls.
“He then was fit enough to go into the kennels, but I got quite attached to him by then and I wanted to keep him.
“Just because he was so nervous, when he eventually started to build up a bond with me, I just thought ‘he can’t go anywhere.’ He is the most loyal dog.”
Three months after adopting the pooch in April 2007, Natalie noticed a lump in Shakey’s mouth. Unfortunately, it was revealed to be a cancerous tumor.
Natalie said: “They thought it would spread all over his body so they wanted to take out a portion of his mouth but at the time he was happy enough.
“The only thing to keep him happy were tennis balls and if he had his mouth cut away, he wouldn’t be able to play with them so I took the decision not to go through with the surgery and prepared for the worst.
“I thought if he was going to live a shorter life, I’d rather he’d be happier.
“At that point they didn’t know how far the cancer had spread but they gave him about three months- and that was 12 years ago so he’s doing alright. I’m pleased I didn’t go through with the surgery- it looks like the piece they took out was all that it was.
“They also thought he might have issues with his stomach because of the cancer but twelve years down the line, it certainly wouldn’t be now.
“He has started to get a little bit blind and his back legs are a bit wobbly at times but he still plays like a puppy. He is still very obsessed with tennis balls and he is very food orientated.
“For his age, he is quite healthy, he still plays like a puppy.”