Help Us Fix Duke!

Duke needs surgery to fix his broken jaw! Read more below.

Duke is an 11-year-old Boston Terrier that we're fostering. He arrived here from Missouri, where he came from a hoarder house situation. The poor guy has cataracts and corneal edemas/ulcers, and he's very sight-impaired.

When we got him, he was very nervous and didn't like to have his mouth touched. At first we thought he was just really nervous, but then we noticed his mouth was bleeding. His records said he had a dental done in Missouri, but nothing else. We couldn't touch his mouth at all - he'd yelp and scream.

We took him to our family vet, who've seen our own dogs for almost a decade, since they were pups. He stayed for a day, and they put Duke under and did an x-ray of his mouth. We were shocked when he found that not only did he have a tooth removed before he came up North, but his jaw was fractured - possibly from gum disease that weakened the jaw, or an extraction gone bad, or both.




Duke now needs surgery to have a wire put in his jaw so that he can live a normal life again after who-knows-how-long... at least since mid-June. Imagine, he's been living with a fractured jaw for almost 2 months? I can't imagine the pain he's been in, day in and day out for that long. The poor guy can't eat kibble - we have to soften his food or crush it up before he eats it. He can't eat any treats. He yelps when anything touches his mouth, even if he bumps awkwardly into something by accident; sometimes he randomly yelps too, probably from the pain in his mouth.

Despite all the adversity he's facing, Duke is a very cute, very sweet dog who just wants to be petted and loved. When he's on his pain medication, parts of his personality start to come out - he's playful, he's confident despite his lack of sight, and he's super affectionate. Once he's feeling better, he's going to make a great dog for a forever home. He's very spunky for an old guy - and he doesn't look a day over 2 years old!




All told, our vet bills for Duke will add up to about $1,200. That includes being put under twice - once for the exam and the x-rays, and once for the surgery to wire his jaw back together; also, his medications, and any other teeth that need extraction, if necessary.


Obviously, we are not expecting donations to cover the whole bill, because that's a lot to ask from people, but every dollar helps. Truth be told, we don't even like the idea of asking for donations - we know fostering costs money; toys, food, beds, crates, cleaning supplies, etc. However, this is an unexpected cost - we still have to pay our mortgage, pay for all the other everyday things that we do, support any other foster dogs we have at the time, and last but not least, we must take care of our own dogs, Roxie, Kahlua, and Emerson.

Anything, even a few dollars, would help out enormously. Thank you very much for reading, and for anything you can spare towards a new chance for Duke to be healthy and happy!