Benny's Spinal Surgery
Donation protected
Benny was rescued from a kill shelter in Georgia where he was scheduled to be put down the very next day. The group Alpha Dog https://www.facebook.com/pages/Alpha-Dog-Rescue/170652513022602 saw what a sweet temperament he has and got to work finding him a loving home in New England.
I picked him up in Maine and brought him to Somerville, MA this past March and in the 7 months he has lived with me, he has become family- a family member who doesn't care if you want ice cream for breakfast (as long as you share), dances in his best tux at the sight of you every time you come home, and licks away your tears without judging you for crying at the commercials.
Just as much as he had burrowed into my heart, he has endeared himself to the neighborhood and is well known as the dog that will lick your face ear to ear if you will let him, shake your hand with his mouth and sit on your shoe to let you know he is your biggest fan. He also loves a good party and pull you towards anywhere there is laughter and general raucousness going on.
On Saturday 10/18, I went out to dinner with friends and came back to find Benny hunched over like a Halloween cat with a severe arch in his back and whining and shaking. By the time I got him to the emergency room at Tuft's Foster Hospital for Small Animals http://vet.tufts.edu/fhsa/ he could no longer walk,stand or sit and was shaking violently. By Sunday the 19th, he was declared to likely have a ruptured disk, a condition that impacts long bodied dogs with relatively short legs such as Benny http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2012/12/10/intervertebral-disc-disease.aspx
An MRI on Monday confirmed the diagnosis. Treatment options were given to either put him down because of the pain and prohibitive costs of the surgery, or try to treat the pain and watch him slowly paralyzed in his back legs and become incontinent, or do surgery to remove the offending disk and debris, with an 80-95% chance of recovery of normal function and elimination of pain. Surgery was the obvious route, however extremely costly and far beyond my means. I had bought Benny an insurance plan in September, September 22nd to be exact, but it had a 30 day waiting period during which time anything that happened would be considered a pre-existing condition so would not be eligible for any coverage (at all- nada!). So, if this had happened three days later, it would have been covered, but it did not- so here we are asking for help. Talk about bad luck!
The bills and after care are estimated to run up to $6500 or $7000 in the end with post-op and PT. But there is no question that Benny is worth every penny especially in light of the long, pain free years he will have ahead of him making everyone smile.
I decided to go with the surgery and hope for the best as I am nowhere near ready to say goodbye and what was ailing him is so very fixable. Every little bit helps and Benny, being his sweet, gracious self, is extremely grateful for any help at all to get to the other side of this and get in the last little bit of squirrel hunting season and help lick the kitchen floor clean during Thanksgiving ;)
I picked him up in Maine and brought him to Somerville, MA this past March and in the 7 months he has lived with me, he has become family- a family member who doesn't care if you want ice cream for breakfast (as long as you share), dances in his best tux at the sight of you every time you come home, and licks away your tears without judging you for crying at the commercials.
Just as much as he had burrowed into my heart, he has endeared himself to the neighborhood and is well known as the dog that will lick your face ear to ear if you will let him, shake your hand with his mouth and sit on your shoe to let you know he is your biggest fan. He also loves a good party and pull you towards anywhere there is laughter and general raucousness going on.
On Saturday 10/18, I went out to dinner with friends and came back to find Benny hunched over like a Halloween cat with a severe arch in his back and whining and shaking. By the time I got him to the emergency room at Tuft's Foster Hospital for Small Animals http://vet.tufts.edu/fhsa/ he could no longer walk,stand or sit and was shaking violently. By Sunday the 19th, he was declared to likely have a ruptured disk, a condition that impacts long bodied dogs with relatively short legs such as Benny http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2012/12/10/intervertebral-disc-disease.aspx
An MRI on Monday confirmed the diagnosis. Treatment options were given to either put him down because of the pain and prohibitive costs of the surgery, or try to treat the pain and watch him slowly paralyzed in his back legs and become incontinent, or do surgery to remove the offending disk and debris, with an 80-95% chance of recovery of normal function and elimination of pain. Surgery was the obvious route, however extremely costly and far beyond my means. I had bought Benny an insurance plan in September, September 22nd to be exact, but it had a 30 day waiting period during which time anything that happened would be considered a pre-existing condition so would not be eligible for any coverage (at all- nada!). So, if this had happened three days later, it would have been covered, but it did not- so here we are asking for help. Talk about bad luck!
The bills and after care are estimated to run up to $6500 or $7000 in the end with post-op and PT. But there is no question that Benny is worth every penny especially in light of the long, pain free years he will have ahead of him making everyone smile.
I decided to go with the surgery and hope for the best as I am nowhere near ready to say goodbye and what was ailing him is so very fixable. Every little bit helps and Benny, being his sweet, gracious self, is extremely grateful for any help at all to get to the other side of this and get in the last little bit of squirrel hunting season and help lick the kitchen floor clean during Thanksgiving ;)
Organizer
Elizabeth Mae Olson
Organizer
Somerville, MA
