Simba's leg surgery.
Donation protected
http://www.warwickdailynews.com.au/news/beloved-warwick-pet-bashed-in-sick-attack/3060627/
On Saturday night I returned home from a busy shift at work and was not greeted at the front fence as I normally am by our 4yr old German Shepard Simba. As this is so out of the ordinary I already knew something was wrong.
I went into the house and went straight to the back door. Our second German Shepard Samantha greeted me, but I could not see Simba. Then out of the darkness I saw Simba dragging himself towards the house with his right back leg swollen and flopping around. He also had blood dripping from his mouth.
Without thinking I carried him to the car, called the vet and raced straight down to their building.
Both of us covered in blood I helped Simba into the building where our vet confirmed a badly broken leg and a small laceration to his chin. The vet kindly administered some pain killers to help Simba through until the next day.
I returned home and began to look around to see if there were any clues as to what may have happened. Much to my horror it was evident that some person had thrown or struck Simba with a large piece of hardwood I use to prevent the front gate from being easily opened.
After a number of visits to the vet we were informed after an x-ray on Monday that due to the type and location of the break that the operation normally used to repair the bone would not work. We were essentially left with the option to amputate the leg locally, or be referred to an orthopedic surgeon for a much more expensive operation. Estimations of cost for the orthopedic surgeon alone were estimated at $4,500-$5,500. An amount of money most people, like us, don't have sitting around.
For 24 hours we wrestled with the decision. Eventually on Tuesday morning we decided we could not amputate Simba's leg, we would rather eat two minute noodles with our four legged best friend.
We then discovered an amazing place, UQ Small Animal Hospital Gatton.
https://small-animal.hospital.uq.edu.au/
We thanked our local vet, paid our $750 bill, put Simba in the car and drove the 100km's to Gatton.
We were taken away by the small animal hospital, the people were friendly, professional and the facilities look better then a regular hospital.
Much to our relief, Simba's injury was determined to be fixable using multiple special locking screw plate. The surgery to cost $4,000 without complications.
We eagerly await hearing from the surgeon tomorrow and are happy with our decision. Since the above linked newspaper article hit the net, and random posts we made on Facebook, friends and family have been very quick to express their blessings and offer assistance. We thank you all for this!
A number of people suggested we create a gofundme page or similar however we decided from the onset not to do this. We have never been ones for charity and do not feel deserving of any special privilege. However some of our friends and family have become very vocal in wanting to help and have demanded a gofundme page and even threatened to create one for us.
As such I have created this campaign. I urge you all NOT to pledge. Though we cannot afford these bills straight up, we do have credit cards etc. which have been used to cover these expenses so far. It was we who chose the expensive option of surgery and we are happy to cover the cost of this decision.
For those who I cannot dissuade from donating, we cannot thank you enough for helping us through what has been an extremely traumatic time.
Updates to follow.
On Saturday night I returned home from a busy shift at work and was not greeted at the front fence as I normally am by our 4yr old German Shepard Simba. As this is so out of the ordinary I already knew something was wrong.
I went into the house and went straight to the back door. Our second German Shepard Samantha greeted me, but I could not see Simba. Then out of the darkness I saw Simba dragging himself towards the house with his right back leg swollen and flopping around. He also had blood dripping from his mouth.
Without thinking I carried him to the car, called the vet and raced straight down to their building.
Both of us covered in blood I helped Simba into the building where our vet confirmed a badly broken leg and a small laceration to his chin. The vet kindly administered some pain killers to help Simba through until the next day.
I returned home and began to look around to see if there were any clues as to what may have happened. Much to my horror it was evident that some person had thrown or struck Simba with a large piece of hardwood I use to prevent the front gate from being easily opened.
After a number of visits to the vet we were informed after an x-ray on Monday that due to the type and location of the break that the operation normally used to repair the bone would not work. We were essentially left with the option to amputate the leg locally, or be referred to an orthopedic surgeon for a much more expensive operation. Estimations of cost for the orthopedic surgeon alone were estimated at $4,500-$5,500. An amount of money most people, like us, don't have sitting around.
For 24 hours we wrestled with the decision. Eventually on Tuesday morning we decided we could not amputate Simba's leg, we would rather eat two minute noodles with our four legged best friend.
We then discovered an amazing place, UQ Small Animal Hospital Gatton.
https://small-animal.hospital.uq.edu.au/
We thanked our local vet, paid our $750 bill, put Simba in the car and drove the 100km's to Gatton.
We were taken away by the small animal hospital, the people were friendly, professional and the facilities look better then a regular hospital.
Much to our relief, Simba's injury was determined to be fixable using multiple special locking screw plate. The surgery to cost $4,000 without complications.
We eagerly await hearing from the surgeon tomorrow and are happy with our decision. Since the above linked newspaper article hit the net, and random posts we made on Facebook, friends and family have been very quick to express their blessings and offer assistance. We thank you all for this!
A number of people suggested we create a gofundme page or similar however we decided from the onset not to do this. We have never been ones for charity and do not feel deserving of any special privilege. However some of our friends and family have become very vocal in wanting to help and have demanded a gofundme page and even threatened to create one for us.
As such I have created this campaign. I urge you all NOT to pledge. Though we cannot afford these bills straight up, we do have credit cards etc. which have been used to cover these expenses so far. It was we who chose the expensive option of surgery and we are happy to cover the cost of this decision.
For those who I cannot dissuade from donating, we cannot thank you enough for helping us through what has been an extremely traumatic time.
Updates to follow.
Organizer
Yeldarb Nayr
Organizer
Freestone QLD
