Please help Artax beat osteosarcoma

My puppy (adult) dog sleeps with me on the bed and one day he jumped off and hurt his right leg. So I thought. He limped around for over a week, me thinking it will get better would give him anti inflammatory meds to help with his leg. As time went by he showed no signs of getting better, but he was actually getting worse. He would have trouble getting off his right side if he laid down and throughout the night would moan and groan. I finally had enough money to take him to the vet. Old Boy Artax, my son and I went to get some X-rays done on my dog. When the vet came back he drop the bomb on us. I thought he would come back saying oh it's only a sprain or hey there's a small fracture at worst. Nope. Artax has osteosarcoma. A bone tumor that if does not get treated soon, will spread throughout his body and he will die. I'm not one to ask for help as my parents, family and friends like to point out, but when I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place... what else am I suppose to do. Single father income that has no savings to dip in to and credit that's been used elsewhere... like food and gas. I don't want to loose my dog to this and people that know of this tumor say that dogs don't live long after diagnoses. Luckily the vet tells me that the tumor is currently isolate, but will eventually spread. But in the meantime Artax is and will be in pain up until his chances are spent or I raise enough to get his operation and treatment.

Here is the history of how I came to own my puppy. A good friend of mine, Amanda, called me up one day. Asked me if could do her a solid and watch this pittbull kind of dog while she found an actual home for him. She ASURED me that if I take him, she will will find him a home in a week or two. I said sure why not. I like pooches. So I went to go pick up the dog. I'm not going fib when I first seen him he looked like an 18 year old dog. He was so old and skinny you could see his ribs and spine and his face was droopy. I said nothing and took the leash from Amanda's friend. I walked in to the nail salon where she was to say my hellos. She told me that the dog was 2 1/2 years old. Since she worked at a veterinarians clinic how could she be wrong. But I'm telling you if you seen this dog you wouldn't believe he was anything under 15 years old. I immediately named him Old Boy because looked ancient and he was actually young. So It turns out he wasn't 18 years old. He was insanely emaciated. Starving so bad you could count his ribs and spine. He was around 40 lbs when I got him.

He's now a 72.5lb healthy happy doggy. When I took him home I gave him a bowl full of food and another with water. I set them out on the back deck and he started mowing down his food. I walked back in the house to sit on the couch and when I turned around Artax was already at my feet. He dropped and bellied up to me. I guess that was his way of saying thanks homie. Later that day I went to the pet store and got shampoos and toys for him. Gave him a bath when I came home only to find out that he had bite marks all over his body. Could think nothing less than him being a bait dog. He was obviously mistreated, starved, bitten and beaten. I honestly don't know for how long either, but if I got him at 2 1/2... then it hurts to think that maybe this has been his way of life his whole life.

Week 1 goes by. I'm keeping Old Boy in a safe healthy routine of walks, food and play time. No word from Amanda. Week 2 and Old Boy is starting to put a little bit of meat on his body. Still walking him, feeding him and playing with him. You know... prepping him for his new owner that AMANDA said she would provide. Week 3... *Bruce calls Amanda says he's NOW on to her and says he'll keep the dog. And in all honesty I couldn't thank her enough. I love this dog. He's a gentle giant cuddle bug extrodinare with a heart as big as any I have ever seen in a dog. He's been by my side for the last 3 years and I can't imagine life without him. After a year of fattening him up I took a step back and looked at him. He almost the same markings as the horse in The Never Ending Story... Artax. The horse that broke my heart as a little kid. But it all worked for him. Old Boy Artax.