Care for Patrick

A few weeks ago, my boyfriend and I adopted Patrick, a 2 year old dachshund who was born completely blind. He's the sweetest pup I've ever met and I love him dearly. Before we got him, Patrick was abandoned in a park. And due to certain behavioral quirks, we think he was also abused. The fact that someone could hurt him and abandon him (especially after knowing he cannot see!) breaks my heart. All this pup ever wants is to be loved and held—to feel safe. Luckily, despite his rough start, he's made himself completely at home and has quickly taken to being our little buddy. I spend all day every day with him and he goes almost everywhere with me. In the few weeks I've had him, he's made my life so much happier. This leads me to why I've created a Go Fund Me. 

When I woke up this morning and took Patrick out to go to the bathroom, I noticed he was walking funny. He kept tripping over himself and falling, which I've never seen him do. At first I thought he was just being clumsy. But by the afternoon, his back legs couldn't support him for more than a few seconds at a time. When I touched his legs and his feet to see if he'd stepped on something or was otherwise hurt, it seemed like he couldn't even feel me touching him. Turns out he has a herniated disk compressing his spinal cord, which is impacting the nerves in the lower half of his body. I have to take him to a neurologist tomorrow for additional tests and most likely surgery. The vet is optimistic and said if we act fast, we can likely prevent paralysis. (I'm honestly not too worried about that though. I just want him alive and not in pain.) But he also told me to expect everything to cost about $8,000-$10,000. I'm so overwhelmed. This poor little guy has been through so much already and he's only 2 years old. I love him dearly and want to give him the life and the care he deserves. And while I absolutely want to do whatever tests and procedures he needs, I cannot afford the estimate I was given.

The money will cover the following:
- his medicine (pain meds and an anti-inflammatory)
- a CT scan
- an MRI
- lab work
- additional neurological tests
- possibly surgery 


I will update this post with information as I receive it. If you can help at all, I would greatly appreciate it. If you can't, I totally understand. Thank you so much for reading this and for keeping Patrick in your thoughts.