Help Turbo Beat Cancer ❤️

Life before Cancer

 

Meet Turbo. A 7 year old rescued greyhound living for the beach and chicken nuggets. Turbo was made to race for 5 years before being rescued. When he came to me, he was a timid boy, scared of floor boards, glass doors and love. Over the past year and a half he has learnt to trust and learnt to live, showing me a new quirky side of his personality every day. He even learnt his name and would come when called which is impressive for a greyhound (notorious for having poor recall). Our personalities just complete each other. We were even about to sell our house and begin a new adventure together in a single level home because Turbo is still terrified of indoor stairs.

 

Diagnosis

 

In May this year, I noticed Turbo wasn’t bearing all his weight on his hind left leg. He wasn’t taking treats from me on walks and wasn’t coming when called. Our local vet thought it was a ruptured ACL but the greyhound community told me this was very rare so I went for a second opinion at the Port Philip Animal Hospital. That’s where we heard the dreaded words. Osteosarcoma, bone cancer. A disease that eats away at the bone until it eventually shatters. It acts very quickly and although I couldn’t see much change in my boy, we were told we would have no more than 4 weeks together until this terrible disease took him prematurely. As you can imagine I was heart broken. He deserves more swims at the beach, more adventures, more love after a life of racing. We spent a few days together just crying and hugging each other trying to work out what to do.

 

Treatment

 

There is no cure for osteosarcoma, only treatment to prolong life. This treatment involves amputating the effected limb and then completing a course of chemo. This combination gives the best outcome and will hopefully extend his life beyond another 12 months. Greyhounds bounce back well from amputation I am told and chemo practically doesn’t effect them. It is difficult not knowing how long this procedure will give him but there are so many success stories out there and even directly from the Port Philip Animal Hospital that I wouldn’t be at peace without trying another day. The estimated cost at this stage is $7,000, and there is no price I can put on his life. Being a single income dog mum, this is more than I have available and would take years of debt to pay off. This is why I am reaching out in the community to hopefully give Turbo the best treatment and aftercare possible. I will be posting updates on here and also on his Instagram @thegoodestboi_turbs for those who wish to go on this journey with us ❤️