Vinny's Cancer Fight

Dear friends, family and fans of Vinny,

It breaks my heart and makes me feel sick to create this fundraiser, to put these words out into the world. I have not talked much about Vinny's health these last two months because it has been an overwhelmingly slow and arduous time full of test after test with no answers and no improvement. I have felt that if I talked about it that I would speak into existence, and if I just held my breath and stood completely still for long enough that something would change or a miracle would happen. But no such luck, Vinny has cancer. Please forgive this chaotic and unorganized post, it has been an excruciatingly long day and I'm at a loss. I've been have been able to keep up with the vet bills until today's appointment, and while I will spend every penny I have and more to try to make the end of his time here as comfortable and enjoyable as possible, I have decided I need to put whatever shred of ego I have left aside and open the door for help.

Vinny has been the best part of my life for almost 11 years. Just before Christmas in 2012, I saw a post on facebook for some puppies that needed homes. My dog Kai was hit by a car and died in front of our house that January which launched me into one of the darkest periods of my life. I saw Vinny on that facebook post, just over 4 weeks old, and I messaged the girl saying I would come get him. I had spent that year grieving Kai and had never thought about when I'd get another dog, it's corny but I just knew when I saw the picture of Vinny that it was time. I drove to the casino, picked him up, and then we drove to a second hand pet store and bought food bowls, a little collar, a leash, toys, food, everything he needed. I was living with my mom at the time and I didn't tell her I was getting another dog, I just showed up with this tiny puppy and she was PISSED...for about 2 minutes until she held him- she's been one of his biggest fans since. I immediately poured all the love I had in me into him. Over the past 11 years Vinny has been my best friend, adventure buddy, copilot over thousands and thousands of miles, roommate in 12 houses, the best big brother to Pippin, and more. He's been my biggest source of joy in day-to-day life and main source of comfort through multiple breakups, life hardships, and the deaths of my beloved grandma and too many of my closest friends, two of which have passed away in the last six months. To have him become suddenly ill and be slipping through my fingers right now, of all times, feels exceptionally cruel.

At the beginning of August we noticed Vinny straining to pee and took him to the vet that day. The vet ran a urine test and determined Vinny had "a rager of a UTI". Knowing this was rare for male dogs, I was slightly worried. After the first round of antibiotics was unsuccessful, the vet put him on another round of much stronger drugs. During this second round we moved back to Washington. I scheduled an appointment with a new vet up here and took him in to have his urine tested and a culture taken. The urine and culture said the infection was gone but Vinny was still having trouble urinating so we knew something was wrong. The vet prescribed him Rimadyl as an anti inflammatory and a pain medication to see if that would relieve his symptoms - it didn't. We went back in and the vet performed a cystocentesis with an ultrasound and discovered a large mass in his bladder, close to his urethral opening. His urine was then sent off for a BRAF test, which detects Transitional cell carcinoma (the most common cancer of the urinary tract in dogs) in 80% of cases - it came back negative. Vet #2 told me Vinny is "a difficult case" and explained the next step that he could take but warned me of the risks and recommended a referral to a specialty vet's internal medicine team. He had an appointment at the specialty vet today where they sedated him and performed x-rays on his chest to see if it had metastasized (thankfully it has not), ultrasounds on his abdomen, bladder and prostate, took blood for a panel, catheterized him for another urine sample to check for repeated infection and collected a sample of the tumor for a cytology test. Currently the vet and oncologist believe that it's Transitional cell carcinoma that the BRAF test did not detect.

I'm hoping for more answers before the weekend, but unfortunately this is not a battle that any vet we have seen has believed can be won. I can feel my heart breaking. I hope to have some more information by the weekend, but right now our treatment options moving forward are:

Get him back on Rimadyl: Prognosis 3-4 months

Rimadyl and Chemotherapy: Prognosis 6-10 months

Rimadyl, Chemotherapy and Radiation: Prognosis up to 18 months but much more difficult on Vinny and a small amount of cases have been approached this way, per today's vet

When they first suspected cancer I thought "no way would I put Vinny through chemotherapy", knowing how brutal of a treatment it is and thinking it would be cruel to put him through that at his age. However, the vet explained that chemo isn't done the same way with animals as it is with humans and that it's less invasive and has less negative side effects. She said the point of giving him chemo would be to lessen his current symptoms/distress and make him as comfortable and happy as possible for whatever time we have left. I still do not know if this is the route I would take, I hope with more information that I will soon be able to make the best decision on how to move forward for Vinny. I've been treating him with alternative medicines at home and am about to start him on another alternative regime, I will do anything I can. Unfortunately, removing the tumor is not possible. Right now our hope is to slow the growth as much as possible. With its location being so close to his urethral opening, if it continues to grow it will obstruct his ability to urinate and therefore end his life.

Based off when this all started, Vinny has already had cancer for several months and it kills me knowing we are on borrowed time. I always imagined him living a long life and then poof, just passing away one day. I never imagined him getting sick and having to go on this journey with him. But it has been the gift and the honor of a life-time to be his person and to be able to take care of him after so long of him taking care of me. I feel like the luckiest person in the world to have got to be his. I have truly never met a dog with so much personality and I have learned how it feels to love a being so much that it overwhelms you when you look at them.

The cost of Vinny's journey so far and ongoing care is substantial. With all the horrible things happening in the world right now and knowing that everyone is going through hell, I struggled to create this campaign, but I feel indebted to him to do whatever I can to give him the best possible chance at being comfortable for the maximum amount of time possible. He means everything to me.

I wish more than anything that I could say this campaign is to save Vinny's life or to help him beat cancer, but unfortunately we are not that lucky and that seems to be beyond the realm of possibility. This campaign is to help with his current and upcoming medical expenses. As I learn more from these latest tests, I will make a decision on Vinny's behalf of whether chemotherapy will be a part of his care and I will be sure to post any updates here.

How You Can Help:

Donate: Please take care of you and yours first. Any amount you can comfortably contribute will be deeply appreciated. Your donation will go directly towards Vinny's medical bills.

Share: Please consider sharing this campaign.

Words of Encouragement: Kindness, empathy and understanding are deeply needed right now. If you have been on a journey like this with your pet and feel inclined to share anything that helped you/your pet or brought you joy or comfort, please feel free. If Vinny has ever made you smile, please share a memory or something you love about him.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart,

Tuesday