Surgery for Banjo
Donation protected
Banjo is nearly four years old, and ever since he was a little pup he has bought joy to us and anybody who he gets the chance to meet. He is far too handsome and cheeky for his own good, but can get away with anything with his big smile and love of cuddles.
Unfortunately, when Banjo was only 1 he ran too hard at a Frisbee toss one day, turned too quickly and tore his ACL. He had to have major surgery to get this repaired, which was so hard to watch in such a little boy. Luckily in the years following he showed improvement in movement, and even though he has given up walks as a stubborn boy (that just wants to people watch and try to chase cars) He still has a great love of Dog Parks, not for the dogs but as an opportunity to meet more people! After this it was difficult to get Banjo insured, as with 1 ACL damaged it is almost guaranteed the other will go eventually.
Earlier this year, Stefan and Cat noticed that he was limping on his front left paw, and noticed he had cut it somehow. This resulted in a vet visit, a bandaged and grumpy Banjo and stitches for a couple of weeks. After this had healed, Stefan and Cat noticed recently that his paw was flopping in a strange way, and that it seemed like he was dragging it when he walked. Also very strangely he was whimpering and whining when he was just laying about, usually Banjo likes to use very loud barking to let them know how he is feeling.
After a trip to their normal vet for an X-ray, the nervous boy had to be taken to a specialist. On both of these occasions poor Banjo had to be sedated as he is very anxious about the vet after his past experiences. On the 1st trip to the specialist they confirmed after another x-ray, that he had severe instability in his left joint and ligaments causing collapse.
They thought it was due to an extreme trauma, and were going to arrange a pancarpal athrodesis surgery (fusing the bones of the joint back together). After getting home, the specialist called again. As we had said he had no major accident that could have caused the damage they looked at the x-rays again. They had realised his images indicated lytic changes in the bones, and after we went back the next day for another sedation and joint taps, abdominal scans, blood & urine tests, they confirmed this week that he has an auto immune disease, Immune-mediated polyarthritis.
We are meeting with a medical team next week 24/07 to learn what medication Banjo will need to take moving forward so that we can get on top of his pain and manage the auto-immune disease. When that is under control, they will be moving forward with the Surgery in the next few weeks, and a special ordered in splint that is Banjo proof (even with a cone he manages to remove everything).
We are reaching out with this Go Fund Me to see if we can get any support from our community to help pay for the unexpected costs of Banjo's surgery which could be between $6K-$8K. We have already had bills totalling 4K in the past fortnight for the costs of his vet visits, sedation, testing that have already been paid. We will understand next week the ongoing cost of his medication, as we would do anything to keep him healthy and alive and loved as long as possible.
For those of you who know Stefan & Cat and have seen them with Banjo, you know he is their baby. The thought of how much pain he has been going through silently with this disease is excruciating and I (Cat) wish it had been seen sooner.
Any money donated will be used squarely for the surgery and ongoing medication to keep Banjo feeling stable and healthy. We will share daily photos throughout his process to share the story with you so you can see how he is and what the improvement is like (currently he is not aloud to move essentially, which is very tricky). We just want him to have the fullest, longest, best life a puppy could dream of.
Above, At Christmas 2019, our family with Santa and his elves.
Above, in happier times, at the park giving us his signature grin!
Unfortunately, when Banjo was only 1 he ran too hard at a Frisbee toss one day, turned too quickly and tore his ACL. He had to have major surgery to get this repaired, which was so hard to watch in such a little boy. Luckily in the years following he showed improvement in movement, and even though he has given up walks as a stubborn boy (that just wants to people watch and try to chase cars) He still has a great love of Dog Parks, not for the dogs but as an opportunity to meet more people! After this it was difficult to get Banjo insured, as with 1 ACL damaged it is almost guaranteed the other will go eventually.
Earlier this year, Stefan and Cat noticed that he was limping on his front left paw, and noticed he had cut it somehow. This resulted in a vet visit, a bandaged and grumpy Banjo and stitches for a couple of weeks. After this had healed, Stefan and Cat noticed recently that his paw was flopping in a strange way, and that it seemed like he was dragging it when he walked. Also very strangely he was whimpering and whining when he was just laying about, usually Banjo likes to use very loud barking to let them know how he is feeling.
After a trip to their normal vet for an X-ray, the nervous boy had to be taken to a specialist. On both of these occasions poor Banjo had to be sedated as he is very anxious about the vet after his past experiences. On the 1st trip to the specialist they confirmed after another x-ray, that he had severe instability in his left joint and ligaments causing collapse.
They thought it was due to an extreme trauma, and were going to arrange a pancarpal athrodesis surgery (fusing the bones of the joint back together). After getting home, the specialist called again. As we had said he had no major accident that could have caused the damage they looked at the x-rays again. They had realised his images indicated lytic changes in the bones, and after we went back the next day for another sedation and joint taps, abdominal scans, blood & urine tests, they confirmed this week that he has an auto immune disease, Immune-mediated polyarthritis.
We are meeting with a medical team next week 24/07 to learn what medication Banjo will need to take moving forward so that we can get on top of his pain and manage the auto-immune disease. When that is under control, they will be moving forward with the Surgery in the next few weeks, and a special ordered in splint that is Banjo proof (even with a cone he manages to remove everything).
We are reaching out with this Go Fund Me to see if we can get any support from our community to help pay for the unexpected costs of Banjo's surgery which could be between $6K-$8K. We have already had bills totalling 4K in the past fortnight for the costs of his vet visits, sedation, testing that have already been paid. We will understand next week the ongoing cost of his medication, as we would do anything to keep him healthy and alive and loved as long as possible.
For those of you who know Stefan & Cat and have seen them with Banjo, you know he is their baby. The thought of how much pain he has been going through silently with this disease is excruciating and I (Cat) wish it had been seen sooner.
Any money donated will be used squarely for the surgery and ongoing medication to keep Banjo feeling stable and healthy. We will share daily photos throughout his process to share the story with you so you can see how he is and what the improvement is like (currently he is not aloud to move essentially, which is very tricky). We just want him to have the fullest, longest, best life a puppy could dream of.
Above, At Christmas 2019, our family with Santa and his elves. Above, in happier times, at the park giving us his signature grin!
Co-organizers (2)
Catherine Boorer
Organizer
Stefan Gogoll
Beneficiary
Elizabeth Boorer
Co-organizer