Abbey, Garfield, Romeo need help
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Since first beginning this campaign, we have lost our beloved Abbey. What we thought was an autoimmune disease turned out to be cancer that had spread to her bones. Garfield had complications following his back surgery which required extra time in the hospital and now physical therapy to get his back right leg working. This has raised the cost of the surgery to $6400 and therapy is now at $500.
To add to this our 1 year old cat, Romeo had a dermoid cyst removed in May that has now grown back. The complicated part is that it is on his side behind his right leg and involves a nerve that disappears between ribs. In May the vet cut the nerve and tied it off. It was too risky for her to open up the rib cage to remove it. Now it is back and he will be off to a specialist next week for possibly ultrasound and/or endoscopy to find what it is attached to inside his chest cavity. Very scary and most likely very expensive. We have maxed out 2 credit cards in order to pay for the dogs vet expenses. Please help us save Romeo and continue to heal Garfield.
We are the owners of 2 dogs that are part of our family. They both have met with serious health issues in the past 2 months. Abbey has at least one autoimmune disease and Garfield had to have surgery for a ruptured disk in his back. It is hard to believe I know. We can't believe it is happening either.
First, I would like you to meet Abbey our 7 year old Black Lab. Abbey is a sweet, gentle, loyal family member. We adopted Abbey at 9 weeks old, Our daughter helped pay for her.
At 2 years old Abbey had ACL knee operations on both rear legs. Now we have a much more serious issue going on. In May, we took her to the vet for limping on her front legs. We were informed by the vet that she was severly anemic and had muscle atrophy in her head. Since then we have tested for tick disease, autoimmune disease, had xrays of abdomen, ultrasound of abdomen, muscle biopsies, repeated weekly blood work and much more that I am probably forgetting. She has continued muscle atrophy in all limps, walks with a painful stilted gaite, and tires easily. The only answers we have is a possible autoimmune disease called Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia. This causes her immune system to attack and kill red blood cells. For a while the meds she is on was improving her red blood cell count. Last week we found out her anemia is worse and now the bone marrow is not regenerating red blood cells. The specialist has stated in Abbey's report "Abbey is proving to be a challenging case."
We are not giving up hope yet. The specialist had her get a shot of iron and we started her on medication to help the internal system heal from possible irritation due to the steroids she is on. Now we wait some more to see if that helps. Currently, Abbey takes 10 different medications twice a day. We have weekly blood work to monitor the anemia and other organ function. The cost of all this just keeps adding up. So far we are $4000 into this illness.
Now meet Garfield, our trusty, loyal, loveable (if you know him) Daschund. Garfield has been a member of our family since he was 8 weeks old, He is now 11. Our son helped pay for him when he was 8 years old. On Tuesday this week as Garfield came through our sliding door behind me he let out a yelp and started walking hunched up. I had to go back to work. When I arrived home Garfield had a hard time using his back legs and would walk a short distance and end up sideways. By that night he couldn't use his rear legs at all. Our vet diagnosed with xrays a ruptured disk in his back. Today, we say a neurosurgeon who confirmed this and felt he had a good chance of full recovery with surgery. So, we went for the surgery. Now, we wait to see how he recovers. Garfields surgery is $5790.
The decision to have the surgery was very difficult to make mostly because of the financial strain Abbey's illness has placed on us and now Garfield's injury. We love our pets and believe in them having the opportunity to live long healthy lifes.
I know our situation seems strange and horrible to have not one but two family dogs face serious issues in a short time. Our vet can't believe it either, but it is happening and we are heartbroken and stressed about them feeling bad. Anything you can give is greatly appreciated and is a blessing to us and our pets.
To add to this our 1 year old cat, Romeo had a dermoid cyst removed in May that has now grown back. The complicated part is that it is on his side behind his right leg and involves a nerve that disappears between ribs. In May the vet cut the nerve and tied it off. It was too risky for her to open up the rib cage to remove it. Now it is back and he will be off to a specialist next week for possibly ultrasound and/or endoscopy to find what it is attached to inside his chest cavity. Very scary and most likely very expensive. We have maxed out 2 credit cards in order to pay for the dogs vet expenses. Please help us save Romeo and continue to heal Garfield.
We are the owners of 2 dogs that are part of our family. They both have met with serious health issues in the past 2 months. Abbey has at least one autoimmune disease and Garfield had to have surgery for a ruptured disk in his back. It is hard to believe I know. We can't believe it is happening either.
First, I would like you to meet Abbey our 7 year old Black Lab. Abbey is a sweet, gentle, loyal family member. We adopted Abbey at 9 weeks old, Our daughter helped pay for her.
At 2 years old Abbey had ACL knee operations on both rear legs. Now we have a much more serious issue going on. In May, we took her to the vet for limping on her front legs. We were informed by the vet that she was severly anemic and had muscle atrophy in her head. Since then we have tested for tick disease, autoimmune disease, had xrays of abdomen, ultrasound of abdomen, muscle biopsies, repeated weekly blood work and much more that I am probably forgetting. She has continued muscle atrophy in all limps, walks with a painful stilted gaite, and tires easily. The only answers we have is a possible autoimmune disease called Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia. This causes her immune system to attack and kill red blood cells. For a while the meds she is on was improving her red blood cell count. Last week we found out her anemia is worse and now the bone marrow is not regenerating red blood cells. The specialist has stated in Abbey's report "Abbey is proving to be a challenging case."
We are not giving up hope yet. The specialist had her get a shot of iron and we started her on medication to help the internal system heal from possible irritation due to the steroids she is on. Now we wait some more to see if that helps. Currently, Abbey takes 10 different medications twice a day. We have weekly blood work to monitor the anemia and other organ function. The cost of all this just keeps adding up. So far we are $4000 into this illness.
Now meet Garfield, our trusty, loyal, loveable (if you know him) Daschund. Garfield has been a member of our family since he was 8 weeks old, He is now 11. Our son helped pay for him when he was 8 years old. On Tuesday this week as Garfield came through our sliding door behind me he let out a yelp and started walking hunched up. I had to go back to work. When I arrived home Garfield had a hard time using his back legs and would walk a short distance and end up sideways. By that night he couldn't use his rear legs at all. Our vet diagnosed with xrays a ruptured disk in his back. Today, we say a neurosurgeon who confirmed this and felt he had a good chance of full recovery with surgery. So, we went for the surgery. Now, we wait to see how he recovers. Garfields surgery is $5790.
The decision to have the surgery was very difficult to make mostly because of the financial strain Abbey's illness has placed on us and now Garfield's injury. We love our pets and believe in them having the opportunity to live long healthy lifes.
I know our situation seems strange and horrible to have not one but two family dogs face serious issues in a short time. Our vet can't believe it either, but it is happening and we are heartbroken and stressed about them feeling bad. Anything you can give is greatly appreciated and is a blessing to us and our pets.
Organiser
Amber Malamphy
Organiser
Packwood, WA