A Surgery for Saguaro
Donation protected
I rescued Saguaro (Sue-wa-row) when he was 3 months old from a shelter in Tulsa, OK 2012. I had his name picked out before I met him, named from the Saguaro cactus that grows beautifully in the deserts of Arizona. I think it suits him nicely, but as most cannot pronounce it easily, he has so many other nicknames he will respond to almost anything, including Puppers, Bubbers, Sbarro (like the pizza), Wonder bread, Idaho spud, Wizard, and on and on.
I got Saguaro because I wanted a partner in crime to complete my active lifestyle. Besides trail running, and riding alongside my bike, Saguaro has backpacked hundreds of miles with me. He goes with me when I camp, hike, and visit lots of summer swimming holes. In the past year he has taken up floating local rivers in a canoe with me. When we are home, he adores sticks, tennis balls, and squirrels. Oh, and his daily puppy paw massages! We love being outside together, and despite our adventurous lifestyle he has never had emergency injuries, or been anything other than healthy for his whole life.
Now Saguaro is 8 years old (where did the time go?!), and I knew that our luck in avoiding medical vet stuff would eventually run out.. While 8 for a dog is by no means 'old', I have been watching him age. He sleeps way longer than he used to. He is getting pickier about his kibble sizes, he is a little stiff in the mornings and after long bouts of exercise. It is hard to watch someone you love enter new phases of their life, knowing what hard things are looming in the coming years.
The Sunday before Halloween, Saguaro went on a 12 mile trail run with me. He was a champ! A machine! Matching his prancing gait and pace always makes me a more efficient runner. The last two miles of uphill were torture to me and I was slow. Saguaro was always there, waiting for me, scouting the trail ahead, and coming back to me for support. Once we got to the end, both of us were exhausted. Saguaro slept the entire car ride back home. He took it easy and rested the entire next day too.
Then came Tuesday. We were playing in the yard, and his energy levels were back to normal. He loves running in the leaves, and was starting to get the 'zoomies'. Saguaro has always been fast, but he also loves to cut sharp angles and change direction on a dime. I was clapping my hands and cheering him on when immediately he stopped dead, picked up his left hind leg and started screaming in pain. I sprinted to him. Had he stepped in a hole and twisted something? Did he have a prick in his foot? No- he was always a bit of a drama baby about pain, but never like this. He cried in pain for a solid 5 minutes while I carefully palpitated his leg, slowly flexing and stretching to find the trigger spot. I couldn't find one, but I did feel slight popping. He let me carry him (unusual) to his bed, and I cancelled all plans for the rest of the day to monitor him. Vet time.
$300 for anesthesia and x-rays, which revealed that Saguaro had ruptured his Cranial Cruciate Ligament in his knee. This ligament is the dog equivelent of tearing an ACL. The vet told me this was a fairly common injury, but due to his size, age, and activity level, surgery was the only option to get him back on his feet. In my research, NOT getting surgery would be the worst action. "Over time, the joint will continue to degenerate, resulting in pain, chronic arthritis and lameness."
There are several surgeries to fix this injury.
1) The oldest and least expensive at ~$1500 is the Extracapsular Repair Surgery. This simply attaches the ligament back together, and unfortunately has a high chance of tearing again, a long recovery time, and opens the knee up to early arthritis. Saguaro has many years left of adventures, and I know that this surgery would not be the best one for him. The vet has repeated the same.
2) Newer surgeries have become options: TTA and TPLO. Both are much more expensive, beginning at ~$3000. The TPLO or Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy, uses repositioning, bone grafts, plates and screws all to repair the joint. TPLO has shown to be the most successful for large dogs, gives the knee the most mobility, shorter recovery times, and reduces the chance of osteoarthritis after surgery.
I have called several vets in Central AR, NW AR, and Tulsa, OK, getting estimates for TPLO surgery. They have all parroted the same figures. $3000 starting out, the highest I heard was $4200. I have chosen a vet hospital two hours away. They can see him the earliest- the 23rd of Nov. 2020, and their best est. at the cost was $3500.
I am a single young women, and after cancelled life plans due to COVID, I am currently self employed, working as a caretaker/ house sitter. We do okay for current circumstances but my savings cannot take such a big hit in one swing. Hundreds of dollars in vet bills and pain meds I can support. But $3000 - $4000? The vet told me it wasn't an emergency to get the surgery, but the sooner it happened, the better for Saguaro. It has been a full two weeks since the injury occurred. Two weeks of him bouncing on three legs, and taking daily pain medication. I need to get him taken care of as soon as possible, way before Thanksgiving.
l am not a person who asks for handouts, and I honestly have a lot of guilt associated with putting up a GoFundMe. But Saguaro is my child, my best friend, my partner. I have to do what is best for him, including buying him the surgery he needs, and not the option that is most convenient. He is teaching me to suck up my pride and ask all of you for help. Allow me to continue giving my boy the healthiest life he can have. Help me keep Saguaro running, jumping, and swimming for years to come!
Whether you are able to give, or can only send good wishes...
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.
Jasmyn Barca and Saguaro
I got Saguaro because I wanted a partner in crime to complete my active lifestyle. Besides trail running, and riding alongside my bike, Saguaro has backpacked hundreds of miles with me. He goes with me when I camp, hike, and visit lots of summer swimming holes. In the past year he has taken up floating local rivers in a canoe with me. When we are home, he adores sticks, tennis balls, and squirrels. Oh, and his daily puppy paw massages! We love being outside together, and despite our adventurous lifestyle he has never had emergency injuries, or been anything other than healthy for his whole life.
Now Saguaro is 8 years old (where did the time go?!), and I knew that our luck in avoiding medical vet stuff would eventually run out.. While 8 for a dog is by no means 'old', I have been watching him age. He sleeps way longer than he used to. He is getting pickier about his kibble sizes, he is a little stiff in the mornings and after long bouts of exercise. It is hard to watch someone you love enter new phases of their life, knowing what hard things are looming in the coming years.
The Sunday before Halloween, Saguaro went on a 12 mile trail run with me. He was a champ! A machine! Matching his prancing gait and pace always makes me a more efficient runner. The last two miles of uphill were torture to me and I was slow. Saguaro was always there, waiting for me, scouting the trail ahead, and coming back to me for support. Once we got to the end, both of us were exhausted. Saguaro slept the entire car ride back home. He took it easy and rested the entire next day too.
Then came Tuesday. We were playing in the yard, and his energy levels were back to normal. He loves running in the leaves, and was starting to get the 'zoomies'. Saguaro has always been fast, but he also loves to cut sharp angles and change direction on a dime. I was clapping my hands and cheering him on when immediately he stopped dead, picked up his left hind leg and started screaming in pain. I sprinted to him. Had he stepped in a hole and twisted something? Did he have a prick in his foot? No- he was always a bit of a drama baby about pain, but never like this. He cried in pain for a solid 5 minutes while I carefully palpitated his leg, slowly flexing and stretching to find the trigger spot. I couldn't find one, but I did feel slight popping. He let me carry him (unusual) to his bed, and I cancelled all plans for the rest of the day to monitor him. Vet time.
$300 for anesthesia and x-rays, which revealed that Saguaro had ruptured his Cranial Cruciate Ligament in his knee. This ligament is the dog equivelent of tearing an ACL. The vet told me this was a fairly common injury, but due to his size, age, and activity level, surgery was the only option to get him back on his feet. In my research, NOT getting surgery would be the worst action. "Over time, the joint will continue to degenerate, resulting in pain, chronic arthritis and lameness."
There are several surgeries to fix this injury.
1) The oldest and least expensive at ~$1500 is the Extracapsular Repair Surgery. This simply attaches the ligament back together, and unfortunately has a high chance of tearing again, a long recovery time, and opens the knee up to early arthritis. Saguaro has many years left of adventures, and I know that this surgery would not be the best one for him. The vet has repeated the same.
2) Newer surgeries have become options: TTA and TPLO. Both are much more expensive, beginning at ~$3000. The TPLO or Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy, uses repositioning, bone grafts, plates and screws all to repair the joint. TPLO has shown to be the most successful for large dogs, gives the knee the most mobility, shorter recovery times, and reduces the chance of osteoarthritis after surgery.
I have called several vets in Central AR, NW AR, and Tulsa, OK, getting estimates for TPLO surgery. They have all parroted the same figures. $3000 starting out, the highest I heard was $4200. I have chosen a vet hospital two hours away. They can see him the earliest- the 23rd of Nov. 2020, and their best est. at the cost was $3500.
I am a single young women, and after cancelled life plans due to COVID, I am currently self employed, working as a caretaker/ house sitter. We do okay for current circumstances but my savings cannot take such a big hit in one swing. Hundreds of dollars in vet bills and pain meds I can support. But $3000 - $4000? The vet told me it wasn't an emergency to get the surgery, but the sooner it happened, the better for Saguaro. It has been a full two weeks since the injury occurred. Two weeks of him bouncing on three legs, and taking daily pain medication. I need to get him taken care of as soon as possible, way before Thanksgiving.
l am not a person who asks for handouts, and I honestly have a lot of guilt associated with putting up a GoFundMe. But Saguaro is my child, my best friend, my partner. I have to do what is best for him, including buying him the surgery he needs, and not the option that is most convenient. He is teaching me to suck up my pride and ask all of you for help. Allow me to continue giving my boy the healthiest life he can have. Help me keep Saguaro running, jumping, and swimming for years to come!
Whether you are able to give, or can only send good wishes...
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.
Jasmyn Barca and Saguaro
Organizer
Jasmyn Barca
Organizer
Russellville, AR