Aid Ranger's Battle with Recurring Illness

Hi everyone! We feel a little odd doing this, but we’re also at a loss for what to do next. We adopted our sweet boy, Ranger, from the Denver Animal Shelter in February of 2025. Since then, he's had 3 recurrences of pneumonia, over 90 days of antibiotics, steroids, blood work, too many x-rays to count, and one huge surgery ($9,000). We have acquired over $14,000 in vet bills since February and it doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon. We appreciate any amount you're able to donate.

Here’s the long story and why we need your help:

Ranger was brought into the shelter with pneumonia. He was treated for a few weeks, then medically cleared for adoption. Martin saw him online and fell in love immediately. I was out of town and he FaceTimed me and asked me what to do. I told him that if leaving the shelter without this puppy would make him sad, he should get him. A few minutes later, I received a selfie of the two of them in the truck on the way home.

Within the first week we had Ranger, I noticed his cough. I pointed it out and Martin assured me that he was recovering from pneumonia and it was residual (he was told this by the shelter). By day 10, Martin was out of town and this puppy was SO sick. I couldn't wait any longer, so I called the vet we had set up an appointment with and asked if they could move it up to today. They said sure, bring him on in! We get there and the vet tells me that Ranger is very sick (which I knew) with pneumonia, and they wanted to keep him for the day to do IV antibiotics and fluids. I, reluctantly, left our new little baby for the day and returned that evening, leaving with two different antibiotics and a puppy nebulizer.

Ranger seemed to recover quickly with this treatment. The plan was to keep him on these antibiotics for at least 4 weeks before being seen again. Around 3 weeks in, I noticed him coughing again and sounding a little bit more phlegmy. I called the vet just to confirm that this was normal and they freaked out! They said to take him to the ER vet immediately. So, I'm sitting there thinking, "This doesn't FEEL like an emergency." I sit on it for a little while and I call them back to ask why it was an emergency and why I couldn't just bring him into them again. They were vague in their answers, but they cancelled all follow up appointments with them and basically asked me to never bring him back there. I was very confused. I reach out to an ER vet, run the situation by them, and ask if they think it's an emergency. They tell me, "no." They recommend I reach out to another vet just to get a second opinion.

I call a second vet and they're able to get him in that very same day. We take him in, they compliment him on how pretty he is and how healthy he looks and assure us that the cough is just his body recovering. The vet even used the example of humans with bronchitis. We'd have a lingering cough for a very long time and she said he will just have a cough for a while--maybe even forever. They schedule us for x-rays the following week to confirm the pneumonia is gone. We get the results back from those x-rays and the radiologist thinks there might be a little something on there still, so we continue with another week of antibiotics and then he's supposed to be all cured. We show up for the follow up after completion, I bring up my concern that I think the cough is getting worse and the vet dismisses my concerns. She tells me that she can put him on steroids, "if that would make [me] feel better." We left that vet with no more antibiotics, no clear scan, and some steroids.

Within the next 5 days, Ranger gets increasingly worse. I tell myself it's nothing because I have been told over and over again that I am overreacting at this point, so I try to just let it be. We limit the exercise, we rest, we eat, we do puppy things inside. Finally, one day, he's just gotten so bad so fast that I have to take him to the ER. He couldn't take one breath without choking and it brought me to tears to listen to.

We get to the ER, they take x-rays and confirm that he does have pneumonia again (WTF?!). At this point, with his history, they say that he needs a scope of his lungs. It doesn't make sense that this puppy, who should be young and healthy, keeps getting pneumonia. They assured us that once they knew WHAT was growing in there, they would know the right antibiotics to treat him with and our medical issues would be solved. For the price of almost $10,000, he got a few nights in the hospital and a big scary surgery. They fully sedated him, "flushed" his lungs with saline, then sucked it back out again and sent the samples off to grow.

The results came back as Mycoplasma. The vet mentioned the first line treatment for this would be doxycycline, but they try not to give that to puppies while they're growing, so we would continue on the same antibiotics he was already taking and see how his body responds. He had x-rays every 2 weeks until they were clear. Then he was to do 2 more weeks of antibiotics and then we'd be home free. His body did respond to the antibiotics he was given and he was able to clear his lungs of the pneumonia. Within the 2 weeks after the clear x-ray (while still on the same antibiotics), he somehow got pneumonia again (WTF?!).

The vet proposed another surgery, which would be the exact same one we already had done. Because, why is this new pneumonia antibiotic resistant? PLUS, they wanted to do a biopsy of his nasal passage to see if he has a congenital disease that is affecting his ability to clear his airway. This was going to cost another $10,000+

While we love this dog very much, we couldn't make it make sense to go into debt $25,000+ in the first 2 months of owning him. Since neither proposed procedure was a cure, and both were simply diagnostic, we declined them.

We had a follow up with the vet afterwards to check on the pneumonia and somehow Ranger has cleared this pneumonia too. What the heck is happening? So, she says, "I understand why you don't want to do the scope again. We can simply monitor him from now on. We will treat him symptomatically." She advised us to finish the 2 weeks of antibiotics since the clear x-ray and then just monitor him. If he shows signs of sickness again, then we call them and we treat. If he gets to be a young, healthy puppy now, great!

Those 2 last weeks of antibiotics end on Tuesday, May 27th. He has already begun to sound like he's producing more mucous and is coughing more. Martin and I both fear that as we stop these antibiotics again, he will simply get pneumonia immediately and we will be right back to square one. His whole life might end up being full of antibiotics and pneumonia. We have accepted that he will likely be a special needs dog, but we simply do not have the funds to continue to take care of him if he needs more hospitalizations.

We have reached out to charities, rescues, sanctuaries, and no one can help. Here is the piece of this story that makes it tricky. Since adopting him, we did a DNA test and he is 26% gray wolf. The animal shelter is not allowed to adopt out wolf dogs (we should've never been allowed to adopt him) and all sanctuaries are full. He would, without a doubt, be euthanized if we took him back. We want to hang onto this sweet guy as long as we can. During his healthy moments, he is one big happy guy!

Right now, this fundraiser is only for the money we have already spent on him. We love him very much, but we know there will be more expenses to come. Thank you, in advance, for your kindness.