Rough news in a rough time: my sweet and goofy dog, Avalon, needs surgery on her front left leg. She had a growth plate fracture on her wrist, and now her leg is crooked and needs corrective surgery. She’s not currently suffering any major discomfort that I can tell (and we’re together ALL the time), but her paw is growing out to the left, making her leg look kind of like a “J” that you’re looking at from behind.


The initial injury never slowed Avalon down, and she was not in major pain, but my concerns grew with time. I initially contacted a veterinary office in my area, after she developed a minor limp, but that same veterinary office told me not to worry about it too much, and to just observe her leg, reassuring me it was likelier to heal on its own. Something didn't sit right, and I took her to the ER, where they told me she had an abnormality on her growth plate, but that it would either heal on its own, or need treatment, but I needed to wait a few weeks and take her to get a second round of X-Rays. I took Avalon to a veterinary surgeon near my house to get her follow up appointment, and it was confirmed it was never going to heal on its own, and she needed corrective surgery from a specialist.  I promptly made an appointment with an animal orthopedic surgeon, and a plan has been set to correct Avalon’s leg before the wonky healing of the tiny fracture does any other musculoskeletal damage. It's an absolutely necessary surgery. 




 
Last summer, with a pal’s encouragement, and while I was working for the 2020 Census, I did get health insurance for Avalon. It is expensive, and a financial burden because I’ve been unemployed since October, but at the same time it has helped with some pricey vet bills. The problem is that insurance doesn’t cover everything, and I don’t have the means to cover the thousands of dollars this surgery is going to cost. I don’t think many of us would, but before critiquing that system, I need to take care of my Avalon.


Insurance can potentially reimburse me for $2,800, which I am trying to borrow so I can pay it up front and get the procedure scheduled. No matter what I will eat that cost.

 

But on top of this, the estimate for everything (pre-surgery X-ray and surgery, and not accounting for post-surgery care) is $5,700 – $8,100.

 

Here is the cost breakdown:

 

PRE-SURGERY X-RAY: appointment set for March 10th. $500 deposit, and potentially $600 more if she needs sedation or there are complications

 

SURGERY: date will be set after x-ray. $5,200 deposit, and the vet estimates $1,800 on top of that.

 

DEBT ACCRUED: I owe my roommate $263 for the initial surgery referral appointment


ALSO: there will likely be post-op costs. I have no way to know what those are, so they’re not included here. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.

 

$500 + $600 + $5,200 + $1,800 + $263 = $8,363 (total without insurance reimbursement)

$8,363 – $2,800 = $5,563 (total with potential insurance reimbursement)

$5,563 +  $237 (to cover GoFundMe fees) = $5,800


My god, that is so much money :'(

 
Please help. I adore my dog, and want her to have the best life possible, and I don’t have $8,363 (or even $5,563) right now to fix her little leg. She’s still a puppy. Literally anything will help. Even if you think I’m dumb and only follow me on social media to make fun of me, please help my baby angel dog.

 

THANK YOU. THANK YOU.