Bandit Emergency Health Cost Fundraiser

On Saturday March 26th, our corgi Bandit was experiencing abdominal pain and acting very lethargic and unlike himself. As it was the weekend, we took him to the Emergency Vet immediately.

An initial examination by X-ray showed free fluid in his abdomen. A sample of this fluid was taken and turned out to be blood. The vet performed an initial ultrasound around his spleen that didn't find any masses. A second, more thorough ultrasound was performed. This ultrasound found a mass on Bandit's liver that is likely the source of this bleeding.

We will need to perform more thorough and advanced imaging at a specialist to get a proper diagnosis. We are being told that the mass is possibly a hemangiosarcoma, which is a potentially aggressive tumor that would need to be removed to stop the bleeding.

We have both been completely blindsided and devastated by this. Bandit has always been an incredibly healthy dog. On his hospital paperwork, everything turned up completely normal and healthy, except for this - it's not as though he's been going downhill. In fact, just one hour before he started acting strange, he was bouncing around, absolutely full of energy! He had a routine checkup back in December and we were told that he was in perfect health for his age. We were looking forward to celebrating his ninth birthday on April 8. This has come out of nowhere.

Anyone who knows us knows how special Bandit is to us. He is as loved as a dog can be, and not a single day goes by when we don't shower him with love and tell each other how lucky we are to have him. We're a tight little trio - he is absolutely family. He charms people wherever he goes. But more importantly than that, he has been our anchor in difficult times. He brings us so much joy every day, and it is no exaggeration to say that we would not be where we are today without him.

It feels awful to be talking about money when our main concern is of course Bandit's health, but unfortunately, the costs are already adding up. In addition to his initial $1600 emergency vet visit, we are being told that a CT scan would cost somewhere in the realm of $1500. A surgery will incur costs on top of that are estimated to be somewhere from $4000-$7000. We have a lot of uncertainty and hard decisions ahead of us, but unfortunately, the one constant is that whatever we do will cost a lot of money.

We've set this fundraiser at $4000, though of course that is on the low end and that number may go up. Every single penny raised from this fundraiser will go towards Bandit's care, whatever that ends up looking like. While getting the whole cost covered would be great, every little bit helps immensely, and every dollar donated would be a huge weight off our shoulders and help us to concentrate on loving our boy instead of worrying about money.

We don't have words to express our gratitude. Thank you for helping us give back some of the love that Bandit has given to us.