Banjos Vet Fees and Treatment

Hi, my name is Mallory. I adopted my dog Banjo last July (2022) and he has recently developed some pretty serious medical issues. A little over a week ago (May 21st) he started having issues with weakness in his back legs and was originally treated at his primary vet for a back injury. He then started to develop a wet cough and regurgitation. When I went back to his primary vet they ruled out any broken bones or torn ligaments and decided that it was most likely neurological. I set up an appointment with the only neurologist in KY for June 27th. But last night (June 1st) his cough was getting worse and I ended up taking him to Metro (MVSE) around 5am. They ran a bunch of blood work and did x-rays of his chest and esophagus. They have come to the conclusion that he has something called Myasthenia Gravis, where his esophagus is enlarged and loses the ability to move food through it. This puts him at risk of pneumonia. He has lost most of his reflex to swallow. They’ve started him on some antibiotics and immunosuppressants. They are keeping him overnight and want to keep him until they’ve seen significant improvement of his swallowing. Our current quote is $1,800-$2,200, which includes all of the tests they’ve done and one overnight stay. The likely hood of him needing to stay more than one night is high, meaning the price will continue to increase.

Anyone who knows me, knows that I love Banjo like he is my own child. We love to go on walks and hikes together every weekend. With him only being (almost) 2, he has a ton of energy and it’s been rough to see him struggling so much to even walk when I know how much he loves to run around. He’s my first and only fur baby and I just want him to be okay.

Update as of June 2nd at 3:00 PM:

The vet is seeing some improvement in his walk and swallow reflex. They are seeing some signs of pneumonia on the ultrasound and started him on another antibiotic for that. They are going to keep him another night and are hopeful they can start transitioning him to oral medication tomorrow so that he can come home hopefully tomorrow (Sat, 6/3) or Sunday. Our updated estimate is $2,400-$3,000.

Update as of June 3rd at 6:30 PM:

He has continued to improve in his ability to walk and swallow. They said he has been able to take about 80 steps before his legs weaken a little bit, whereas when we first took him it was about 15!! His pneumonia is improving as well. They gave him his last infusion and are going to begin trying to feed him little meatballs. If he is able to swallow and keep those down, they will start putting his pills in the meatballs tomorrow (Sun, 6/4) meaning he could come home tomorrow evening!! We were able to visit him today and he’s looking so much better and I’m so hopeful he’ll make a full recovery.

Update as of June 4th at 8:30 PM:

Banjo is home!!! He did well with eating the meatballs yesterday and was able to keep them down. I am so shocked with how much improvement there’s been in his ability to walk. It so mind blowing to me that his cough and weak back legs were connected. I am so so thankful to the staff at Metro for giving my boy so much love while he was there!

For the future he will have to be on some meds for quite awhile until they see some major improvements. He will only be able to eat and drink if he is sitting straight up, he has to sit like that for 20 minutes afterwards to help his food travel through his esophagus. Aspiration pneumonia will be the biggest obstacle with this condition but I feel prepared to recognize the signs!

I want to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who has donated. I will never be able to express how much it means to me, it has helped me and my boy out astronomically and I couldn’t have gotten through this without every single one of you!