- S
Bruce needs some help... He needs a fairly expensive surgery to save him from an apparently life threatening cancer, before it spreads.
My name is Ranjot and I have a best friend/dog-son named Bruce. I adopted Bruce (Brewster Jenkins) 9 1/2 years ago from the Oakland Hegenberger animal shelter when he was 2 years old. He captured my heart from the beginning with his friendly, loving and goofy demeanor. He has been an amazing friend and has always been there for me. One of the best dogs I've ever met. (I know everyone says that about their animal friends, so you can probably understand how important of a guy he is to me.)
We have shared many adventures together and he is definitely part of my family. He is a very young 11 year old Plott Hound and I believe he's got a lot of life left to live.
Bruce enjoys running at the beach, chasing squirrels, playing with his dog, human and cat friends, giving you a kiss right on the mouth (no tongue though, he's a gentleman), hiking, chasing toys, TUG o' war, cuddling and performing adorable tricks for the reward of love, cookies, carrots and chips!
He has always been a kind and loving friend to creatures big and small. He is quite a character and I fall asleep best cuddled next to him while listening to him snore.
Bruce had a sore spot on his paw pad for many months that no vet was able to diagnose and kept saying that it wasn't an issue. He has been wearing either a cute little pink rain boot or a Healer's paw shoe for months, and although it's adorable, the spot wasn't healing. It was and has still been increasingly difficult for him to get out on walks to exercise his high energy Hound self. I finally took him to a dermatologist a couple weeks ago and she thought it wasn't that big of a deal either, but decided to biopsy it just in case.
When the test results came back, it showed that unfortunately it was a malignant melanoma (cancer). The biopsy didn't get it all and the irregular cells are believed to be all over his main paw pad on the front left leg. Luckily after many expensive tests, it was revealed that it hasn't spread anywhere else they can find at this point, although it is considered to be an aggressive form of melanoma. He has a good chance of recovering and moving on with his life with either a paw pad removal/reconstruction surgery (if possible) or leg amputation with possible chemo &/or melanoma vaccination. This is great news but comes at an expensive price.
Unfortunaltely Bruce does not have any kind of pet medical insurance, so this whole thing will be out of pocket. I do my best working as a CMT/Energy Therapist in Oakland, CA to take care of my baby Bruce on a regular basis, but am not really prepared for this amount of financial cost. I've been working for myself for many years and have no large savings or 401K type accounts to draw money from. At this point my "care credit" line for him is basically maxed after the biopsy and testing.
The quotes for surgery is between $4000-$5000 and either med option is between $2500-$3500 each. I thought we would be able to wait a bit longer to make a decision and try to figure out some way to pay for this but it looks like the melanoma may be spreading farther the last few days and we can't risk it traveling. He is also starting to limp a lot worse than before.
We are headed to the surgery consult this Monday 6/27 and possibly having him go in for the decided surgery that same day.
I'm still not really sure how I will pay the vet on the day of surgery. Crossing my fingers and hoping something will work out and trying to prepare and reach out for help as needed. When speaking to one vet, they recommended "gofundme", so I thought I would give this a try.
Bruce and I would be incredibly grateful for any support that you are able to offer.
It would mean the world to us and it will help him live a much longer, happier life. I have heard that 4 legged friends can adapt quite well with 3 legs after healing from the surgery and have high hopes for a great recovery for Bruce.
Thank you so, so much for taking the time to read our story and considering donating to Bruce's medical fund.
My name is Ranjot and I have a best friend/dog-son named Bruce. I adopted Bruce (Brewster Jenkins) 9 1/2 years ago from the Oakland Hegenberger animal shelter when he was 2 years old. He captured my heart from the beginning with his friendly, loving and goofy demeanor. He has been an amazing friend and has always been there for me. One of the best dogs I've ever met. (I know everyone says that about their animal friends, so you can probably understand how important of a guy he is to me.)
We have shared many adventures together and he is definitely part of my family. He is a very young 11 year old Plott Hound and I believe he's got a lot of life left to live.
Bruce enjoys running at the beach, chasing squirrels, playing with his dog, human and cat friends, giving you a kiss right on the mouth (no tongue though, he's a gentleman), hiking, chasing toys, TUG o' war, cuddling and performing adorable tricks for the reward of love, cookies, carrots and chips!
He has always been a kind and loving friend to creatures big and small. He is quite a character and I fall asleep best cuddled next to him while listening to him snore.
Bruce had a sore spot on his paw pad for many months that no vet was able to diagnose and kept saying that it wasn't an issue. He has been wearing either a cute little pink rain boot or a Healer's paw shoe for months, and although it's adorable, the spot wasn't healing. It was and has still been increasingly difficult for him to get out on walks to exercise his high energy Hound self. I finally took him to a dermatologist a couple weeks ago and she thought it wasn't that big of a deal either, but decided to biopsy it just in case.
When the test results came back, it showed that unfortunately it was a malignant melanoma (cancer). The biopsy didn't get it all and the irregular cells are believed to be all over his main paw pad on the front left leg. Luckily after many expensive tests, it was revealed that it hasn't spread anywhere else they can find at this point, although it is considered to be an aggressive form of melanoma. He has a good chance of recovering and moving on with his life with either a paw pad removal/reconstruction surgery (if possible) or leg amputation with possible chemo &/or melanoma vaccination. This is great news but comes at an expensive price.
Unfortunaltely Bruce does not have any kind of pet medical insurance, so this whole thing will be out of pocket. I do my best working as a CMT/Energy Therapist in Oakland, CA to take care of my baby Bruce on a regular basis, but am not really prepared for this amount of financial cost. I've been working for myself for many years and have no large savings or 401K type accounts to draw money from. At this point my "care credit" line for him is basically maxed after the biopsy and testing.
The quotes for surgery is between $4000-$5000 and either med option is between $2500-$3500 each. I thought we would be able to wait a bit longer to make a decision and try to figure out some way to pay for this but it looks like the melanoma may be spreading farther the last few days and we can't risk it traveling. He is also starting to limp a lot worse than before.
We are headed to the surgery consult this Monday 6/27 and possibly having him go in for the decided surgery that same day.
I'm still not really sure how I will pay the vet on the day of surgery. Crossing my fingers and hoping something will work out and trying to prepare and reach out for help as needed. When speaking to one vet, they recommended "gofundme", so I thought I would give this a try.
Bruce and I would be incredibly grateful for any support that you are able to offer.
It would mean the world to us and it will help him live a much longer, happier life. I have heard that 4 legged friends can adapt quite well with 3 legs after healing from the surgery and have high hopes for a great recovery for Bruce.
Thank you so, so much for taking the time to read our story and considering donating to Bruce's medical fund.