Hi friends and family,

Many of you may already know, in the last year Cedar has been struggling and was diagnosed with degenerative disease in his cruciate ligament that provides stability to his knee (equivalent to the ACL in people). Initially he would have a flare up of pain, stiffness, and limping every other month or so but would recover and be back to his normal routine. Unfortunately, he’s had a steep decline and now constantly struggles to walk at all and is no longer getting relief from the anti-inflammatories and pain medications. After many visits to the vet, pain medications, and finally a consult with a very knowledgeable veterinary orthopedist we were faced with the fact that this injury would not get better on its own and would require corrective surgery.

Cedar is a vibrant (although slightly lazy at first glance) and young by orthopedic surgery standards and has a lot of life still to live and beaches to visit. We’ve found a great and more affordable orthopedist after lots of research and booked his surgery for Thursday, January 20th. This surgery should result in a return to his previous fitness with pain free walking and running.

Although we’ve been saving since his diagnosis for this surgery, the total cost is $4,500 (a far cry from our initial quote of $7000 at our local vet orthopedist!). We are reaching out to our community for some help to bridge the savings we have with the surgery cost. We recognize that you may not be in a position to give, so please no pressure.

Much love, Elias & Zach

More about the surgery here: TPLO Surgery