Chester’s ongoing vet bill

Meet Chester our now 12 month old boy. We’ve had to setup this GoFundMe due to his extremely rare condition. The specialists (medical, soft tissue and Neurological) are still scratching their heads to the cause or the treatment.

Chester has been under the care of Langford specialist vets since October. After our local vets sedated him and mistakenly double dosed him with metacam!, he started showing all these illnesses and we almost lost him.

The vet report below ⬇️  from Langford.

Chester presented in October 2023 with a history of becoming acutely 10/10 lame on his right forelimb after a walk and he had developed an abscess between digit 4 and 5 of his right paw. He was prescribed amoxicillin-clavulanic acid. o 7-days after his initial presentation Chester’s paw had not improved as expected so he was sedated to flush and explore this area. It was found he had two draining tracts. He was prescribed another course of amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, as well as metronidazole. During this time he also had meloxicam. 

Post sedation with you he became markedly lethargic, as well as developing drooling, retching and bilateral Horner’s syndrome. He was also noticed to be spending more time at this water bowl and appeared to be finding it hard to drink. o On presentation to us his main examination findings were: ▪ Initially, left-sided Horner’s syndrome with miosis, ptosis, enophthalmia, and third eyelid protrusion. An enlarged right sided pre-scapular lymph node and a swollen 5th digit with broken nail on his right paw. ▪ During hospitalisation he became obtunded with cranial nerve deficits (absent gag, nystagmus, and bilateral strabismus). This resolved within 24-hours (except the absent gag), but lead us to believe there was neurological involvement. o Investigations were performed including a CT scan of his right paw, neck and chest, and CSF analysis. o The CT scan also revealed an abscess in Chester’s dorsal mediastinum which is likely the cause of his Horner’s. o Laryngeal examination revealed right-sided laryngeal paralysis. o At this time we discussed surgical exploration but due to the high-risk nature of surgery we opted to treat with a long course of amoxicillin-clavulanate and anti-inflammatory prednisolone course. o Chester improved on antibiotics and whilst had a persistence of mild retching he was near normal. However, he represented 2-3 weeks after cessation of antibiotics with worsening clinical signs of marked retching and choking, as well as worsening left-sided Horner’s syndrome.

We have advised that this is a high-risk surgery and with all surgery to explore an abscess there is a chance of reoccurrence. Additionally we Chester there is no guarantee his nerve damage will improve even with the successful removal of an abscess. 

The vets have rung today 20th Dec to say he won’t be having the operation as the abscess has almost gone. They have referred him to the neurological specialist, which also called today saying his tests were normal, so they need to investigate further.

We’ve already paid £6,000 to the vets and are no closer to finding out the cause or treatment.

The next bill is estimated at £5,000-£7000.

Thank-you to everyone who has donated and wished Chester well, you are all amazing people with super kind hearts ❤️.