Help Linus Walk Again!
Donation protected
Hello everyone. If you know me, you know that Linus is the nucleus of my life (and the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell). My whole world revolves around him. He's been with me through the hardest times of my life and hasn't left my side for 10 years. He is sweet, thoughtful, and more human-like than any other dog I've met. We are soulmates.
I know Linus is a senior dog (he will be 11 in April of 2021), but he has enjoyed almost perfect health for his whole life. He's active, loves to run and hike and snowshoe and explore, and is a certified professional lake dog. I've never, ever had a problem with his mobility. Until recently.
3 or 4 weeks ago, Linus slipped and fell on our tile kitchen floor while he was running to the front door. I didn't think much of it because it didn't seem like much of a spill, but since then he has been having trouble keeping himself up. First, it was his back legs that kept giving out on him, then I noticed stiffness and lameness in his hindquarters while he was walking, and now his front legs can barely hold him up. I have to carry him outside and then back in when he goes to the bathroom, he can barely lower his head to eat his food, and he is struggling.
I've been to two different vets because I wanted a second opinion after seeing the first one. The first one took x-rays and did an exam and found that he has a potential fracture to his spine.
I opted in for some anti-inflammation pain relievers and hoped for the best, they said that he should be healed up in 8 weeks. 3 weeks in, he has just declined. He can barely stand, let alone walk, and his quality of life is quickly deteriorating. I brought him to a second vet once I realized how quickly this degeneration was happening and they came back with some not great news.
We/they have narrowed it down to a few options. They think it could be a tick disease causing his muscles to fail, a pinched spinal cord that makes it painful for his nerves to communicate, or a spinal cord stroke that caused a clot in the cord that doesn’t necessarily hurt but causes the signals to his limbs to get confused. So the only thing we can do is wait for the test results, and then if they are inconclusive like his other tests have been, they need to refer us to a vet in Albuquerque or Denver for an MRI and/or CT scan to examine his soft tissues to see if they can see anything there. Just the testing is going to be 2-3 grand per test, and that doesn't include potential surgery.
Right now I’m waiting on the results of the tests we did yesterday, which are a board-certified radiologist closely inspecting his x-rays, a full blood panel to see if he has a tick disease, and another test that they are doing to see if he has another rare disorder commonly found in labs. The vets think that this has the potential to be soft tissue related (meaning the spinal cord has an injury) but we're waiting to see.
I have already spent what I had in his savings account on these tests (around $1,100) and that is perfectly okay with me. I will go into debt to save my boy. I'd take out my kidney to replace his if that was possible (or related to his issues which I don't think it is). I just worry about the costs of the further tests, the surgery, the medications.. and I hate asking people for money - I absolutely hate it - but I figured I had to if I want to make sure he gets the care he needs to be able to walk again.
I don't even know what the total cost would/will be, and there's a chance that it will be less AND more than what I've set this fundraiser at, and if it is less I PROMISE you I will return your money and if it is more I PROMISE you I won't ask for more. I can't tell you how much this means to me, how much he means to me, and how much even a small donation would help me be able to take care of my number 1 guy. I will post receipts of everything that he has done to prove where the money goes, and I swear that I will make it up to all of you if you or your baby is ever in need.
Thanks for listening to my sob story, and thank you for even considering a donation to help my sweet bubba. We both really, really appreciate it.
I know Linus is a senior dog (he will be 11 in April of 2021), but he has enjoyed almost perfect health for his whole life. He's active, loves to run and hike and snowshoe and explore, and is a certified professional lake dog. I've never, ever had a problem with his mobility. Until recently.
3 or 4 weeks ago, Linus slipped and fell on our tile kitchen floor while he was running to the front door. I didn't think much of it because it didn't seem like much of a spill, but since then he has been having trouble keeping himself up. First, it was his back legs that kept giving out on him, then I noticed stiffness and lameness in his hindquarters while he was walking, and now his front legs can barely hold him up. I have to carry him outside and then back in when he goes to the bathroom, he can barely lower his head to eat his food, and he is struggling.
I've been to two different vets because I wanted a second opinion after seeing the first one. The first one took x-rays and did an exam and found that he has a potential fracture to his spine.
I opted in for some anti-inflammation pain relievers and hoped for the best, they said that he should be healed up in 8 weeks. 3 weeks in, he has just declined. He can barely stand, let alone walk, and his quality of life is quickly deteriorating. I brought him to a second vet once I realized how quickly this degeneration was happening and they came back with some not great news.
We/they have narrowed it down to a few options. They think it could be a tick disease causing his muscles to fail, a pinched spinal cord that makes it painful for his nerves to communicate, or a spinal cord stroke that caused a clot in the cord that doesn’t necessarily hurt but causes the signals to his limbs to get confused. So the only thing we can do is wait for the test results, and then if they are inconclusive like his other tests have been, they need to refer us to a vet in Albuquerque or Denver for an MRI and/or CT scan to examine his soft tissues to see if they can see anything there. Just the testing is going to be 2-3 grand per test, and that doesn't include potential surgery.
Right now I’m waiting on the results of the tests we did yesterday, which are a board-certified radiologist closely inspecting his x-rays, a full blood panel to see if he has a tick disease, and another test that they are doing to see if he has another rare disorder commonly found in labs. The vets think that this has the potential to be soft tissue related (meaning the spinal cord has an injury) but we're waiting to see.
I have already spent what I had in his savings account on these tests (around $1,100) and that is perfectly okay with me. I will go into debt to save my boy. I'd take out my kidney to replace his if that was possible (or related to his issues which I don't think it is). I just worry about the costs of the further tests, the surgery, the medications.. and I hate asking people for money - I absolutely hate it - but I figured I had to if I want to make sure he gets the care he needs to be able to walk again.
I don't even know what the total cost would/will be, and there's a chance that it will be less AND more than what I've set this fundraiser at, and if it is less I PROMISE you I will return your money and if it is more I PROMISE you I won't ask for more. I can't tell you how much this means to me, how much he means to me, and how much even a small donation would help me be able to take care of my number 1 guy. I will post receipts of everything that he has done to prove where the money goes, and I swear that I will make it up to all of you if you or your baby is ever in need.
Thanks for listening to my sob story, and thank you for even considering a donation to help my sweet bubba. We both really, really appreciate it.
Organizer
Elise Mackay
Organizer
Durango, CO