Dear Friends,

Many of you encouraged me to do a fundraiser, so here it is. Thank you in advance for all your love and support, and for your commitment to Cowboy's recovery. Here is a bit of our story so far, in case you want to share it. I will post updates here and on FB as we move through this journey.

Much love,

Jennifer and Cowboy

Cowboy spent his first 5 months of life crammed into a hoarder’s dirt backyard strewn with car tires, junk and tools. There he learned to survive by fighting his siblings —for food, for space, for attention.

When I learned about him and his siblings- that a lot of puppies were regularly heard yelping, growling and fighting- I couldn’t walk away. Luckily I was able to convince the homeowner to let me help, and I took six pups for their shots. After the vet, again with the owners’ permission, I took them back to my house and worked on finding them nurturing and responsible homes.

But Cowboy was hard to place. He was nervous and hyper, the ugly duckling of the litter and even as a young pup, showing aggression. He growled and tried to bite the vet when he got his first shots. He growled when I tried picking him up to get him in the car. (Oddly he was the only pup that couldn’t jump in.) And having come from a food-scarce, crowded environment, he was protective of food, space and toys, growling at everything. I didn’t want to adopt him out to someone who would use him as a guard dog, a life locked out in a back yard. So I worked with him.

With plenty of food, space and positive attention, he blossomed. He soon became the sweetest lap dog. He continues to improve and makes friends easily, with people, kids and other dogs. And of course he has wedged his way into my heart.

But I didn’t realize that one of the reasons for his aggressive behavior was pain. At 7 months he started limping, so I took him to the vet where he was diagnosed with severe bilateral hip dysplasia. Unfortunately that immediately became a “preexisting condition,” excluded for health insurance.

The vet referred us to an orthopedist who referred us to a surgeon. The surgeon did sedated x-rays of his pelvis ($1200), gave us a bunch of pain meds, and offered to repair the hips, for $13,000, per side.

Gulp.

Without surgery, he will get worse. Walking is already painful. Running is a crooked bunny-hop and puts him out for the rest of the day. Even though he gets daily gabapentin and carprofen, salmon oil and Cosequin, he spends a lot of time laying down, playing with his sister who doesn’t understand why he won’t stand up.

Alternatives to total hip replacement include a lifetime of pain meds and other therapies, or a surgery to remove the hip joint. He’s too big and active and has too much muscle atrophy for the hip joint removal, and lifetime pain management feels exhausting when starting with a now 10-month old pup.

I’ve looked world-wide for less expensive surgery. The lowest price I found was in Mexico City ($8000 per hip), but then there would be travel expenses. Many of you suggested we look at Texas A&M so we did. They offer a "package deal" for $10,500, per hip.

Euthanasia is not an option. It may seem crazy but anyone who knows me knows that animals, my dogs especially, have always been my connection to this planet. Losing my 15.5 year old best friend Oatie last week was heartbreaking, but Cowboy stepped up, crawled right into my tear-soaked lap and “held” me the best he could, pressing his body into mine. He reassured me, kept me company, understood my grief.

We are scheduled at Texas A&M University for the worst (right) hip for September 23rd, in less than 3 weeks. Recovery requires six to twelve weeks of strict confinement, followed by very slow walk-only rehab. Then we will assess his progress and options for the second hip 6 months later. The surgeries, the cost and the recovery will be intense, but with very good odds (95% success rate), I expect he will recover completely.

Your donation goes directly to Cowboy’s surgeries and follow-up xrays. Every dollar helps relieve his pain.

If you’d rather donate directly to the Small Animal Clinic at Texas A&M, please call them directly and make a credit card payment by phone for Cowboy Conroy (mom is Jennifer). (979) [phone redacted].

A huge thank you in advance for your donation, and for being a part of my and Cowboy’s love story!