Help fund Shadows last hope surgery

Hi my name is Samantha, I’m 23 and I’m making this Go Fund Me for my severely ill dog, Shadow.

Shadow is a 3 year old XL American Bully. Shadow has been apart of my families lives since he was just 8 weeks old. He originally became my moms after she had watched him for a friend and after just a couple of short visits he bonded so well with his now brother, Donkey and we loved him so much she just had to have him. After my mom’s unexpected passing earlier this year, I made the decision to take both of the dogs. This was a hard decision because I was already in a difficult financial state and I was unsure if I would be able to afford two more dogs but after reaching out to local rescues and humane society and posting them for adoption, and continuously being denied due to being at max capacity, I realized I was there only option. They have been living with me and my partner and their “cousin” Loki (my 14 year old dog) until he unfortunately passed as well this summer.

Shadow has always been such a happy, energetic, loveable dog until this spring when he became ill. It started with on and off episodes of vomiting and after a couple of days his symptoms would usually disappear and he would go back to his normal self. He became sick again on October 21st and has been declining ever since. We have tried every test possible from x-rays, an ultrasound, blood work, physical exams, testing for parvo and Lyme, etc. We have also tried 2 different anti-biotics, a strict hypoallergenic diet and 2 different anti-nausea meds. At first the anti-nausea meds were working, then we had to move up to shots and now nothing seems to be working for him to keep down food. He has lost over 10 pounds and is extremely underweight.

At this point we had discussed sending him to a specialist but after calling every specialist and college in the area, the vets discovered that they are back logged and won’t be able to get him in until February which is way too long for him to live like this for, if he would even make it.

Our only options left are to do an exploratory surgery or unfortunately put him down. Since he is only 3 we want to give him the best chance possible but the problem is that the quote for the surgery is $1800 to $2800 before tax. After already spending upwards of $3500 on all his vet visits and meds I do not have enough to cover this cost. With the surgery the hope is that they will be able to go in there and find the cause of the non-stop vomiting. They are thinking it could be a blockage that the x-rays and ultrasound aren’t showing. While they are in there they can also take a sample of his stomach and intestinal tissue to biopsy which could also hopefully give us some answers. We don’t have much time left to make a decision considering how rapid his decline is and how much weight he has lost.

I appreciate everyone that has taken the time to read this and even if you can’t donate I would just love some feedback from anyone who has possibly had a similar situation. I really dislike asking for anything but considering the circumstances, this is my only hope at getting this boy better. Thank you.