Donate to Save Leo: A Beloved Dog in Need

Hi everybody, my name is Craig Maurer, and I started this GoFundMe for one of my dogs named Leo. Leo is 5 years old and I rescued him when he was just a puppy. He's the sweetest dog you could ever know, but he's been having health issues for the last 6 months. I myself have gone through major life changes over the last nine months and was finally getting on my feet when Leo's health troubles started to happen.

I've spent about $3,000 in the last two months on multiple visits to the vet and tests for Leo. His symptoms started out with not eating, throwing up, lethargy, as well as swelling under his jaw. We've been completely stumped as to what the issue actually is, so originally he was put on some steroids and antibiotics. The first round of meds helped eliminate the swelling in his neck and the issues with his appetite. I was so happy to think that maybe we figured it out. We thought maybe there was some type of infection, but within a week of being off his antibiotics and the steroid, the swelling came back with all the same symptoms. We decided to do another round of meds, and the same thing happened as the first time where he got back to his normal self. This time, instead of it taking a week for his symptoms to show up again, it only took a couple of days. Fortunately, his swelling was gone, but he is no longer eating, he's throwing up, and he's just not himself at all.

Today, I went to the vet again and we did an x-ray as well as blood work that is going out to get tested again. The x-ray showed a ball-like mass between his spleen and his appendix. Right now, we only have a couple of options... The first is to bring in a specialist to do an ultrasound to see if it's something that can be fixed with surgery. The second is to do an exploratory surgery and hope for the best while he's on the table. There's a strong possibility that the ultrasound could show that the mass is inoperable, in which case we would have to put him to sleep. If we skip the ultrasound and go right for the exploratory surgery, we could find while he's on the table that the mass is too much of an issue or if there are any other issues we couldn't foresee, and at that point again, we would have to make the decision to not wake him up from anesthesia.

He's my best friend as well as my other dog Ruby. There's no way I can give up on him unless it would cause him more pain than good, but at this point, I've reached the end of my financial capability. I'm not one to reach out to people and ask for help, but at this point, I don't know what else to do. He and Ruby have gotten me through so much in the last 9 months that I can't give up on him because he wouldn't give up on me. I'm asking for everyone's help; no matter how big or small, it will matter. If you know me, you know I'm a huge animal lover. Just one look at my Facebook page will show that I am constantly sharing posts about dogs that either the owners or rescues are trying to help. If you can't donate, then please share this post because it just takes one person to make a difference. I never thought one of these GoFundMe's would be something that I started, but here we are. I'm heartbroken and without answers for Leo, which is the hardest part.