Emergency Vet & Funeral Cost for Sweet Attie Boy

The morning of November 25th, I noticed Atlas acting very lethargic and overall not his usual hyper and playful self. I noticed his back legs started giving out as he was walking and when I went to soothe him with kisses and pets, his gums and ears were white and he felt cold to the touch.

We rushed him to the emergency vet, thinking maybe they’d give him some fluids and send us on our way with some medication and the old “keep an eye on him.” However, it turned out that Atlas had a large cancerous tumor, roughly the size of a cantaloupe, on his liver that was bleeding internally.

I was shocked, to say the least. His last check up showed no signs of cancer and he was an all around healthy and very youthful dog. Even as they ran bloodwork at the emergency vet, they said everything looked normal, but that ultrasound showed something sinister lurking inside.

The tumor was so large and attached to a vital organ that there was only a 50% chance of surgery being successful and even if they didn’t have put him down on the operating table, his prognosis was 6 weeks - 6 months to live with chemo treatments.

Rather than prolonging his pain and putting him through such an arduous journey, I had to make one of the most difficult decisions of my life and say goodbye to my best friend.

Atlas wasn’t always the best dog. He dug in the trash, stole food off counters, guarded shared water bowls at the parks, had a bit of a threatening aura, and showed his god-like ego at every turn. But he was mine. In perfect duality, he also shared his toys, loved to snuggle and get kisses, he sang songs and loved when I played the ukulele for him, and was truly the most gentle being when he knew you needed it.

Atlas was my savior and I was his moon. He loved me unconditionally for 10 years and I will love him unconditionally for the rest of my life.

While doing everything I could to save my best friend’s life, the bills started piling up. The money raised will go towards all of the emergency vet bills and the worst bill of them all, the euthanasia and memorial costs.

Thank you to everyone who played with and loved on my handsome man throughout the years. Know that he is flying high and running around with my childhood dogs, living his best angel life now.