- K
- S
Can you please help my service dogs? They need extensive dental care and I do not have the funds to pay the expense.
I am an artist who lives in the Pacific Northwest; a copper artist, who during this year of Covid-19 has had all of my art shows cancelled. The shows were my primary source of income, along with commission work. All of that went away with the arrival of the virus. See www.SteelCoyote.com. I am blessed that I am currently working part time in a contract opportunity with a wonderful firm and great coworkers, but that income is limited and it certainly is not sufficient to pay the huge veterinary expense I am now facing. I find myself in a shifting financial landscape...one filled with pits of quicksand.
Lukas is my Husky/Malamute service dog and Sasha is my German shepherd mix backup service dog. Lukas is 7 and Sasha is 4. They are devoted, kind, intelligent animals. They are exceptionally well-trained. They protect me and I love them unconditionally.
I have always felt that I take great care of my dogs; I am a responsible pet owner. I feed them high quality food, tend to their physical and mental needs, and address medical issues as they arise. I have also always given both animals marrow bones from our local butcher shop as a special treat...with the understanding that marrow was good for dogs. And they both did so love the bones!
Recently I discovered that Lukas had broken off part of one of his canine teeth while chewing on a bone. I feared it might be causing him pain and distress so I took both animals in for a dental exam. Our local vet advised me that both dogs potentially had extensive dental problems that went way beyond Lukas's broken canine...problems that had not previously been detected in spite of their having regular checkups. In particular, Sasha had problems way worse that Lukas did, but she is so stoic I had no idea! I was told that I needed to see a veterinary dentist. A specialist. The work that was needed went way beyond simply extracting a tooth. I was overwhelmed with the news but remained optimistic that something could be done to solve what was now becoming a bigger problem. I immediately drove home and threw away all our old remaining marrow bones!
Our referral to a veterinary dental specialist 100 miles from home left me stunned! Flabbergasted, stunned...and greatly saddened. And a bit fearful. Lukas needs about $4800 of dental work and Sasha needs $11,700 of work. On the high end. On the low end it could be $4500 and $10,900. It appears that dental expense for pets is on par with dental expense for people! Talk about shell-shock!!
My Mom reached out to her Facebook friends to see what others have done when their pets have had broken or damaged teeth. The majority of her friends had their dogs' teeth extracted. But that solution is not without downstream issues and problems. And some teeth are particularly difficult to extract; the "risks" associated with dental extraction can be significant and complications include tooth fracture, failure to remove roots, excessive bleeding and jaw fracture. FURTHER, my dogs are "working" animals. So pulling all the teeth just didn't seem to me like it was going to be a good solution.
And in fact, the dentist agreed. She advised us that there are many patients for whom extraction of a tooth is not the only option. In patients like Lukas and Sasha, dogs with a long life expectancy, keeping the damaged teeth can be beneficial to the animal. Further, if we were thinking about extraction as a cost savings alternative, she said pulling all the teeth wouldn't save much money. Many of the affected teeth are large and would have to be removed in pieces, involving costly procedures that she said would run about as much as the approach she is recommending. Her itemized treatment plan involves extracting some teeth, performing root canals on others and crowning 2 critical teeth in Sasha's mouth that she feels are absolutely necessary for her eating ability. (I will attach the dentist's estimates in a future update).
Lukas needs only 1 appointment, a full day in December. Sasha goes in for the first of 3 day-long appointments spread out over the next 2 months on Thursday, 10/15/20. Each appointment is not without risk since they will be anesthetized. I will have to sign a form indicating what should be done...resusitate or not...if a problem occurs. Each appointment, for me, will be filled with stress. And prayer.
I am putting the expense of that first appointment on a credit card. My parents have offered to contribute $2000 towards this medical issue. In fact, Mom has already contributed $574 by paying the initial dental evaluation bill. I hate to reach out to others...to both friends and strangers...with a problem that truly is mine...but this is an over-whelmingly large looming debt problem. And I don't have enough credit cards OR enough income to pay the credit card monthly interest fees and payments. I am a responsible, hard working woman. But I need help. And I must do the right thing for Lukas and Sasha. Will you consider contributing to my fundraiser?
I read that vets say 85% of canines over age 4 have some form of gum disease. Other frequent problems include crooked, cracked or loose teeth, an infection or an abscess. You may not even know when your dog has oral discomfort. This is part of his ancestry...in the wild, showing pain would make a dog vulnerable to attack. I didn't know. But now I do and I am going to do my best to fix the problem.
Can you help me?
Thank you! I appreciate anything you can do to help. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!!
Sincerely....Natalie Brown
I am an artist who lives in the Pacific Northwest; a copper artist, who during this year of Covid-19 has had all of my art shows cancelled. The shows were my primary source of income, along with commission work. All of that went away with the arrival of the virus. See www.SteelCoyote.com. I am blessed that I am currently working part time in a contract opportunity with a wonderful firm and great coworkers, but that income is limited and it certainly is not sufficient to pay the huge veterinary expense I am now facing. I find myself in a shifting financial landscape...one filled with pits of quicksand.
Lukas is my Husky/Malamute service dog and Sasha is my German shepherd mix backup service dog. Lukas is 7 and Sasha is 4. They are devoted, kind, intelligent animals. They are exceptionally well-trained. They protect me and I love them unconditionally.
I have always felt that I take great care of my dogs; I am a responsible pet owner. I feed them high quality food, tend to their physical and mental needs, and address medical issues as they arise. I have also always given both animals marrow bones from our local butcher shop as a special treat...with the understanding that marrow was good for dogs. And they both did so love the bones!
Recently I discovered that Lukas had broken off part of one of his canine teeth while chewing on a bone. I feared it might be causing him pain and distress so I took both animals in for a dental exam. Our local vet advised me that both dogs potentially had extensive dental problems that went way beyond Lukas's broken canine...problems that had not previously been detected in spite of their having regular checkups. In particular, Sasha had problems way worse that Lukas did, but she is so stoic I had no idea! I was told that I needed to see a veterinary dentist. A specialist. The work that was needed went way beyond simply extracting a tooth. I was overwhelmed with the news but remained optimistic that something could be done to solve what was now becoming a bigger problem. I immediately drove home and threw away all our old remaining marrow bones!
Our referral to a veterinary dental specialist 100 miles from home left me stunned! Flabbergasted, stunned...and greatly saddened. And a bit fearful. Lukas needs about $4800 of dental work and Sasha needs $11,700 of work. On the high end. On the low end it could be $4500 and $10,900. It appears that dental expense for pets is on par with dental expense for people! Talk about shell-shock!!
My Mom reached out to her Facebook friends to see what others have done when their pets have had broken or damaged teeth. The majority of her friends had their dogs' teeth extracted. But that solution is not without downstream issues and problems. And some teeth are particularly difficult to extract; the "risks" associated with dental extraction can be significant and complications include tooth fracture, failure to remove roots, excessive bleeding and jaw fracture. FURTHER, my dogs are "working" animals. So pulling all the teeth just didn't seem to me like it was going to be a good solution.
And in fact, the dentist agreed. She advised us that there are many patients for whom extraction of a tooth is not the only option. In patients like Lukas and Sasha, dogs with a long life expectancy, keeping the damaged teeth can be beneficial to the animal. Further, if we were thinking about extraction as a cost savings alternative, she said pulling all the teeth wouldn't save much money. Many of the affected teeth are large and would have to be removed in pieces, involving costly procedures that she said would run about as much as the approach she is recommending. Her itemized treatment plan involves extracting some teeth, performing root canals on others and crowning 2 critical teeth in Sasha's mouth that she feels are absolutely necessary for her eating ability. (I will attach the dentist's estimates in a future update).
Lukas needs only 1 appointment, a full day in December. Sasha goes in for the first of 3 day-long appointments spread out over the next 2 months on Thursday, 10/15/20. Each appointment is not without risk since they will be anesthetized. I will have to sign a form indicating what should be done...resusitate or not...if a problem occurs. Each appointment, for me, will be filled with stress. And prayer.
I am putting the expense of that first appointment on a credit card. My parents have offered to contribute $2000 towards this medical issue. In fact, Mom has already contributed $574 by paying the initial dental evaluation bill. I hate to reach out to others...to both friends and strangers...with a problem that truly is mine...but this is an over-whelmingly large looming debt problem. And I don't have enough credit cards OR enough income to pay the credit card monthly interest fees and payments. I am a responsible, hard working woman. But I need help. And I must do the right thing for Lukas and Sasha. Will you consider contributing to my fundraiser?
I read that vets say 85% of canines over age 4 have some form of gum disease. Other frequent problems include crooked, cracked or loose teeth, an infection or an abscess. You may not even know when your dog has oral discomfort. This is part of his ancestry...in the wild, showing pain would make a dog vulnerable to attack. I didn't know. But now I do and I am going to do my best to fix the problem.
Can you help me?
Thank you! I appreciate anything you can do to help. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!!
Sincerely....Natalie Brown