Give A-jaxx a Fighting Chance at Life

Rayvaughn Gamble is organizing this fundraiser.

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Hello Everyone, i Apologize for the length in advance.

it’s taken me a few days to get my heart together so I could properly express my quandary as coming here is something I have to atleast try. This is worth fighting for!

I’d like you all to meet our Baby boy, our best bud, our Road DOG A-jaxx. As I have never been here before nor have I ever needed to ask for this magnitude of help, I have no idea where to even begin..

About 3 months ago me and my other half decided it was time to extend the family we have, as the prior months before we had been morning the loss of her oldest of 2 fur-babies,(RIH Bella, her beautiful ferret)…. I was somehow able to convince her a dog’s love ,the personalities, the bonds you build with them are so much more different from what she’s experience with her cat & ferret. Will get to her cat later. So with that, we ended up at Verona St Animal shelter days after that conversation.

As many know, animal shelters are not for the weak, you will encounter animals who have been there for years, animals who clearly are

loved/have a family but maybe just ran away, or you’ll meet animals who were born in the streets and well, that’s kind of A-jaxx’s story.

The very first day we went through the holding area, no other dog could pick us out how he did with just the gloomiest gentlest eyes… Of all the rescues there, its easy to just pick one thats jumping up at the cages picking you back, begging to be given a new life. That’s when we noticed A-jaxx, a 6 month old who was formally named, Whitney/Lime since that was where he was found. He was so detached that day his body wouldn’t let him leave his cot to give himself a fighting chance of being selected. We inquired about him and at that moment we learned it was his very first day being there so he was not available, as he still would need all his shots. They told us give it a few days and well, a few days was too many for us as we had just missed out on helping another puppy weeks before so we swore to come back the next day.

This baby wouldn’t miss his chance to let us know he knew we had all the love and care he’d had ever wanted. When we locked eyes again he used all the strength he had that day to get up and come to the gate.. Once again we had inquired about him and well the rest is history.

He received a rabies shot along with a deworming treatment as he had a belly full of worms. We were put on the waiting list, came in a 3rd straight day & were able to finally meet him beyond the cage.

All this point he had only been in that shelter for 4 days but they had no idea how long he had been out-on the streets.

For the first month and a half we knew it would be a huge uphill battle, being he was filled up with worms and would still need to pass them with time and continuous use of the bathroom, all while he was dealing with kennel cough on top of everything. At this point he was finally able to come home with us.

The worms would effect him so bad some days he’d throw up and immediately feel better… He was adjusting to his new life with so much ease you couldn’t look at his face ever & tell if he was in more pain than his diagnosis led us to believe. You could tell he was just so thankful for being given another chance. He would do full sprints through huge fields of grass & he LOVES doing everything we do from walks, riding the swings at parks, loves to watch his papa fish or his mama draw. Car rides are kind of his euphoric space from the day we took him home. I think He truly believes he was meant to be a lap dog. it’s either the car doesn’t move until he’s chosen a lap or him deciding not to leave the car unless his dad comes around to the passenger side door and opens it for him and his mom.

As much as I thought I knew about dogs, I didn’t think they were born family dogs, I thought it was trained, maybe learned behavior but A-jaxx knows no other emotion to interact with others than love.. He’s AMAZING with babies, such a softy and very gentle. He loved his big sister Penny, she was a 11yr old tabby cat. (RIH penny) In the beginning she was a bit standoffish but she understood right away he was a baby, just a really big one. When she started getting sick she only got sweeter with him, seemed as though she was showing him how to be a big sibling, to the two kittens we didn’t know we would adopt a few months later. Nonetheless, I knew it made him love her even more. She was beginning to accept his love, his presence and it really confused him a-lot for weeks following when we came home without his sister.

He is now (9 months old) the oldest of 2 baby brothers. I would hate to break their hearts like we did to him when his sister didn’t come home..

Now that you all know a bit about A-jaxx I wanted to get into detail about his condition:

This past month and a half things have done a complete 180 in A-jaxx’s road to recovery.. All we knew was everything the shelter was able to provide about A-jaxx from the time we got him:

* We knew he had a belly full of worms (6lbs to be exact). He seemed to have passed those worms because he started to eat normal portions of food at reasonable times of the day but suddenly he became extremely constipated. We tried home remedies such as, coconut oil, pumpkin puree, even grinding up his food, nothing would loosen his stool. It was getting to a point if he couldn’t go to the bathroom, he’d throw up. As of recently, his bowl movements have been very concerning as it’s been tiny amounts for the amount of food he’s been consuming.

Not only has this really messed with his ability to properly and comfortably use the bathroom, it has also taken away all the nutrient's his body is supposed to be retaining from the food, to gain back weight and has since gotten extremely emaciated after getting rid of the worms; so we thought?! His body hasn’t been able to retain the protein in any of the food he eats …

It was so bad about a week ago, A-jaxx looked as if he was suffering from bloat, he couldn’t even walk, let alone control where he went to the bathroom. Broke my heart seeing him that way, I seen that same dog I saved from the shelter months prior all over again.

A few days ago we took our Buddy to an emergency appointment as we needed answers, I thought we were doing everything right to help him recover and live a beautiful long life and well, the news we go back is not helping us stay positive …

A-jaxx underwent x-rays and Bloodwork. Bloodwork came back that he has a low red blood cell count and he is anemic. The X-rays carried the heavy news, not only is his prostate too large because he hasn’t gained any weight but he will have also have to be neutered at 9 months if his condition doesn’t progress.

* A-jaxx also has a foreign object lounged in his intestines since way before he was picked up off the street and taken to the shelter. They missed it in his first x-ray because his stomach was filled with worms.

* Since he has got rid of the worms he has lost 6lbs (15lbs is his current weight)

* it’s also been brought to our knowledge that His Stomach is flipped (Major sign in Bloat other known as GDV) my worst fear came true with this one!!!

These two issues combined in what we were described, are essentially a deadly outcome for A-jaxx without emergency surgery within this next month or so… He will never gain weight or live a long life if we cant help him fast!!!

Finding this news out really scrambled my mind, I have exhausted all options in how I or my partner could pay for this. We Have looked at all different pet insurances. Couldn’t get many due to stipulations. I can’t be credited to make payments. Even had to go as far as reaching out to animal hospitals an hour to 2 hours away from home, as they are the only places that are capable of doing such surgery and then providing 24hr after care, as he will need to be watched after an operation this big. So this is really my last resort.! I'm not asking for the whole lump-sum, if we can achieve it we’d be FOREVER thankful but at this point anything helps seriously, anything…. I cant lose my buddy, it’s only been 3 months! He’s only 9 months old but full of so much life! It hurts seeing him love so hard even in this constant pain he’s been silently battling. I’ve helped put 2 loving animals to rest this yr due to old age this baby can’t be my 3rd!!.