Hi, my name is Artie. I am almost 3. My mom and dad rescued me from a parking lot where my old owners left me 2 years ago as a young puppy. We've had so much fun and memories in the past couple of years together. I love tennis balls, belly rubs, stuffed animals, and all my human friends that love me. About a month ago, my pawrents noticed I had a lump inside my mouth, and they looked very scared. We went to the doctor where I had surgery, and the scary lump was all gone, or so they thought. The doctor called and said I have an aggressive cancer called Malignant Spindle Cell Neoplasia, and we have to go see a special doctor, an oncologist...

After our first visit to the oncologist, we were told that Artie did very well. Upon examination, they found a residual tumor at the back part of his upper jaw. They took an X-ray to see if it spread to his lungs, and good news, we caught it early enough, and it does not seem to be spreading, allowing us to move forward.

This is where your help comes in. He needs a CT scan and surgery to remove all the cancerous tissue. To get clear margins, they will have to remove multiple teeth with extensive mouth surgery. I know this sounds scary, but we were reassured his quality of life after surgery will not be affected. Dogs tend to heal the quickest from oral surgery because of their motivation to eat and drink.

We have decided to do this surgery because Artie is still his normal self, with tons of energy, love, and zoomies. He is not ready to give up yet, and neither are we.

If they are able to get clear margins and remove all the cancerous tissue, we will be able to do immunotherapy. This is a shot to help boost his immune system to help fight off the cancer cells if they grow back. This will be a 4-treatment shot every 2 weeks, and then eventually a booster every 6 months. While this is good news, it is still very expensive.

If they are not able to remove all the tissue, he can do radiation or chemotherapy based on his prognosis.

We are only 23 and 24-year-old college students that love our dog as if he is our child, giving him the life he deserves. Anything you can donate will help us IMMENSELY! EVERY CENT! We are not ready to give up on our baby yet. Artie still has a life to live and so many more silly memories to make.