Meet Diesel. He had been picked up as a stray and has been with Lakeshore Paws since early February of 2025. We found him on their Facebook page and had to meet him. We met and brought him home on 5/1/25. He has been a great addition to our family and is loved so much already. He's gentle and playful with our youngest, who absolutely adores him. He's an older boy, around 7-8 years old, but definitely doesn't act like it.

We took him in to see the vet for a wellness check a week after having him home. He had an ear infection, was a little underweight, and had some swelling on his right front toe. The toe was treated with antibiotics while in the care of Lakeshore Paws due to nail loss 2 weeks prior to us meeting Diesel. They were unsure if the nail loss was due to chewing or if it was broken off from snagging something. Nonetheless, they had it checked out and he was just given antibiotics for it. Nothing further was recommended from the vet while in the care of Lakeshore Paws. I relayed that info to our vet and they recommended a cleanser and antibiotic ointment for the ear infection, to stay on our current diet, and to keep an eye on the toe.

Well, it's been a couple of weeks now and he has started to develop some dry coughing and we noticed the toe seemed a bit more swollen. So, I called our vet and took him straight in on 5/23/25. They recommended X-rays to be done on the paw and lungs. Results came back that Diesel has air bronchograms in the lungs and cancer findings on Phalanx 3. We were told that with the findings from the X-ray, Diesel has to have a toe amputation. There are 2 types of bone cancers explained: Sarcoma, in which case the amputation would be curative, and Osteosarcoma, which is aggressive and would only give him 6 months to live, worst case scenario. The amputation is the only way to send it for a biopsy to determine what cancer it is. The vet told us the sooner the better. Being that Diesel is so loved, we already set the operation date for 5/30/25.

Lakeshore Paws has been amazing and is also helping out with some of the surgery costs, but it's just not enough to cover the costs. Between the adoption, vet visits, and X-rays, we have put out a substantial amount to get our pup in good health. We know adopting a pup is an addition to monthly expenses but did not expect all of this within the first few weeks. If anybody could help, that will be greatly appreciated. And please SHARE SHARE SHARE.