Goodest Boy Riley's Surgery
Donation protected
We have a fur family of two beautiful and loving dogs, and a cat brother who also thinks he is a dog. They are all the sweetest and cuddliest of brothers. Our oldest is Riley, whom we got on our second date eight years ago at the ARL after seeing him jump up and down when he saw us. At the time his name was Turbo, fitting.
Over Labor Day weekend after walking the neighborhood and playing in the yard, Riley began to whimper occasionally as he played and started slowing down. Being a young eight year old pup, I had thought he had simply tweaked something while playing. By the next morning he was showing issues with walking and was clearly in a tremendous amount of pain. Our pup who loves walks and fetch, even if it means stealing from his brother, could barely walk a few houses down from where we live. After a few trips back and forth to the ER and the Iowa State Animal Hospital, we found that he has a unique case of Intervertebral Disc Disease (IVDD). In the day it took us to determined what was wrong with him, he went from running and playing in the yard, to being completely unable to use his back legs.
While I don't understand all of the technically language the doctors shared with us, he essentially had a disc burst in his back which is disrupting his spine. He still has deep pain feeling and has to have surgery to fix the disc and mineralization. We were hoping that he would be fine with rest and recover, but the doctor advised us that due to complications from hemorrhaging in his spine, he has to have surgery to hopefully regain his motor control and prevent further life threatening issues.
My husband, my fur-family, our friends that love him, and myself, are asking for any help to pay for his surgery that will cost an estimated $5,000, followed by potential physical therapy. My husband, Landon, and I are extremely hard workers, but have had a bad stroke of luck this year. After going to school part-time and working full-time for a few years, we were able to save up so that I could quit my job and go back to school full-time while Landon works extra hard. Unfortunately, we've had back-to-back-to-back expenses come up and Landon is already putting in extra hours. We have insurance for Riley, but it is only going to cover $1000-1,500.
We love him so much and I can't imagine coming home and not seeing him jump up and down with excitement. It breaks my heart to think his brothers may lose him. I hate to ask for help, but please help our pup if you can.
Over Labor Day weekend after walking the neighborhood and playing in the yard, Riley began to whimper occasionally as he played and started slowing down. Being a young eight year old pup, I had thought he had simply tweaked something while playing. By the next morning he was showing issues with walking and was clearly in a tremendous amount of pain. Our pup who loves walks and fetch, even if it means stealing from his brother, could barely walk a few houses down from where we live. After a few trips back and forth to the ER and the Iowa State Animal Hospital, we found that he has a unique case of Intervertebral Disc Disease (IVDD). In the day it took us to determined what was wrong with him, he went from running and playing in the yard, to being completely unable to use his back legs.
While I don't understand all of the technically language the doctors shared with us, he essentially had a disc burst in his back which is disrupting his spine. He still has deep pain feeling and has to have surgery to fix the disc and mineralization. We were hoping that he would be fine with rest and recover, but the doctor advised us that due to complications from hemorrhaging in his spine, he has to have surgery to hopefully regain his motor control and prevent further life threatening issues.
My husband, my fur-family, our friends that love him, and myself, are asking for any help to pay for his surgery that will cost an estimated $5,000, followed by potential physical therapy. My husband, Landon, and I are extremely hard workers, but have had a bad stroke of luck this year. After going to school part-time and working full-time for a few years, we were able to save up so that I could quit my job and go back to school full-time while Landon works extra hard. Unfortunately, we've had back-to-back-to-back expenses come up and Landon is already putting in extra hours. We have insurance for Riley, but it is only going to cover $1000-1,500.
We love him so much and I can't imagine coming home and not seeing him jump up and down with excitement. It breaks my heart to think his brothers may lose him. I hate to ask for help, but please help our pup if you can.
Organizer
Tony BurkeMoore
Organizer
Des Moines, IA
