harlz ACL and patella surgery
Donation protected
If you know me, you know how important Harlz is to me and if you know Harlz, you know how important she is to everyone she comes across. I rescued her 2 years ago from the East Valley Animal Shelter and have never been more attached to an animal before. I take her everywhere with me, everyone in my life knows her and is obsessed with her and she's become such a remedy for my mental health that she's almost done being officially certified as my emotional support animal. I can't remember life before her and I can't imagine life without her. She's the most loving and best bubba who loves to stick her head in your crotch and make weird noises (if you know, you know).
In the summer of last year, Harley took a fall while on a run and started limping. I took her to the vet where she was fully examined and I was told that it wasn't anything incredibly serious, her knee was just minorly injured and she would be fine with pain killers. I was also told that if in the future, this was still a reoccurring problem, I could schedule her for a $600 stem cell injection to rejuvenate the cells in her knee which would help her longterm. I decided to do the stem cell injection in hopes that she would heal and not limp anymore. I was told recovery time for this injection was about 2 months so I waited... and waited... and waited and to no avail, she was still limping and it was progressively getting worse. I took her back to that vet, telling him her limping was increasing, and he positively stated she seemed "much better".
I decided to get a second opinion today with a recommended vet in the area I had just moved to who specializes in orthopedics. He thoroughly examined her and told me that her ACL was majorly torn and her patella was slipping. This is causing her muscles to atrophy (get weaker and smaller), cause major arthritis in an only 5 year old dog and increase her chances of tearing her other ACL by 60%. I was heartbroken now knowing this whole time she had been in so much pain and the extend of this injury, just crediting it to the supposed extended healing time the first vet had relayed to me.
Our new vet explained that the surgery would drastically change her life and the longer I waited to do it, the more pain she would be in and the more severe the injury would become and since she cannot comfortably walk at all anymore, I can't imagine what the toll on her would be if I didn't take care of this.
ACL repair surgeries, just like in humans, are incredibly invasive, expensive and time consuming. This surgery for Harlz would not only be that but also surgery to fix her patella as well. The cost I've listed for this fundraiser covers 4 days of actual hospital time (pre-op and post-op) and 10 week recovery visits to ensure everything is up to par and Harley is feeling good.
I can't express how much it would mean to me if you could share this fundraiser with anyone you know, if you are within the means to donate to her surgery as this would be life changing for her as well as for me or if you could simply just send your love and well wishes to Harlz. I love and am so deeply grateful for anyone who even took the time to read this!
Thank you so much from me and my bubs :)
In the summer of last year, Harley took a fall while on a run and started limping. I took her to the vet where she was fully examined and I was told that it wasn't anything incredibly serious, her knee was just minorly injured and she would be fine with pain killers. I was also told that if in the future, this was still a reoccurring problem, I could schedule her for a $600 stem cell injection to rejuvenate the cells in her knee which would help her longterm. I decided to do the stem cell injection in hopes that she would heal and not limp anymore. I was told recovery time for this injection was about 2 months so I waited... and waited... and waited and to no avail, she was still limping and it was progressively getting worse. I took her back to that vet, telling him her limping was increasing, and he positively stated she seemed "much better".
I decided to get a second opinion today with a recommended vet in the area I had just moved to who specializes in orthopedics. He thoroughly examined her and told me that her ACL was majorly torn and her patella was slipping. This is causing her muscles to atrophy (get weaker and smaller), cause major arthritis in an only 5 year old dog and increase her chances of tearing her other ACL by 60%. I was heartbroken now knowing this whole time she had been in so much pain and the extend of this injury, just crediting it to the supposed extended healing time the first vet had relayed to me.
Our new vet explained that the surgery would drastically change her life and the longer I waited to do it, the more pain she would be in and the more severe the injury would become and since she cannot comfortably walk at all anymore, I can't imagine what the toll on her would be if I didn't take care of this.
ACL repair surgeries, just like in humans, are incredibly invasive, expensive and time consuming. This surgery for Harlz would not only be that but also surgery to fix her patella as well. The cost I've listed for this fundraiser covers 4 days of actual hospital time (pre-op and post-op) and 10 week recovery visits to ensure everything is up to par and Harley is feeling good.
I can't express how much it would mean to me if you could share this fundraiser with anyone you know, if you are within the means to donate to her surgery as this would be life changing for her as well as for me or if you could simply just send your love and well wishes to Harlz. I love and am so deeply grateful for anyone who even took the time to read this!
Thank you so much from me and my bubs :)
Organizer
Gabrielle Dragotta
Organizer
Calabasas, CA