Help Anza Dax - partial bowel obstruction surgery

Hi, my name is Dani Rascon. Normally, I am asking supporters to help dogs that don't belong to me. Today, I am pleading for help with my own sweet boy, Dax. Dax is a 4 yr old neutered doberman/shepherd/great dane mix. It appears Dax has a partial bowel obstruction that is killing him and we need your help to save him. The surgery will cost between $1953.75 and $2,730 on the high end. We are already $745 into his care.

Dax began showing symptoms 2 weeks ago when he stopped eating for no apparent reason. After meds for a week, lots of vomiting and very little to eat, we went to an available veterinarian Saturday, April 2nd for inconclusive diagnostics. After over $500 in blood work and x-ray, I was told his platelets were very low and there was a "weird spot" on his small intestine, but no apparent obstruction. We went home to administer subcutaneous fluids, antibiotics, Cerenia for nausea, pepcid for stomach acid with the hope that it was some strange infection that would resolve with those medical therapies.

His vomiting stopped, but he still refuses to eat, and is continuously dehydrated despite daily subcutaneous fluids. Today we pushed our way into Butterfield Animal Hospital. We were blessed to see Dr. Kalthoff who conducted another x-ray. Dr. Kalthoff has seen this before with string, or string like foreign bodies. As the string moves its way down the digestive tract, parts of it grab on and it bunches up the intestine. Dax is rarely out of my sight and never more than 10 feet from me, so I will save blaming myself for later and immediately try to save his life before it is too late for him.

The good news is Dax's x-ray did not show gas build up around the obstruction. There is no way to know what is going on in there until they conduct abdominal exploration.

Dax needs surgery immediately. He's our family. One human, two dogs: that's our immediate family.

A little about Dax: He was such a scaredy cat when he came to us. He feared humans so much it took us 2 weeks just to get him inside. Once he learned to trust us a little, his spirit began to thrive. One day, he was trying to get Lucki's attention while she was cuddled up on the couch with her blanket. He seemed to be confused about a.) why was a dog sitting with the human, and b.) what was this extra-comfort paraphernalia wrapped around a dog sitting with the human. Dax then decided it was all too much and pulled her blanket off of her with his teeth onto the floor. Lucki was not amused, but I was. It scared him when I laughed. With reliable food, shelter, and as much love as he would let us give him, his tail began to perk up, which has become the whappiest, most dangerous happy tail you've ever seen.

Normally at 80+ lbs, Dax is the biggest love monster ever. He leans-in to anyone close enough to him. When you pet his neck, he stretches it up all regal-like. My brother says he needs a pipe and a smoking jacket. Dax and my Hope Ranch niecedog, Lucy, are besties. They love our visits, were kindred spirits from the moment they met. He loves our walks, gets so excited and noodly, whips his head around as if to say, "C'mon! Let's go do this!"

It breaks my heart to see him so sick. He has brought so much joy to our lives and everyone he meets. We need him to stay in our life and we need your help to keep him with us. Dax is our special boy. He completes our family.

Can you help?