Help Castiel Overcome Severe Hip Dysplasia

Hello, my name's Melissa, and this is my heart dog, Castiel.

Castiel is an 11 year old Australian Shepherd. I'm a veterinary technician and took him to work with me last week due to him seeming to be stiffer when walking, taking it slower going up the stairs, and starting to lag a little bit behind on walks, even on 20ish minute walks.

Cas has severe hip dysplasia in his right hip and needs surgery. He had an FHO previously done on his left hip about two years ago. (An FHO is called a femoral head ostectomy, and is a surgical procedure that aims to restore pain-free mobility to a diseased or damaged hip by removing the head and neck of the femur).

Here's a picture of a normal hip in a dog, versus Castiel's hip:

Right now, he is being kept comfortable by an injection called Librela, Galliprant, and Gabapentin. While these seem to help a little, it's only a band-aid on what needs done to fix the problem.

The surgery itself is around $3,500. We are currently still paying off his first surgery, as well as my other Australian Shepherd's TPLO surgery that she had done a year ago, and can't afford to get Cas the surgery right now. Sooner rather than later would be ideal for the surgery, so that he doesn't have a painful hip anymore. And while he is 11 years old, he is still a good candidate for the surgery (all bloodwork is within normal limits and he is otherwise a healthy boy).

I cannot let it get to the point of it being a quality of life decision because of a hip, as he still has so much life in him. It makes me tear up even thinking about losing my boy because of a painful hip.

I'm swallowing my pride and asking for help, to help make the pain go away for my boy.

Please consider. Any amount makes the world of difference to us.

Thank you,

-Melissa