I never imagined I’d be writing this, but here we are—fighting for Cleo’s life. She’s my 6-year-old dog, and I adopted her when she was 2. From the moment she came home, she’s brought so much joy and resilience into not only my life, but everyone’s life she’s touched.

On April 4th, I found a lump on Cleo. The next day (Easter Sunday) she was already in surgery. Everything moved so quickly, and soon after, she was diagnosed with carcinosarcoma—a rare and aggressive cancer that affects well under 1% of dogs. Even in humans, it’s uncommon and not well understood. This cancer is a complex mutation involving two types of cancer at once, which is why treatment needs to be approached carefully and proactively. The encouraging part is that we caught it early. Cleo has already had two surgeries with clean margins, which gives her a real window. At the same time, this cancer is known to spread microscopically and quickly, so acting early and thoroughly matters. We are also sequencing the cancer type to better understand it and guide her treatment.

So far, I’ve spent a significant amount out of pocket on her surgeries, scans, and urgent care, and I’ve been traveling back and forth from Vancouver to Bellingham for specialty care to keep things moving without delay. Her next phase of treatment—including a possible mastectomy, electrochemotherapy, chemotherapy, ongoing care, and the sequencing—will be costly, but the goal is to stay ahead of this while we have the opportunity. I’ve never asked for help like this before, but I’ve already depleted my funds and time is everything in this case. Cleo is still very much herself—happy, loving, and full of life—which makes this worth pushing for. If you’d like to support her care or share this, I’d really appreciate it. Thank you for being part of her corner. More research is needed for rare cancers like this, not just for our pets but for people too. Your support means the world to us.