We know that life is hard for everyone these days and so many are struggling, and this is so hard for us to do. But, this is for our sweet Clove.

We found Clove abandoned miles out of town in a field along an old dirt road, starving and terrified. We’ve been so blessed in being able to foster and adopt her and give her the love that she deserves in any way that we can. Sadly, right after bringing her home, we noticed she had a healing wound on her neck that we thought was nothing but turned into something we never imagined. For months now, she’s been to the vet more times than we can count, with constant abscesses on her neck that swell up and burst each and every time. Vets thought it was simply debris under the skin that her body was trying to push out, and we scheduled what should have been a simple surgery. It was unfortunately not simple. They found what seemed to be a cluster of tubular-like formations that webbed out, and as he kept cutting, realized that the root-like tissue extended down and out towards her spine. She started bleeding heavily, and he had no choice but to stop the surgery because of the bleeding and the close proximity to her spinal cord that he did not feel comfortable coming any closer to. He said he has never seen anything like it.

So after further investigation, it was determined that she has a rare congenital condition known as Dermoid Sinus, a congenital, often hereditary, tubular skin defect, where skin fails to separate properly from the nervous system during development. This is a very delicate and serious condition and should be resolved if possible by the age of 5 months because it grows with the puppy. If not fully removed, the dermoid sinus will regrow and cause the same inflammation and infections over and over until she becomes septic. She has been referred to the Veterinary Specialty Services in Manchester, MO. A qualified surgeon must perform this procedure. They informed us today that her deposit for just the consultation is $175.00, which will go towards her full consultation visit that will cost more. Then we can discuss our next steps to hopefully get our girl the surgery she needs to save her life. The dermoid sinus could be wrapped around her spinal cord or fused to it and causes complications such as meningitis, paralysis, or even sepsis and death eventually. We’re desperate. Our girl just turned 1, and she has been through so much pain. On constant meds to keep her calm and antibiotics that will only help for so long. She deserves a full life. She deserves to play and be a puppy finally, and her healing journey will be long. Any amount can help. Just 1 dollar. Anything. We love her so much and can’t just give up now. We appreciate any help we can get❤️. We will find out the full cost of surgery after consultation. We have spent so much on vet visits and medications and wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t truly a need. We thank anyone willing to help even in the smallest way